PS: I apologize if I overdid it - but I just could not pass up on the opportunity.
Not at all, Ii Naomasa certainly deserves such fanfare and I know Pat thinks equally highly of this clan, if for no other reason than their aesthetic appeal!
I noticed you have referenced the BBC "The Shogun" production a couple of times so let me share my thoughts on it for a moment. Like you, I was thoroughly impressed by it: I thought the production values and sense of scale were very impressive for a TV special.
Now the research wasn't quite perfect: looking at Ii's portrayal in the film, for example, I think they went a bit over the top with his two-handed sword fighting on foot (no wonder he made such a good impression on you!) when in fact Ii probably stayed on horseback throughout the battle. Though he certainly was still a fierce warrior on horseback wielding his yari spear - the film did not exaggerate his courage or gusto for battle. Ii is also shown in "The Shogun" being prematurely wounded fairly early in the battle, before Kobayakawa switched sides, when in reality Ii was wounded by musket fire near the end while he attempted to chase down the fleeing Shimazu clan.
There was also possibly some incorrect armor in this production (e.g. too many samurai such as Ishida were shown wearing earlier period armor). Fortunately I think they got Tokugawa's helmet right: different sources show him wearing different kabuto at Sekigahara but the one with the wreath of leaves as seen in this film seems to be what is depicted in the best sources. Luckily Monarch has made this helmet, the one on a pole in the #285 camp set held by an attendant. It is certainly possible, however, that Tokugawa switched helmets during the battle, and he definitely owned the kind of silver European style helmet Monarch has modeled in its mounted depiction of him.
A final quibble I remember in "The Shogun" was it showing Kobayakawa's camp actually being bombarded by Tokugawa cannon to deadly effect, when Tokugawa most likely just had blanks fired at him from large arquebus (Ishida definitely had cannon at Sekigahara but sources conflict whether Tokugawa had any). Of course, the cannon certainly fit better with the chosen narrative of this documentary ("one of the most reckless decisions in the history of warfare" etc.). This was an interesting angle to take on the battle but far from the only one: "The Shogun" did a very good job summarizing the battle as part of a larger documentary but it barely scratched the surface of all the fascinating events that took place that day. For example, while I started out only as a fan of Tokugawa's eastern army I became very interested in the western forces after doing more research, to the point where I think I actually like some of them more now!
So regardless of any slight accuracy issues (I only mention them so you know as a scholar of the samurai), "The Shogun" was still far better researched, and dare I say more entertaining, than your average Hollywood or made-for-TV production. And best of all, it was in english, which is a real asset when it comes to samurai films.
Now, I say all that in order to bring to your attention another Sekigahara production. Probably the most historically accurate live action depiction of the battle I know of was done as part of a Japanese TV series called Aoi Tokugawa Sandai. It was a 40+ part TV series chronicling the latter life of Ieyasu, of which episodes 11 and 12 are devoted to Sekigahara (there are also a couple of later episodes on Osaka Castle).
You can watch a couple of short excerpts from this series depiction of the battle here for free:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIJD1_rblPM&feature=related,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFk2ITIbM8&feature=related. Neither link shows the actual TV series - the first one is somebody's class project using excerpts and the second is a documentary also borrowing excerpts. Somewhere on youtube a couple of years ago there used to be the whole battle but it may have been taken down (it's difficult to search for because the video title was in Japanese). Unfortunately, there was never dubbing or subtitles.
I do have a version of the Sekigahara episodes saved on my computer with English subtitles, but it is not great quality. I would love to get the full DVD set one day but it's very pricey. This is the only place I know that has the english version:
http://www.kurotokagi.com/tvseries.htm
Anyway, take my word, it is a fantastic reproduction of the battle - all of the personalities that Monarch has rendered are featured with authentic armor. There is also a well researched animated (cartoon) recreation of Sekigahara out there I saw a little while back that I can provide more info on if you or anyone else is interested.
Andanna, it is good to see someone else start to get really obsessively interested in Sekigahara - believe me, been there, done that!
