I first started watching it when I was stationed on Oahu in the early 1980s. Station KIKU in Honolulu used to broadcast it with subtitles(!). Yes, it was formulaic (I've read that just about all of the Japanese TV historical series are), but I enjoyed it and watched it regularly. When I was stationed in Japan in 1983-84, I would sometimes watch it when I went to Tokyo, even though it wasn't subtitled.