Being an American production, I was worried about a repeat of Memoir of a geisha, where geishas speak English and are played by Chinese actresses. Not here. Everything from costumes to language was Sengoku era Japan. If anything, I really didn't think the Pacific Northwest (filming location) resembled Japan at all lol but given the circumstances, I understand why it's done.

Out of all the characters, I didn't care for Blackthorne. I do appreciate an outsider's perspective, but without him the story wouldn't have been drastically different. Really enjoyed the portrayal of Mariko (Hosokawa Gracia in history) and Toranaga (Tokugawa Ieyasu in history). Toranaga is EXACTLY what I imagine Ieyasu to look like and I'm not sure if we'll ever get another Ieyasu that close to my imagination (I regularly watch taiga - Japanese 50-episode long historical dramas).

People lament the lack of a "final" battle, but IMO it would have been very ordinary for that to happen (though pleasant to watch I'm sure). I remember watching GoT final battle and that was just a borefest, I was wondering when the killing would end. That battle did nothing for me emotionally. The plot deciding for no final battle was the correct decision IMO, a lot of the times battles are not won on the field but behind the scene, within political intrigues and people manipulation, and Shogun got all of that right.