Shōgun, the hit new miniseries, populates its gritty historical drama with a number of intriguing characters, all with their own secrets and desires. Trapped in the prison of her past and torn between two worlds, Toda Mariko has to fight to keep herself afloat, all the while looking impeccably calm. Her life has been shaped by death and suffering, but through it all she remains focused on moving forward – though more out of a sense of fealty than personal desire. So who is Mariko, really? Let’s take a deeper look at Mariko on screen, the page, and her real life counterpart to truly figure out what’s going on behind her steely gaze.

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:01 Her tragic backstory
03:36 Her powerful insight & intelligence
05:26 Opposites attract (...slowly)
07:28 A pivotal moment of mutual understanding
09:23 Mariko vs her real life counterpart
10:05 Warning! Book spoilers here - skip to next chapter to avoid them
10:52 How Mariko avoids damaging stereotypes



The Take was created by Debra Minoff & Susannah McCullough
This video was written by Jessica Babineaux and edited by Travis Martin