Yesterday marked the premiere of the new television adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel, Shōgun. The series is set to run for a total of 10 episodes on Hulu and FX in the United States, while UK viewers can stream it via Disney+. The show is based on the novel of the same name which was previously adapted into a 1980 American miniseries. The latest iteration has been overseen by the husband-and-wife creative team of Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, the latter of whom also co-wrote the upcoming Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
The first two episodes have already been released, with the remaining to be released weekly. Shōgun is a historical drama set in Japan in the year 1600, where Lord Yoshii Toranaga, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, is fighting for his life as his enemies unite against him. When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby village, the character of John Blackthorne, played by Cosmo Jarvis, is introduced.
With the abundance of reviews, Shōgun currently sits on a perfect 100 percent critics rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. In a four-star review from The Guardian, the show is described as “peacocking, mesmerizing television,” while USA Today raves, calling it “beautiful, rich and deeply compelling,” that it ‘might just scratch that Game of Thrones itch.’
According to Vulture, the show evokes The Godfather films and pop-historical melodramas such as Elizabeth and Gladiator “in its focus on the tactical aspects of taking and holding power,” adding that the tensest scenes unfold among the Japanese characters, who keep things as subdued as possible, even when discussing matters of life and death, until it’s time to draw swords. Another review from Rolling Stone compared it favorably to the 1980 TV version, noting that “This Shōgun has many hearts and many points of view, rather than fixating on the simplistic stranger in a strange land story from the Eighties. It’s terrific.” Indiewire’s review even compared the series to Game of Thrones, stating that it succeeds in areas that the popular HBO show did not, and that it has “a narrative that’s far less vexing.
Read the full article on NME here: Read More