Gō (TV series)

Gō: Himetachi no Sengoku (江〜姫たちの戦国〜) is a 2011 Japanese historical drama television series and the 50th NHK taiga drama. It was written for television by Kumiko Tabuchi, based on her own novel of the same name. The drama stars Juri Ueno in the title role, with Rie Miyazawa and Asami Mizukawa as Cha-cha and Hatsu respectively, the sisters of Gō.

The series was criticized by viewers for being "dark" and "boring", and it received two Shinchō Razzie Awards for Worst TV Series and Worst Actress (Juri Ueno).

Plot
At the center of a network of powerful warriors, the title character is Oeyo, also known as Ogō. The series carries the subtitle Himetachi no Sengoku (姫たちの戦国), spotlighting the ladies of the Sengoku period. Gō was a daughter of Oichi, the sister of Oda Nobunaga. Oichi was the wife of Sengoku daimyō Azai Nagamasa. The couple had three daughters. The first, Yodo-dono, became the second wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and mother of his successor Hideyori. The second, Ohatsu, married another Sengoku daimyo, Kyōgoku Takatsugu.

The third daughter was Gō. She was the first wife of Saji Kazunari. However, he joined forces with Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, and opponent Toyotomi Hideyoshi forced them to divorce. Her second husband, Toyotomi Hidekatsu, was a nephew of Hideyoshi, but died in the Japanese invasions of Korea. Finally, Gō married Tokugawa Hidetada, the second Tokugawa shogun, and gave birth to his successor Iemitsu as well as his brother Tadanaga. Her two daughters were Senhime, who married Hideyori, and Masako (Kazuko), consort of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Moreover, her granddaughter ascended the throne as Empress Meishō.

Principal

 * Juri Ueno as Gō, youngest daughter of Azai Nagamasa, mother of Iemitsu
 * Rie Miyazawa as Cha-cha, oldest daughter of Azai Nagamasa
 * Asami Mizukawa as Hatsu, older sister of Gō

Azai Family

 * Mana Ashida as young Cha-cha
 * Honami Suzuki as Ichi, mother of Gō
 * Saburō Tokitō as Azai Nagamasa, father of Gō
 * Minori Terada as Azai Hisamasa, father of Azai Nagamasa, grandfather of Go
 * Masayuki Yui as Akao Kiyotsuna

Oda Family

 * Etsushi Toyokawa as Oda Nobunaga, brother of Ichi, uncle of Gō
 * Ayumi Tanida as Oda Nobutada, eldest son of Oda Nobunaga
 * Yūta Yamazaki as Oda Nobukatsu, second son of Oda Nobunaga
 * Yūta Kanai as Oda Nobutaka, third son of Oda Nobunaga
 * Takashi Kobayashi as Oda Nobukane, uncle of Gō

Vassal of Oda Family

 * Yasuo Daichi as Shibata Katsuie
 * Keisaku Wada as Maeda Toshiie
 * Shun Ōide as Old Toshiie
 * Takehiro Hira as Saji Kazunari, cousin of three sisters
 * Yoshiharu Takeda as Ikeda Tsuneoki
 * Jundai Yamada as Sakuma Morimasa
 * Kōji Seto as Mori Ranmaru
 * Shōta Sometani as Mori Bōmaru
 * Shōgo Sakamoto as Mori Rikimaru

Akechi Family

 * Masachika Ichimura as Akechi Mitsuhide, a general under Oda Nobunaga
 * Mimura as Hosokawa Gracia, a daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide
 * Yū Kamio as Saitō Toshimitsu

Toyotomi Family

 * Gorō Kishitani as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, vassal of Oda Nobunaga
 * Shinobu Otake as One, legal wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
 * Tomoko Naraoka as Naka, mother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
 * Yukiya Kitamura as Toyotomi Hidetsugu, a nephew and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
 * Yoshihiko Hakamada as Hashiba Hidenaga, Toyotomi Hidenaga
 * Taiga as Toyotomi Hideyori
 * Shioli Kutsuna as Senhime
 * Mana Ashida as young Senhime
 * Sawa Suzuki as Kyōgoku Tatsuko

Vassal of Toyotomi Family

 * Masato Hagiwara as Ishida Mitsunari
 * Toshio Shiba as Kuroda Kanbei
 * Shinji Takeda as Ōno Harunaga

Tokugawa Family

 * Kin'ya Kitaōji as Tokugawa Ieyasu, father of Tokugawa Hidetada
 * Osamu Mukai as Tokugawa Hidetada, third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu
 * Kayo Asano as Lady Tsukiyama
 * Shōgo Kimura as Tokugawa Nobuyasu, eldest son of Tokugawa Ieyasu
 * Yasuko Tomita as Fuku
 * Naoto Kinosaki as Takechiyo
 * Tomoyuki Imagawa as Kunimatsu
 * Kaito Kobayashi as Hoshina Kōmatsu
 * Mone Kamishiraishi as Masa

Vassal of Tokugawa Family

 * Masao Kusakari as Honda Masanobu
 * Shunsuke Kariya as Honda Tadakatsu
 * Ken'ichi Sakuragi as Sakai Tadatsugu

Others

 * Motoya Izumi as Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the 15th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate
 * Jin Nakayama as Asakura Yoshikage
 * Kōji Ishizaka as Sen no Rikyū, famous tea masters
 * Manabu Hamada as Sanada Yukimura
 * Tatsumi Fujinami as Sanada Masayuki
 * Takumi Saito as Kyōgoku Takatsugu
 * Akira Hamada as Mōri Terumoto
 * Koji Shimizu as Hōjō Ujimasa
 * Nobuyoshi Hisamatsu as Takeda Katsuyori

Production
Gō was announced as the 50th taiga drama by the NHK on June 17, 2009, to be based on the novel of the same name by Kumiko Tabuchi, who is also the writer for the drama. Tabuchi, composer Ryō Yoshimata, and actress Tomoko Naraoka all previously worked on the 47th taiga drama Atsuhime in 2008. With the success of Atsuhime, Tabuchi was asked in the middle of its run if she can write a series about Gō and her sisters, to which she agreed to. Though she began to write the teleplays for Gō in 2008, she would decide to complete the novel first before continuing to write the scripts.

The usual taiga drama production would first have one-third of the expected number of scripts finished before shooting begins. Afterwards, audience reception is taken into account as the rest of the series is written.

Production credits

 * Sword fight arranger - Kunishirō Hayashi

Episode list
The first and last episodes are 73 minutes long. The rest are 45 minutes long without commercials.

Reception
Though Gō was rigorous in trying to achieve an accurate depiction of Japanese history, it was reported to have been negatively received by viewers, who complained about the series being "dark" and "boring".

Soundtrack

 * NHK Taiga Drama Gō: Hime-tachi no Sengoku, Original Soundtrack (February 16, 2010)