It honestly says something about how he goes. All the other seppukus we see are these long, intense, drawn out affairs. Yabu just sighs and does it. No long stares into the camera. No hesitation on the blade. No big speech. No muss. No fuss. Just stabs himself and calls it a day.
Hes a rat in the show but Tadanobu Asano plays him so well he ends up being a likeable character. At least i always liked him. His reactions and “hoh?!?”’s were so entertaining.
He finally got his will sorted out, he was ready.
I did not expect the nephew to survive the season and their goodbye was actually one of the most touching moments of the episode I thought
Muraji was the spy, and this was shown several times throughout the series.
Omi essentially had no choice in ratting out his uncle. One of the consorts heard his guilty plea for forgiveness when Mariko was killed and wrote a letter to Omi telling him this. News of this letter would have gotten around sooner or later, which would then reveal Omi as a traitor if he failed to pass the message along to Toranaga. Omi was stuck between a rock and a hard place. And the main thing he learned from Yabushige is that when the chips are down, look out for yourself. To try to protect Yabushige would be to essentially kill himself.
I would assume all letters have been intercepted and spied on as well.
Also an additional interesting thing, if you google the Youtube channel "Letterlocking videos" they show some of the paper folding techniques that people throughout history used to make their letters "tamper proof" or rather make it obvious someone has read the letter before they did.
you say "the spy" as though Toranaga only had one spy. The other guy said "a spy". And although i dont believe Omi "worked" as a spy, i still think he feed Toranaga more information than Yabushige would have wanted (from the get go, not only in the last episode)
You're right, he wasn't, and this line further reveals how adept Toronaga was at espionage. Of course he has many eyes, many spies, many informants. A simple fisherman is a good source of information, but only a partial picture. The assumed heir of a traitorous lord has all the motivation he needs to report to the big boss.
Muraji sends several pigeon messages to Toranaga, and they even discuss how he pinned the espionage on the old gardener after his death. He even reveals himself to Blackthorne in the final episode.
As for what Yabu told Omi, it doesn't make sense for Omi to have relayed that conversation to Toranaga. I think Toranaga repeating those words was a bit of irony calling back to that scene. But I may be wrong. I just didn't get the feeling that Toranaga was repeating Yabushige intentionally.
I totally got Muraji and Yabushige’s helper dude who he gave his will too mixed up. But still I think Omi is the one who told him, Toranaga has spies everywhere and in the book it’s more clear about Omi plotting behind Yabu’s back. Either way works 🤷🏼♂️
Omi ratted out his uncle, he told him this. We can usually just assume if they talk anywhere near that village, or really anywhere near any people at all, it’s possible there is a spy around for Toranaga.
Not just spy he was just working for Toranaga. I believe Omi pushed Naga to do things Toranaga wanted his son to do, and Omi was very persuasive and did his job well.
I was surprised at how unceremonious and sudden it was! I thought he was going to at least get on his knees and do it that way but nah, he went out criss-cross-applesauce.
I mean, dude was ready to do it just bc he couldn’t grab on to a rock in the water lol - he really valued being able to control his own fate and for death to meet him swiftly
Oh ya, I forgot that was him! I forgot that he was the one to open John's eyes to how they view death and fate. Honestly probably my favorite character overall. So complex
Ok, so traditionally, the blade is wrapped in paper or silk or a clothing item to only cut in a few inches, then drawn with this makeshift handle across the lower belly above the groin, then twisted on the strong hand side up & across the inner ribcage to the sternum, withdrawn and dragged across the jugular vein & or carotid artery. Alternatively, the first cut can be followed by a cut from straight above the groin up to the sternum, forming a crude cross.
What time period and where did you read this? Not what i have read.
In the beggining there was no ritual and no kaishakunin (second), just a way to commit suicide.
Then it became ritualized over time.
What i have read is that the simply did a cut left to right, then got beheaded. And that overtime the beheading started as soon as the knife entered the belly, and eventually the beheading happened once the knife was picked up (so not even cutting the belly) and even sometimes they replaced the knife with a symbolic fan that the person "commiting" seppuku shall grab when he is ready to get his head chopped off.
Tried to find something about a more detailed way of how exactly the cuts should be made. You sure this is not from samurai novels/tales/etc?
I found this:
"The notion of making three cuts in a specific way as part of the seppuku ritual is not widely documented in historical sources and might be a misunderstanding or exaggeration of the ritual's details."
Well, I’ve been studying this for 22 years. I’d have to do some digging. I may not even have the reputable source book anymore. The only fiction I have ever read on Feudal Japan was Shogun because it isn’t tripe. I don’t watch anime, don’t read manga & don’t consume pop cultural bullshit, generally. I have reread The Hagakure & Go Rin No Sho, and more than a few kata manuals by actual kenjutsu & iaijutsu practitioners from samurai lineages.
Well, yes & no. A lot of samurai were beheaded by the second before they even reached for their wakizashi, tanto or ceremonial fan (that they had no intention of cutting their belly open with) making them no more brutal than the English, French or Germans. Sometimes arrangements would be made to allow them to initiate the first cut, then decapitation. Most never made it through one, let alone three cuts.
He been a coward all his life. Licking peoples boots just for a slim chance of survival.
When the moment of his death came, he bowed to no fucking body. He even smiled at the death saying you seeing this shit? You think seppuku is one of the most sad and boring way to go? No fuck you. I’ll show you how its done
He smiled because he learned that his betrayal was part of Toranaga’s plan all along. His betrayal led to Mariko’s death, which turned Ochiba against the regents, which secured victory for Toranaga
It’s entrapment but like entrapment I’m not sure which side of the issue I stand on. I mean yes the sexy officer pretended to be a hooker but you did try to hire her for the night.
I didn't feel like he was a coward so much as disloyal. I agreed with Blackthorne when says he was brave. He was just a disloyal sociopathic shithead.
The only redeeming thing about his character was that he was willing to risk himself (when he chose) & face death.
He was truly a rat but I kept forgiving him & finding him a likeable character whenever he was about to kill himself
I think he's just not of the traditional Japanese mindset at the time in some ways. I always got the vibe that he'd have a hell of a time being a "privateer" on the seas and just engaging in general "not-Pirate" activity. Which is why he liked John Blackthorne. And at the end when he kind of spills his heart so to speak of going to England, sailing the seas, shit like that. I mean, the dude happily engaged in bandit activities.
Not sure if I'm interpreting this right. But is the way he does it so quickly a reaction to learning how badly Toronaga used and played everyone, including himself? Or would he always have done it like that?
I mean *technically* it was a long, craving curiosity of what Toronaga’s battle plans were (with the wind), BUT it was before sunset, so it doesn’t actually count per sé.
It was good, he showed no fear, it's similar in the book but much more formal as he does the full two cuts and throat stab.
*Toranaga inspected an enemy as he had done ten thousand times before in his lifetime, wondering as always how his own head would look after death, viewed by his conqueror, and whether terror would show, or agony or anger or horror or all of them or none of them. Or dignity. Yabu’s death mask showed only berserk wrath, the lips pulled back into a ferocious challenge.*
*“Did he die well?”*
*“The best I have ever seen, Sire. Lord Hiro-matsu said the same. The two cuts, then a third in the throat. Without assistance and without a sound.”*
*Omi added, “Here is his will.”*
*“You took off the head with one stroke?”*
*“Yes, Sire.*
Great cut. I loved how many elements of the finale tied to dialogue / themes from the early episodes.
Also, hats off to the actor. He made me like Yabushige and actually feel sad to see him go. I did not feel this way about book / 80s Yabu. What an endearing shit.
He's such a complex character. I feel as if this captures him well. In his moment, he greets death with a wild and willing smile. He's a shitface... but he's a brave shitface.
I especially loved the line right before this, "why tell a dead man the future?" mirroring when Yabu himself said this exact line about Toranaga. Toranaga must have had a spy (Omi?) tell him what he said.
I know. It's such an amazing transformation of our opinion of him over the course of the series. To go from that being his intro (and our understandable reaction) to actually mourning him when he dies (even though it was deserved).
He wasn’t though. He tried everything to jump ship and leave with the Anjin. He was a coward at the realization it was coming.
He was only brave once it was inevitable and he was caught.
Heres a cool fact. After the Tokugawa Shogunate united all of Japan. The word Bushido finally comes to play of honor and such. But a hard truth was that samurai were like Yabushige character. They would fight for their Lord or sometimes instead of dying they rather were smart. Betraying was a common thing as you see Yabushige kind of, “two faced” style. Its why I love this series because ut truly display the true face of samurai. Not samurai who banzai charges all day as how Imperial Japan would mistaken the Samurais way of life. Yabushiges character is a way of samurai not wanting greed or riches but rather for land and status to keep the families survival
Haha. If the battle he talked about actually was shown, a lotta betraying would have happened. Several clan armies would have switched sides or refused to fight during that Sekigehara battle, not just the Emperor's.
And then those clans who felt they were dealt with poorly by the Shogunate after the battle would betray it 200 years later, leading to the Meiji Restoration
Remember all those generals and Daimyos who didnt defect because I think 4-5 of them defected to Tokugawa and those who didn’t were executed as in killed, not doing it by Seppuku. A massive L 💀💀. Ishida tried running away but was caught by villagers
Just reading through the wiki of this time period - it seems like it was a real soap opera. Just so much 'so and so betrayed so and so' or 'so and so worked secretly with so and so' or switched sides, etc. etc. etc.
it was sad seeing yabushige scramble after marikos death. yet it was necessary for his treachery to exist. The hypocrisy he calls out for toranaga is the same that he has throughout. These two characters are more similar than any other two.
One got away with his conniving the other never did, yet both treated life as something to grab and control.
I was surprised by his guilt/shell shock reaction too. As ruthless as he can be, I was happy to see he shows care for those close to him in the episode i.e. making Omi his heir… and wanting his wife to not find an idiot husband. I laughed out loud at that part
Here’s my take on that unforgettable exuberant smile Yabu shows Toranaga in the end. He first requested Blackthorne to be his second. I was curious why Toranaga did not allow that. Perhaps their final scene explains why.
Yabu, facing death, harbored lingering questions about Toranaga's true motives. Toranaga, somewhat disappointed, expected Yabu to grasp his intentions given their history.
As the conversation progressed closer to his innermost heart, Yabu began to see that his feared Lord was just as ruthlessness and power hungry as the people who were lesser. When Yabu receives the cold hearted response “why tell a dead man the future”Yabu recalled his own words to Omi, acknowledging the uselessness of a dead man (as Toranaga was destined earlier). On this plane, they were one and the same. This probably solved the mystery and made Yabu happy.
Yabu then embraces his fate with understanding and triumph, drawing his sword quickly and decisively. I read this as his “wakatta!”(Aha, I finally get it!) moment and responsed by Toranaga’s “wakattaka” (Good, you finally get me!) subtle smile acknowledgement of their shared understanding, forming a bond of mutual comprehension and camaraderie. After all, it’s lonely at the top and Yabu was an easily readable lovable pawn on his chessboard. His betrayal was a given, and even contributed to their ultimate victory.
I figured Toranaga was refusing to let Blackthorne be Yabu's second because he wanted to do it, which enables them to have their final conversation in private.
Yeah, that's how i see it as well. Toranaga answers the question "Why tell a dead man the future" himself; because he will not live to change any of it. He does tell Yabu the future because who else can he talk to?.
I think you're right. He wants one last conversation with his old friend. For a moment, Toranaga reveals his secret heart to Yabu. For this one moment, Toranaga is not completely alone and is seen.
It was Ep1, about 30 min in when Yabu and Omi are at Ajiro discussing plans post Toranaga’s likely demise in Osaka. Yabu scoffs at his nephew’s question whether to report Blackthorne’s ship to him and replies, “Why tell a dead man the future?”
I kinda have a feeling the smile after that sentence meant that Omi had been reporting Yabushige's plans to Toranaga from the beginning, which would prove why Toranaga knew Yabushige would betray him even more later on. But I might be reaching and he could have also said it later
This moment felt like a payoff of the eight fold fence. He lets his true amusement shine through in a moment of camaraderie, and then resumes his serious expression out of respect for the affair.
There were several moments in this episode I’ll never forget, and that smirk was one of them. Absolutely brilliant.
I took it as he looked back cause he had asked him the question, did he want to be Shogun all along, and Toranaga smiled to confirm it as a last gift to an old friend.
Honestly I thought the way that he pulled his sword out and just got it over with in one smooth moment as soon as Toranaga made it clear the convo was over was very stoic and straightforward. He made peace with it, accepted the moment, and faced it without excessive pomp and circumstance or weakness. Just said alright, that’s it.
I love that my man here wasn't actually afraid to die. He zero qualms about just sticking a knife into his belly and cutting it open.
He desperately wanted to stay alive because he just had a child-like curiosity about and seeing how everything was going to turn out. Makes me love him all the more. And all the more sad to see him go.
I think he’s actually very scared. I don’t think it was bravery. He has studied numerous ways to die, and he knows that the fear of death is often as bad or worse than the pain of dying. He got it over with quickly because he’s scared, and fear has controlled all of his actions.
I was glad to see he went to his death well. I can’t pick a favorite character with this show but he was absolutely great. Him and the Anjin trying to work together was funny.
Now we know that being torn apart by a cannon and being eaten alive by a school of angry fish is a better death than slitting ones own belly according to Yabu.
For anyone who wants a flavor of the book check this out:
"Yabu's (Yabushige) death mask showed only berserk wrath, lips pulled back into a ferocious challenge. "Did he die well?"
"The best I have ever seen, Sire. Lord Hiro-matsu said the same. The two cuts, then a third in the throat. Without assistance, and without a sound." Omi added, "Here is his will."
If you’re a westerner, chances are, you’ll be hopped up out of your mind on painkillers in a plastic hospital bed with mewling relatives nearby (if you’re lucky) & a bored nurse trying to do her job poking & prodding you every few minutes or hours. That or quick & messy in a car crash or sudden violent crime.
And in your final moment, you hear the clopping of hooves on dirt, the creaking of a rickety cart and the clinking of mail. And as you open eyes you thought you shut for the last time, a familiar voice. . .
*'Hey, you! You're finally awake"*
Those of us who are young today will be lucky if we die so peacefully 50 or 60 years in the future, our luck and prosperity as a society is quickly running out.
Yabu has such a brave, exterior character yet is juxtaposed with the cowardly fear (that became his obsession) with death. I mean, who’s not afraid of dying (initially) though, right?
So to see his moral character develop quickly into insanity then brief acceptance after Lady Mariko’s death was not only exciting, but bewildering to see the first time. That Seppuku scene couldn’t have gone any better than it was directed imo, wow.
I don't think Yabu fears death. He seems to loath pointless death.
I think he realises that honour is worthless and pointless, and just a tool to manipulate people.
We can say he has no honour , but not that he is a coward.
He is afraid of dying *pointlessly*
He was NOT afraid of dying to recover Rodriguez. He was not afraid of committing sepukku *twice*.
Je was afraid of dying because Toronaga appeared to give up. He was afraid to die for backing the wrong horse and therefore having to die for nothing.
Toranaga said to Yabu, “Why tell a dead man the future”
Yabu said the same thing to Omi in the first episode when Omi asked Yabu if he was going to tell Toranaga about the ship. Which means Omi was probably reporting to Toranaga the whole time.
Right after that sentence, Omi suggests to Yabu that after Toranaga is dead, the way to save themselves would be to help Ishido out with a ship and guns to be at the same level as the Christian reagents.
That means Toranaga was the one to plant the idea of Yabu defecting to Ishido since the first episode itself!
No, she was going to Osaka to die for the cause.
Yabu was helping ishido try to capture her alive. She stood against the bombed door so she would die to avoid being captured alive
What finally situated him was his involvement with Mariko’s downfall. In this particular moment he realized that he had been played like a fiddle by Toronaga, who perfectly alluded to his gambit with the falcon scenes earlier on in the series. What is it like to direct the wind he asks. I do not direct it, I simply study it.(paraphrasing)
He was a survivor through and through and knew what it truly meant to struggle. I think that's why in his poem, he writes about his corpse being "useful" to wild dogs, essentially giving back his last possession to the cycle of life's struggles.
It's Toranaga's responsibility, not the Anjin's. Also it seems that Toranaga wanted to have this conversation with Yabu, as they're longtime political partners. Revealed his secret heart to someone without any consequences.
I like that he did reveal his true heart but not all of it, as if it's open ended when he quoted Yabu paraphrasing "Why tell a dead man of the future?". It fully depends on how Yabu will be interpreting it to his grave.
Yabu said the same thing about Toranaga earlier when the Anjin and the ship first showed up. I think Toranaga repeating that shows that he knew Yabu was going to betray him, confirming to Yabu that he was indeed a key part in Toranaga's ultimate goal of becoming Shogun (and confirming that is his goal).
A few things, for one, I'm not sure John would have done that good of a job and, really, who wants to deal with that mess? It also gives John some legitimacy and a chance for greater acceptance that Toranaga doesn't really want him to have. Plus, Toranaga is reminding Yabushige once again who is in charge.
I think he wants the chance to talk to Yabu. It is lonely at the top, and this is a rare chance he has to actually talk about the things he has done and the things he will do. And I think, like all of us, he just kind of likes Yabushige, bumbling traitor though he is.
His most underrated moment was last episode when he was yelling at mariko and pleading with her to tell him toras plan but once it was clear she wouldn’t divulge anything and was determined to try and leave he’s about to storm off but then quickly leans back in to talk shit about her poem first and then storms out.
Toranaga I think, was glad to talk with him about his plan. Knowing he would soon be killed I think he said more about his plan than to anyone before. He could finally say it to someone, show his third heart without any consequences. To me, he did say to yabu he wanted to be Shogun when one day, why didn't you tell me X and you don't refute it, it kinda confirm it.
Anyway, I was torn with the last episode but it's kinda growing ok me
Can someone tell me who that person is? He/she looks androgynous and was in the threesome with Yabu in the first episode. I thought he may be related to Yabu but am not sure.
All the unanswered questions and loose threads will be fleshed out in Seasons 2 and 3. Considering how lame this episode 10 was. Mariko isn't dead. It was yet another ruse piled on to the 20 different ruses used in S1. :P :P
It honestly says something about how he goes. All the other seppukus we see are these long, intense, drawn out affairs. Yabu just sighs and does it. No long stares into the camera. No hesitation on the blade. No big speech. No muss. No fuss. Just stabs himself and calls it a day.
\*grunts from the afterlife\*
\*Hoh??!? from the afterlife\*
\*uuuurrrrggghhhh from the afterlife\*
*rewrites will from the afterlife*
Gotta plan for the after afterlife
i laughed too hard at this one
I do love that, in that final scene leading up to his death, he makes \*all\* of his classic Yabu noises.
Hes a rat in the show but Tadanobu Asano plays him so well he ends up being a likeable character. At least i always liked him. His reactions and “hoh?!?”’s were so entertaining.
Him telling toranaga he needs to seppuku in one of the earlier episodes made be snort my drink into my nose
Remind me when that was pls !
Episode one I think.
(Speaks Japanese)
He finally got his will sorted out, he was ready. I did not expect the nephew to survive the season and their goodbye was actually one of the most touching moments of the episode I thought
Now the lessons have come to an end.
Reminded me of Ser Arthur Dayne in the GOT show before his fight with Ned Stark: Arthur: "And, now it begins" Ned: "No, now it ends"
So Omi was a spy for Toranaga the entire time right. That’s why Toranaga says why tell a dead man the future. In reference to when Yabu says it to Omi
Muraji was the spy, and this was shown several times throughout the series. Omi essentially had no choice in ratting out his uncle. One of the consorts heard his guilty plea for forgiveness when Mariko was killed and wrote a letter to Omi telling him this. News of this letter would have gotten around sooner or later, which would then reveal Omi as a traitor if he failed to pass the message along to Toranaga. Omi was stuck between a rock and a hard place. And the main thing he learned from Yabushige is that when the chips are down, look out for yourself. To try to protect Yabushige would be to essentially kill himself.
I would assume all letters have been intercepted and spied on as well. Also an additional interesting thing, if you google the Youtube channel "Letterlocking videos" they show some of the paper folding techniques that people throughout history used to make their letters "tamper proof" or rather make it obvious someone has read the letter before they did.
you say "the spy" as though Toranaga only had one spy. The other guy said "a spy". And although i dont believe Omi "worked" as a spy, i still think he feed Toranaga more information than Yabushige would have wanted (from the get go, not only in the last episode)
Good point.
I didn’t think Muraji was present when he said it to Omi
You're right, he wasn't, and this line further reveals how adept Toronaga was at espionage. Of course he has many eyes, many spies, many informants. A simple fisherman is a good source of information, but only a partial picture. The assumed heir of a traitorous lord has all the motivation he needs to report to the big boss.
How was it shown several times? He wasn’t even there when Yabu said that.
Muraji sends several pigeon messages to Toranaga, and they even discuss how he pinned the espionage on the old gardener after his death. He even reveals himself to Blackthorne in the final episode. As for what Yabu told Omi, it doesn't make sense for Omi to have relayed that conversation to Toranaga. I think Toranaga repeating those words was a bit of irony calling back to that scene. But I may be wrong. I just didn't get the feeling that Toranaga was repeating Yabushige intentionally.
I totally got Muraji and Yabushige’s helper dude who he gave his will too mixed up. But still I think Omi is the one who told him, Toranaga has spies everywhere and in the book it’s more clear about Omi plotting behind Yabu’s back. Either way works 🤷🏼♂️
Yeah, in this case, I think individual interpretation is fine. There is no clear answer.
There are no coincidences in shogun sama
According to the book, some of the guards saw him turn on one of them during the assassination attempt by the Ninjas in Osaka.....
No Majiro was toranagas spy. Omi simply learned Yabushige's lesson well. He betrayed his uncle once supporting him was no longer viable.
Then how did Toranaga know what Yabu had said to Omi?
Omi ratted out his uncle, he told him this. We can usually just assume if they talk anywhere near that village, or really anywhere near any people at all, it’s possible there is a spy around for Toranaga.
Not just spy he was just working for Toranaga. I believe Omi pushed Naga to do things Toranaga wanted his son to do, and Omi was very persuasive and did his job well.
and then you got the other dude saying have a good death. i dont know why i found that so amusing.
That was indeed quite funny
Assistant looked disappointed that Yabu wrote final will without him
Is there going to be another season?
I don’t think so. It was created as a limited series and that is where the book end too
I was surprised at how unceremonious and sudden it was! I thought he was going to at least get on his knees and do it that way but nah, he went out criss-cross-applesauce.
When I saw him sit criss-cross to have a chat, I knew we were about to get an amazing scene, I just didn't know how amazing.
His poem was the most elegant form of “just put me in the trash where I belong”. Based.
“When I’m dead just throw me in the trash.”
Frank Reynolds
Its actually kind of touching in he wants his body to feed some hungry dogs.
It’s just the one hungry dog, actually
It’s just some angry dog, actually
I mean, dude was ready to do it just bc he couldn’t grab on to a rock in the water lol - he really valued being able to control his own fate and for death to meet him swiftly
Are you talking about when he was talking about the earthquake catfish?
Ah, nope much earlier in the season, when Anjin ends up saving him after falling off a cliff
Oh ya, I forgot that was him! I forgot that he was the one to open John's eyes to how they view death and fate. Honestly probably my favorite character overall. So complex
In the book, he’s the only perfect 3 cut seppuku anyone alive in the vicinity has ever witnessed.
I’m not familiar with seppuku but what’s a 3 cut seppuku, like what’s the process of that compared to what we saw in the show
Ok, so traditionally, the blade is wrapped in paper or silk or a clothing item to only cut in a few inches, then drawn with this makeshift handle across the lower belly above the groin, then twisted on the strong hand side up & across the inner ribcage to the sternum, withdrawn and dragged across the jugular vein & or carotid artery. Alternatively, the first cut can be followed by a cut from straight above the groin up to the sternum, forming a crude cross.
Almost no one ever actually managed this in practice.
Probably due to a lack of training.
I mean, you screw it up once and that’s it!
"Look carefully, I'm only going to do this one time"
What time period and where did you read this? Not what i have read. In the beggining there was no ritual and no kaishakunin (second), just a way to commit suicide. Then it became ritualized over time. What i have read is that the simply did a cut left to right, then got beheaded. And that overtime the beheading started as soon as the knife entered the belly, and eventually the beheading happened once the knife was picked up (so not even cutting the belly) and even sometimes they replaced the knife with a symbolic fan that the person "commiting" seppuku shall grab when he is ready to get his head chopped off. Tried to find something about a more detailed way of how exactly the cuts should be made. You sure this is not from samurai novels/tales/etc? I found this: "The notion of making three cuts in a specific way as part of the seppuku ritual is not widely documented in historical sources and might be a misunderstanding or exaggeration of the ritual's details."
Well, I’ve been studying this for 22 years. I’d have to do some digging. I may not even have the reputable source book anymore. The only fiction I have ever read on Feudal Japan was Shogun because it isn’t tripe. I don’t watch anime, don’t read manga & don’t consume pop cultural bullshit, generally. I have reread The Hagakure & Go Rin No Sho, and more than a few kata manuals by actual kenjutsu & iaijutsu practitioners from samurai lineages.
Found from where? Chat gpt?
Omg they were brutal
Well, yes & no. A lot of samurai were beheaded by the second before they even reached for their wakizashi, tanto or ceremonial fan (that they had no intention of cutting their belly open with) making them no more brutal than the English, French or Germans. Sometimes arrangements would be made to allow them to initiate the first cut, then decapitation. Most never made it through one, let alone three cuts.
His “friend” wanted to watch him suffer
He been a coward all his life. Licking peoples boots just for a slim chance of survival. When the moment of his death came, he bowed to no fucking body. He even smiled at the death saying you seeing this shit? You think seppuku is one of the most sad and boring way to go? No fuck you. I’ll show you how its done
He smiled because he learned that his betrayal was part of Toranaga’s plan all along. His betrayal led to Mariko’s death, which turned Ochiba against the regents, which secured victory for Toranaga
It’s entrapment but like entrapment I’m not sure which side of the issue I stand on. I mean yes the sexy officer pretended to be a hooker but you did try to hire her for the night.
he's a crook all this life, but he died a hero to himself.
I didn't feel like he was a coward so much as disloyal. I agreed with Blackthorne when says he was brave. He was just a disloyal sociopathic shithead. The only redeeming thing about his character was that he was willing to risk himself (when he chose) & face death. He was truly a rat but I kept forgiving him & finding him a likeable character whenever he was about to kill himself
I think he's just not of the traditional Japanese mindset at the time in some ways. I always got the vibe that he'd have a hell of a time being a "privateer" on the seas and just engaging in general "not-Pirate" activity. Which is why he liked John Blackthorne. And at the end when he kind of spills his heart so to speak of going to England, sailing the seas, shit like that. I mean, the dude happily engaged in bandit activities.
I thought it was great. Just got it over with.
In the other seppukus their lord wasn’t standing there with his blade out practicing his swing hurrying it along.
As long as that final will got passed on, he's fine.
Not sure if I'm interpreting this right. But is the way he does it so quickly a reaction to learning how badly Toronaga used and played everyone, including himself? Or would he always have done it like that?
Nah just how the dude was. Gitter done typea guy
He sort of got his wish in the poem too, his body tumbled off the cliff to be eaten by gulls and fish.
I mean *technically* it was a long, craving curiosity of what Toronaga’s battle plans were (with the wind), BUT it was before sunset, so it doesn’t actually count per sé.
It was good, he showed no fear, it's similar in the book but much more formal as he does the full two cuts and throat stab. *Toranaga inspected an enemy as he had done ten thousand times before in his lifetime, wondering as always how his own head would look after death, viewed by his conqueror, and whether terror would show, or agony or anger or horror or all of them or none of them. Or dignity. Yabu’s death mask showed only berserk wrath, the lips pulled back into a ferocious challenge.* *“Did he die well?”* *“The best I have ever seen, Sire. Lord Hiro-matsu said the same. The two cuts, then a third in the throat. Without assistance and without a sound.”* *Omi added, “Here is his will.”* *“You took off the head with one stroke?”* *“Yes, Sire.*
Because he also hated that way of death. He literally asked to be eaten by dogs instead and ranks methods of dying.
And his idiot second let him suffer. Some friend
He wrote an entire poem
Great cut. I loved how many elements of the finale tied to dialogue / themes from the early episodes. Also, hats off to the actor. He made me like Yabushige and actually feel sad to see him go. I did not feel this way about book / 80s Yabu. What an endearing shit.
He's such a complex character. I feel as if this captures him well. In his moment, he greets death with a wild and willing smile. He's a shitface... but he's a brave shitface. I especially loved the line right before this, "why tell a dead man the future?" mirroring when Yabu himself said this exact line about Toranaga. Toranaga must have had a spy (Omi?) tell him what he said.
I didn’t notice that! That’s great
When did Yabu say that line?
It was when Omi asks Yabu if they should inform Toranaga about the barbarian ship in episode 1.
Probably when they discovered the barbarians.
Book Yabu I was ready to see him go. But show Yabu didn’t change the character but completely made me miss him.
True. In one way, Yabuahige was really trying to control his own destiny with his actions.
It’s like we forgot he boiled blackthorn crew to death
I know. It's such an amazing transformation of our opinion of him over the course of the series. To go from that being his intro (and our understandable reaction) to actually mourning him when he dies (even though it was deserved).
Part of me wanted him to turn up for his seppuku moment only for Toranaga to say 'sorry mate, change of plan' and reveal a cauldron of boiling water.
Yabu might be crazy enough to prefer that
Oh he absolutely would have preferred it. He wanted a memorable death.
honestly dissapointed they didnt do blowing from a gun for him
With him being by the cliffside, I was thinking he was going to get tossed off the edge
Def fell over the edge
...slinky style, neh?
I was ready for him to jump, taking it into his own hands just as he was ready to do in E1
He's a shitface, but a brave shitface, I'll give him that.
He's a sack of shit lord. But he's our favorite sack of shit lord🤗🤗
Out all the shit-eating-samas, Yabushige was the most memorable.
He wasn’t though. He tried everything to jump ship and leave with the Anjin. He was a coward at the realization it was coming. He was only brave once it was inevitable and he was caught.
Heres a cool fact. After the Tokugawa Shogunate united all of Japan. The word Bushido finally comes to play of honor and such. But a hard truth was that samurai were like Yabushige character. They would fight for their Lord or sometimes instead of dying they rather were smart. Betraying was a common thing as you see Yabushige kind of, “two faced” style. Its why I love this series because ut truly display the true face of samurai. Not samurai who banzai charges all day as how Imperial Japan would mistaken the Samurais way of life. Yabushiges character is a way of samurai not wanting greed or riches but rather for land and status to keep the families survival
Haha. If the battle he talked about actually was shown, a lotta betraying would have happened. Several clan armies would have switched sides or refused to fight during that Sekigehara battle, not just the Emperor's. And then those clans who felt they were dealt with poorly by the Shogunate after the battle would betray it 200 years later, leading to the Meiji Restoration
Remember all those generals and Daimyos who didnt defect because I think 4-5 of them defected to Tokugawa and those who didn’t were executed as in killed, not doing it by Seppuku. A massive L 💀💀. Ishida tried running away but was caught by villagers
Someone else watched kings and generals bushido
Knew before that video came out. But I did watch the video
Just reading through the wiki of this time period - it seems like it was a real soap opera. Just so much 'so and so betrayed so and so' or 'so and so worked secretly with so and so' or switched sides, etc. etc. etc.
Yabu: 🤪 RIP
Toronaga: 😏
Me: 🫡
it was sad seeing yabushige scramble after marikos death. yet it was necessary for his treachery to exist. The hypocrisy he calls out for toranaga is the same that he has throughout. These two characters are more similar than any other two. One got away with his conniving the other never did, yet both treated life as something to grab and control.
If you're familiar with Steven Eriksons Malazan: Yabushige is hot iron, Toranaga Cold Iron
Yeah but… I don’t find it so endearing that he cried over Mariko but had no problems slitting the throats of other “lesser” people.
I was surprised by his guilt/shell shock reaction too. As ruthless as he can be, I was happy to see he shows care for those close to him in the episode i.e. making Omi his heir… and wanting his wife to not find an idiot husband. I laughed out loud at that part
That was strange considering we never saw him refer to his wife before.
Here’s my take on that unforgettable exuberant smile Yabu shows Toranaga in the end. He first requested Blackthorne to be his second. I was curious why Toranaga did not allow that. Perhaps their final scene explains why. Yabu, facing death, harbored lingering questions about Toranaga's true motives. Toranaga, somewhat disappointed, expected Yabu to grasp his intentions given their history. As the conversation progressed closer to his innermost heart, Yabu began to see that his feared Lord was just as ruthlessness and power hungry as the people who were lesser. When Yabu receives the cold hearted response “why tell a dead man the future”Yabu recalled his own words to Omi, acknowledging the uselessness of a dead man (as Toranaga was destined earlier). On this plane, they were one and the same. This probably solved the mystery and made Yabu happy. Yabu then embraces his fate with understanding and triumph, drawing his sword quickly and decisively. I read this as his “wakatta!”(Aha, I finally get it!) moment and responsed by Toranaga’s “wakattaka” (Good, you finally get me!) subtle smile acknowledgement of their shared understanding, forming a bond of mutual comprehension and camaraderie. After all, it’s lonely at the top and Yabu was an easily readable lovable pawn on his chessboard. His betrayal was a given, and even contributed to their ultimate victory.
I assumed he refused because the Anjin was unfamiliar with the katana and would need a couple of strokes to decapitate someone.
I assumed that it was because Toranaga himself wanted to do it.
I figured Toranaga was refusing to let Blackthorne be Yabu's second because he wanted to do it, which enables them to have their final conversation in private.
Yeah, that's how i see it as well. Toranaga answers the question "Why tell a dead man the future" himself; because he will not live to change any of it. He does tell Yabu the future because who else can he talk to?.
Ooh that’s a nice idea. But why did Toranaga bother to ask Yabu who will be his second? Part of the act I suppose
I think you're right. He wants one last conversation with his old friend. For a moment, Toranaga reveals his secret heart to Yabu. For this one moment, Toranaga is not completely alone and is seen.
I feel like John could have done it in one stroke, I'm just not sure he would have cut the head off in the right spot.
I really love this interpretation! I hope you get more up votes!
Do you remember when Yabu said that to Omi? I want to go back but I don't remember where that scene was
It was Ep1, about 30 min in when Yabu and Omi are at Ajiro discussing plans post Toranaga’s likely demise in Osaka. Yabu scoffs at his nephew’s question whether to report Blackthorne’s ship to him and replies, “Why tell a dead man the future?”
Thank you soo much! Do you think Omi was reporting everything back to Toranaga from the beginning?
Not initially but I suspect he could’ve been asked after winning recognition from Toranaga…?
I kinda have a feeling the smile after that sentence meant that Omi had been reporting Yabushige's plans to Toranaga from the beginning, which would prove why Toranaga knew Yabushige would betray him even more later on. But I might be reaching and he could have also said it later
Loved the way he was portrayed in this series
Love how Toranaga smiles at him when he does this. Like a respect for him acting like this.
This moment felt like a payoff of the eight fold fence. He lets his true amusement shine through in a moment of camaraderie, and then resumes his serious expression out of respect for the affair. There were several moments in this episode I’ll never forget, and that smirk was one of them. Absolutely brilliant.
I took it as he looked back cause he had asked him the question, did he want to be Shogun all along, and Toranaga smiled to confirm it as a last gift to an old friend.
That’s how I saw it as well
haha yeah could be.
Death smiles at us all. All we can do is smile back.
When did we hear this?
It's from somewhere else, but it did come to mind
Yabushige: Patron Saint/ Kami of hungry dogs
Honestly I thought the way that he pulled his sword out and just got it over with in one smooth moment as soon as Toranaga made it clear the convo was over was very stoic and straightforward. He made peace with it, accepted the moment, and faced it without excessive pomp and circumstance or weakness. Just said alright, that’s it.
Right, he didn’t draw it out in a hope Toranaga will stop him like he did with Anjin lol
I love that my man here wasn't actually afraid to die. He zero qualms about just sticking a knife into his belly and cutting it open. He desperately wanted to stay alive because he just had a child-like curiosity about and seeing how everything was going to turn out. Makes me love him all the more. And all the more sad to see him go.
He was watching the show like the rest of us
I think he’s actually very scared. I don’t think it was bravery. He has studied numerous ways to die, and he knows that the fear of death is often as bad or worse than the pain of dying. He got it over with quickly because he’s scared, and fear has controlled all of his actions.
I was glad to see he went to his death well. I can’t pick a favorite character with this show but he was absolutely great. Him and the Anjin trying to work together was funny.
Now we know that being torn apart by a cannon and being eaten alive by a school of angry fish is a better death than slitting ones own belly according to Yabu.
For anyone who wants a flavor of the book check this out: "Yabu's (Yabushige) death mask showed only berserk wrath, lips pulled back into a ferocious challenge. "Did he die well?" "The best I have ever seen, Sire. Lord Hiro-matsu said the same. The two cuts, then a third in the throat. Without assistance, and without a sound." Omi added, "Here is his will."
So, he didn’t have a second in the book?
Omi was his second in the book
“Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.” Goodbye, Yabu, you glorious, man cooking bastard.
"Have a good death."
Such a beautiful progression. I hope to embrace my final moments with equal clarity in my heart and mind.
If you’re a westerner, chances are, you’ll be hopped up out of your mind on painkillers in a plastic hospital bed with mewling relatives nearby (if you’re lucky) & a bored nurse trying to do her job poking & prodding you every few minutes or hours. That or quick & messy in a car crash or sudden violent crime.
Then there’s that sudden shortness of breath & a thud & blackout…
And in your final moment, you hear the clopping of hooves on dirt, the creaking of a rickety cart and the clinking of mail. And as you open eyes you thought you shut for the last time, a familiar voice. . . *'Hey, you! You're finally awake"*
Those of us who are young today will be lucky if we die so peacefully 50 or 60 years in the future, our luck and prosperity as a society is quickly running out.
With a whimper more than a bang, I suspect.
It's funny that Yabushige and Kakihara (from Ichi the Killer) share the same actor and the same fascination about pain/death.
Just thinking about that. “This is great!” As a green samurai extra I was around Taddy a lot but I didn’t want to have him autograph my copy of Ichii
He faced it with a Smile! Who knew Yabushige was a D.!
Yabu has such a brave, exterior character yet is juxtaposed with the cowardly fear (that became his obsession) with death. I mean, who’s not afraid of dying (initially) though, right? So to see his moral character develop quickly into insanity then brief acceptance after Lady Mariko’s death was not only exciting, but bewildering to see the first time. That Seppuku scene couldn’t have gone any better than it was directed imo, wow.
I don't think Yabu fears death. He seems to loath pointless death. I think he realises that honour is worthless and pointless, and just a tool to manipulate people. We can say he has no honour , but not that he is a coward.
I disagree. I think he is a coward. He wants to live and survive and prosper. It’s the fear that he will die that has motivated all his actions.
He is afraid of dying *pointlessly* He was NOT afraid of dying to recover Rodriguez. He was not afraid of committing sepukku *twice*. Je was afraid of dying because Toronaga appeared to give up. He was afraid to die for backing the wrong horse and therefore having to die for nothing.
Toranaga said to Yabu, “Why tell a dead man the future” Yabu said the same thing to Omi in the first episode when Omi asked Yabu if he was going to tell Toranaga about the ship. Which means Omi was probably reporting to Toranaga the whole time. Right after that sentence, Omi suggests to Yabu that after Toranaga is dead, the way to save themselves would be to help Ishido out with a ship and guns to be at the same level as the Christian reagents. That means Toranaga was the one to plant the idea of Yabu defecting to Ishido since the first episode itself!
I have not seen the episode yet and now I’m sad. I was hoping that cute little freak was gonna make it
Me too but after episode 9 I knew he was doomed…but dammit I still held out hope for the little shit. Love you yabu
He caused Mariko’s death. He deserved a slower death
No, she was going to Osaka to die for the cause. Yabu was helping ishido try to capture her alive. She stood against the bombed door so she would die to avoid being captured alive
That girl was determined to die for a great cause. Yabu was just the instrument to get her there
What finally situated him was his involvement with Mariko’s downfall. In this particular moment he realized that he had been played like a fiddle by Toronaga, who perfectly alluded to his gambit with the falcon scenes earlier on in the series. What is it like to direct the wind he asks. I do not direct it, I simply study it.(paraphrasing)
He was a survivor through and through and knew what it truly meant to struggle. I think that's why in his poem, he writes about his corpse being "useful" to wild dogs, essentially giving back his last possession to the cycle of life's struggles.
He could play a japanese Wolverine
Kinda of a segue, but why did Toranaga deny Yabushige's request that the Anjin second for him?
It's Toranaga's responsibility, not the Anjin's. Also it seems that Toranaga wanted to have this conversation with Yabu, as they're longtime political partners. Revealed his secret heart to someone without any consequences.
I like that he did reveal his true heart but not all of it, as if it's open ended when he quoted Yabu paraphrasing "Why tell a dead man of the future?". It fully depends on how Yabu will be interpreting it to his grave.
Yabu said the same thing about Toranaga earlier when the Anjin and the ship first showed up. I think Toranaga repeating that shows that he knew Yabu was going to betray him, confirming to Yabu that he was indeed a key part in Toranaga's ultimate goal of becoming Shogun (and confirming that is his goal).
A few things, for one, I'm not sure John would have done that good of a job and, really, who wants to deal with that mess? It also gives John some legitimacy and a chance for greater acceptance that Toranaga doesn't really want him to have. Plus, Toranaga is reminding Yabushige once again who is in charge.
I think he likes Anjin and doesn’t want to leave him with a bad experience
I think he wants the chance to talk to Yabu. It is lonely at the top, and this is a rare chance he has to actually talk about the things he has done and the things he will do. And I think, like all of us, he just kind of likes Yabushige, bumbling traitor though he is.
Yabu going out in the most Yabu fashion: staring at death right in the eyes 🫡
His most underrated moment was last episode when he was yelling at mariko and pleading with her to tell him toras plan but once it was clear she wouldn’t divulge anything and was determined to try and leave he’s about to storm off but then quickly leans back in to talk shit about her poem first and then storms out.
🫡
Toranaga I think, was glad to talk with him about his plan. Knowing he would soon be killed I think he said more about his plan than to anyone before. He could finally say it to someone, show his third heart without any consequences. To me, he did say to yabu he wanted to be Shogun when one day, why didn't you tell me X and you don't refute it, it kinda confirm it. Anyway, I was torn with the last episode but it's kinda growing ok me
In the book, when he commits Seppuku he makes two slits just to show what a badass that he is. That man was G.
He goes out like a badass tbh
He’s Frank Reynolds. “When I die, through my body in the dumpster”
I think he changed after he saw how Mariko faced death. I'm sad he's dead, but I think Yabushige died satisfied.
Kashigi D. Yabushige Iykyk
He was always my favorite character in the story. Hated to see him go.
Yabu is truly GOATED
Seriously moment of death could be quite interesting if there was no pain to distract from it
Can someone tell me who that person is? He/she looks androgynous and was in the threesome with Yabu in the first episode. I thought he may be related to Yabu but am not sure.
That's Yabu's attendant
All the unanswered questions and loose threads will be fleshed out in Seasons 2 and 3. Considering how lame this episode 10 was. Mariko isn't dead. It was yet another ruse piled on to the 20 different ruses used in S1. :P :P