‘What If Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa Was to Become the Prime Minister’: A historical dream team underperforms

In this year of seemingly endless elections, many voters have probably found themselves staring at a ballot paper and thinking, “Are these really the best options available?” Hideki Takeuchi’s clunkily titled “What If Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa Was to Become the Prime Minister” indulges in some wishful thinking on that front. Rewinding the clock to 2020, it imagines an alternative timeline in which the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic claims the life of Japan’s premier, plunging the country into chaos.

As the government collapses, it enacts an emergency plan to create a unity cabinet, comprising some of the most illustrious figures from Japan’s past. Sadly, this doesn’t involve black magic or time travel; rather, the dream team consists of digital revenants made using AI and 3D imaging, like the love children of ChatGPT and Hatsune Miku.

Naturally, the three “Great Unifiers” of 16th-century Japan play prominent roles: Tokugawa Ieyasu (Mansai Nomura) takes the top post, with samurai warlords Oda Nobunaga (Gackt) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Naoto Takenaka) running the economy and finance ministries, respectively. However, the cabinet takes in a broader swathe of history, from 7th-century statesman Prince Shotoku (Mijika Nagai) to 19th-century reformer Sakamoto Ryoma (Eiji Akaso).

Their first move is to quash the pandemic by declaring a nationwide lockdown, complemented by generous cash handouts to every citizen. The public turns out to be totally OK with this, even as the government wheels out the Shinsengumi samurai police to crack down on rule breakers. When Nobunaga and Hideyoshi later try to usurp power from the benevolent Ieyasu, they’re cheered on by huge crowds of supporters. Hideyoshi proves particularly adept at manipulating the masses, using viral TikTok dances and a public persona that’s equal parts TV game show host and Donald Trump.

The film is based on a 2021 business novel by Akihito Manabe, which became a surprise hit during the pandemic. Manabe was trying to impart lessons about leadership but, however accidentally, the movie ends up playing more like an allegory about authoritarianism.

Then again, any description runs the risk of making this all sound more interesting than it actually is. As if in deference to the personages crowding the screen, Takeuchi opts for a less madcap tone than he struck in “Thermae Romae” (2012) and “Fly Me to the Saitama” (2019), and frequently forgets to be funny at all. Yet the movie’s interest in history doesn’t go much deeper than a junior high-school textbook (a criticism, admittedly, that was also lodged against Manabe’s novel).

Nomura spends the whole thing looking like his batteries need recharging, while most of the ensemble cast are little more than a costume and a few catchphrases. They at least get to have more fun than Minami Hamabe, playing a TV news reporter who gets access to the cabinet and ends up embroiled in some dreary behind-the-scenes intrigue.

Like other recent mainstream movies that dared to venture into politics, such as Hayato Kawai’s “First Gentleman” (2021), the film seems desperate not to do anything that might be interpreted as a criticism of Japan’s current ruling class. It reaches an apotheosis when Ieyasu — who was a military dictator, lest we forget — gives a lengthy lecture to the public about the virtues of political participation. A history teacher would probably send this back with a note saying “needs more work.”