Gō: Himetachi no Sengoku (江〜姫たちの戦国〜, lit. "Gō: The princesses' Sengoku) is a 2011 Japanese historical drama television series and the 50th NHK taiga drama. It was written for television by Kumiko Tabuchi,[1] 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.[2]
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).
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.
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.[1] 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.[3]
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.[4]
The first and last episodes are 73 minutes long. The rest are 45 minutes long without commercials.
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".[5]
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