The only sadistic pleasure Toranaga took there is repeating the line he told Omi in the first episode to him.
Fair points, icon and DigitalC.
Yabu’s grin at him seemed to be one of “Fuck you, asshole, I can take this.” I think he wanted that.
In the book Yabu insists his second (Omi, not Toranaga) wait until he’s made the SECOND cut. All present agreed it was the best seppuku they’d ever seen.
Yeah, that makes sense to me.
But both could be true: Yabu was saying ‘I can take this’ while Toranaga is enjoying waiting to act for a bit while watching Yabu’s bravely-borne physical pain.
If anything waiting for him to make the second cut is more a sign of respect than anything else.
I finished watching it yesterday (never read the book). I liked it, but I didn’t love it. It looked great, though.
Apparently the numbers were so good, they are planning two sequels. I am not thrilled.
If it ain’t broke, fix it 'til it is.
Not a good omen.
Sequels? Continuing the story of Toranaga and Anjin?
Well, very likely not Mariko. 
But yeah, that is the scuttlebutt.
Well, never say never. Maybe they could pull it off. But my immediate gut reaction to that is that they are absolute idiots for even contemplating it.
Yeah, with dragons.
Just kidding.
I hope.
Turns out she had an identical cousin.
Studio exac: “Shogun me the money!”
I finished watching the series. I thought the actors and cinematography were excellent. I didn’t like all the suicides to defend Lord XYZ’s honor. It seems like the whole country was in dire need of a suicide prevention hotline – 1-900-NO-SEPPUKU.
There’s definitely room for a second season, there’s still characters left that didn’t suicide themselves yet… What a dumb story, is this how it was in medieval Japanese times?
Shogun 2: Electric Seppuku
Shogun 3: The Enshogunning
Shogundam
Shogun Stooges
Sho’ Gunna Git You, Sucka!
Shogun Assassin (sued for copyright infringement)
The Sho and the Gunnious.
To some extent, yes. The story is loosely based on real events. Seppuku was a part of that culture, at least among the samurai class.
It was a very different culture. The nice thing about the book is you have time to absorb it.
But no, there is really no story left unless you abandon all connection to history.