Mariko's casting is terrible.

I don't think she was right for the part at all. Her acting really isn't that good. And she's too Westernized for the role. And I'm 99% sure she didn't bother to read the book before playing this role. But most of the problem isn't even her, it's the writing they gave her. The way they wrote her wasn't Mariko's personality at all. This depiction of Mariko was gonna suck no matter who they cast. But yeah they could have cast better in addition to giving her better material. And of course costuming, I don't know why they let her have the modern hairstyle instead of making her look period-accurate. It's not like she would even need to cut her hair or anything, she'd just have to spend a bit of time getting her hair prepped before each filming. Just laziness all around.

Opinions vary. I thought it was an excellent performance of one of the major figures in the plot.

Lmao both her parents are Japanese... You're just some freak upset that there's not a 300lb lgbt of color on the screen for you to dilate at.

To me, his consort, "Usami Fuji" would have made the better Mariko to be honest. Natural Asian beauty and most matching the mesmerizing aura of the 1980's "Mariko".

While Anna Sawai who played Mariko would have made a great consort with all the pain and hate she displayed so greatly (but somewhat misleadingly) in Mariko's role.