Semishigure

AKA Love and War of the Samurai or Bunshiro and Fuku. So far I have watched 2 parts of the 3 part miniseries on KIKU TV. The story is from a novel by Shuhei Fujisawa, who also wrote Twilight Samurai and The Hidden Blade, two of the better samurai movies I have seen lately.
Bunshiro and Fuku are neighbors as children and as they grow and flirt a bit, they fall in love. Being children in samurai families, duty always comes first and their destiny is not to be together. They are separated 5 years when Fuku becomes concubine to their Lord and bears his child. They are separated 20 years when the story actually starts.
Bunshiro is adopted by a very quiet but honorable samurai and tries to emulate him. There is intrigue in the clan and Bunshiro's father is forced to commit seppuku. Bunshiro and his mother are not killed but are forced to live in poverty. Bunshiro is given back his status by his father's enemy, but he accepts it to give his mother a better life.
The slime ball of course wants to use Bunshiro in his plans to keep the succession of the Lord's heir in his favor, and that does not bode well for Fuku.
The background samurai tale is that while in poverty, Bunshiro trains with masters to hone his skill as a swordsman. He meets Hyoma, his nemesis at a dojo and I can't wait until next week when a lot of action and the showdown is promised.

I finished the first season of Lost and darn if it didn't leave me hanging. I enjoyed the series, but one of the best parts of this show for me was the scenery. I spent a lot of time on that beach when my kids were little. We net the baby aholehole and manini like so many Hawaiian kids do, and slipped on the seaweed. I still have the shells and glass I collected. Good memories.