I will be writing an article but I wanted to do a short review here since there wasn't any.

I am a lover of history and the people who make it. The only hesitation for me watching this was the number of episodes.

Story: When writing a tale based on a real person it is difficult not to fudge things, or add extra fantastical things that may be attributed to the person through out time as his legend grows. this did not do that. It simply filled in the gaps seemlessly between recorded events. Tiara no Kiyomori was the first Samurai to lead the Japanese court and paved the way for Shogunates to happen. You can lookup his life on the internet, this drama follows it pretty closely, but be warned, there will be spoilers lol.

Someone asked if there was romance in this. My answer would be real life romance, at the time when a woman duty was a political tool for their family, love does happen. For several couples in this drama the feelings between husbands and wives is clearly shown and the roles both of them play in supporting each other.

According to my husband whose big thing is when movies screw up armor said that the mix of pieces looked accurate, though he feels the use of the Katana was not that wide spread yet. Meh I don't look at that.

The scenery makes you feel like you are there with them, in their mansions, on the pirate boat, or in the forests. it is beautifully shot.

To quote Kiyomori he is following the path of carnage to break traditions and raise the status of Samurai in general, his clan specifically.

The music has on song that is thread throughout and plays a pivotal part of the plot, which is why I gave it and 8, even if you love something , hearing it 100 times in a short period will lessen its appeal.

Re-watch value an 8 only because I now know all the surprises, I would however sit and rewatch it with anyone who wishes to see it.


I gave this a 10, It exceeded my expectations and made me want to watch more tiagas, just not any time soon lol.