In the 1980s, the TV series Shōgun took audiences by storm, transporting them to 17th-century Japan in a tale inspired by James Clavell’s best-selling book of the same name.
Now, a new FX version of the show has been released in 2024 on Disney Plus, starring cinema legend Hiroyuki Sanada in the cast.
The 10-part drama has been nothing short of a spectacle so far, boasting a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews before its release to the public.
It tells the tale of an Englishman who arrives in Japan in 1600 during the feudal era, quickly becoming embroiled in a world ruled by warlords and filled with formidable samurai.
While word of mouth has quickly spread about Shōgun and its epic performances, beautiful scenery and authentic portrayal of Japanese culture, some might not have heard of the series yet, or found time to catch up on the hour-long episodes.
After Metro.co.uk spoke to series leads Hiroyuki, Cosmo Jarvis and Anna Sawai, here are seven of the most compelling reasons to watch.
Shōgun already has an incredible legacy
While the 2024 series of Shōgun is astounding audiences around the world, this is not the first time this story has been told.
The novel written by James Clavell was released in 1975, with the historical fiction book taking inspiration from real-life people in history.
Five years later, the Shōgun mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain was released, becoming the first American TV series to be filmed completely on-location in Japan and receiving multiple awards, including Golden Globes and Emmys.
Sawai, who plays lead character Toda Mariko, said: ‘With every… the novel and then this miniseries and our show, I think we’re really evolving and so I’m just [grateful] to be participating in that legacy.’
Jarvis acknowledged that ‘there are some changes from the book’, but they ‘have been conducted with a huge amount of respect’.
‘If there are any changes, it’s not for me to say whether they’re improvements or what they are, but I think they’re still in the spirit of what James Clavell did in the first place,’ he stated.
The 2024 reboot stars cinema legend Hiroyuki Sanada
Sanada is one of those actors who when you see that they’re part of a film or TV show, you’re almost guaranteed to be in for a brilliant watch.
He stars Shōgun as Lord Yoshii Toranaga, a fictional character based on the real-life person Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shōgun of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan.
Sanada, who has starred in productions including The Last Samurai, The Wolverine, Avengers: Endgame, John Wick: Chapter 4 and Lost, told Metro.co.uk and other media that he felt ‘so happy’ to be involved in this project.
Sawai revealed that while she had initially thought that he would be ‘strict’ given his renown, he was ‘surprisingly gentle, warm and welcoming’,
‘If I had a small question that probably didn’t mean much, he would still give me 10 answers. I truly learned from his example and so I honestly don’t know how I would have played Mariko without his help.’
‘I feel the same way,’ said Jarvis, who plays John Blackthorne in the show.
‘He was just an amazing example. He set a very clear and nourishing example out of sheer love for the project and enthusiasm for it. Being around made the dynamic of the whole thing self explanatory.
‘You wanted to do good work to honour how much pride he had in doing it and how much attention he was giving it and across every detail. Great example to be around and really encouraging for everybody.’
The latest remake is ‘authentic’ and avoids ‘stereotyping’
While speaking in our interview, Sanada outlined how making Shōgun was a ‘great chance to introduce our culture to the world.
‘That’s why I try to make [it] authentic as much as possible,’ the Japanese actor said.
The 63-year-old stressed that when it came to the script of the reboot, they wanted to try and ensure that they avoided any ‘stereotyping’ or ‘misunderstanding’.
The actor was also a producer on the show, explaining the Japanese film crew – which included samurai drama specialists for each department – worked with a Western crew to ‘create something new’.
‘So it’s going to [have] great meaning for me and for the industry, for the next generation of Japanese artists. So big, big to me,’ he added.
Sawai, 31, expressed how she feels about the way in which Shōgun depicts Japanese culture authentically, as a person of Japanese descent.
‘I also feel that his novel introduced Japan to the world, and the miniseries also really entertained everyone and it was a whole thing,’ she said.
‘But as a Japanese [person], I think this show brings more authenticity to it and more accuracy. And as a Japanese viewer, I don’t feel like our culture is being depicted in a way that I don’t believe is true.’
The history of the real-life inspirations behind the characters is fascinating
Toranaga, John Blackthorne and Mariko might not have been real… but their real-life counterparts Tokugawa Ieyasu, William Adams and Hosokawa Gracia (also known as Hosokawa Garasha and Akechi Tama) certainly were.
Tokugawa became the first shōgun of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan, and is remembered as one of the ‘great unifiers’ of the country.
Adams was the first Englishman to enter Japan, rising the ranks to become a samurai with close links to Tokugawa after he arrived as the pilot major in a Dutch merchant fleet.
Gracia was a noblewoman born into an aristocratic family who was loyal to Toronaga and played a very important role before the crucial Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. In real life, she and Adams never met.
Speaking about how Mariko was inspired by Gracia’s life, Sawai said: ‘She’s based on a historical figure in Japan called Hosokawa Garasha-san.
‘I don’t want to spoil anything, so I can’t talk too much about her, but she lived a very similar life to Mariko. I think that as a Japanese woman, I can very much see my mum, my grandma, all these people within her.’
The series boasts incredible action sequences
As can be expected in a show that’s based in an era of samurai in 1600 Japan, Shōgun of course features action scenes that will take your breath away.
Sanada stressed how ‘difficult’ those scenes are to create, especially when the cast are trying to ensure that the high-octane moments match with the emotions of what’s unfolding.
In episode three, he explained that they spent two nights shooting through the night in Vancouver filming a ‘very important scene’ for Toranaga, Blackthorne and Mariko, which was ‘so much fun’.
One X user called Brandon wrote: ‘Honestly you can just cancel TV for the rest of the year because nothing is beating #SHOGUN. This week’s episode has more than enough suspense, thrills and action to balance last week’s 3 hours of setup.’
Another named Joshua said that Shōgun features ‘killer action sequences that made my jaw drop’, while Janson added: ‘Watching #Shogun episode 3 and oh yeah, this is good stuff. Trickery, plots and great action? Sign me up.’
From costuming to sound, the attention to detail is second to none
You just have to watch Shōgun for a minute to realise just how much minute detail goes into every second frame of the series.
During our interview, Sawai pointed out that in the case of her character Mariko, her costumes are symbolic of her story’s progression throughout the drama.
‘When I first saw [costume designer] Carlos’ [Rosario] board of what he was thinking for Mariko, and he was telling me that he wanted to tell a story… So when we first meet her she’s wearing this white greyish uchikake, which is like the outer layer, and slowly we start to see camellias start to blossom.’
Later on, there’s a scene where Mariko has ‘found her voice’ and in stark contrast, she’s wearing black and red.
‘It’s just so beautiful how each department had their own way of telling a story. I was in awe honestly all the time.’
Jarvis, 34, then chimed in to add: ‘Every department had such unique problems and the way that they overcame their problems… Like how the sound [department] would overcome the problem of the sound of a hydraulic ram or strange contemporary noises.
‘There were always problems that were always being solved in every single department. It was just crazy to behold the technical proficiency and the experience that they had as a crew in terms of making it happen and making the best decisions to allow the world to be conveyed. It was quite something.’
The programme has earned rave reviews
One critic, Eric Francisco from Inverse, described the 2024 revival of Shōgun as ‘a rich, textured, even sensitive grownup drama that knows how to strike the razor-thin balance between spectacle and spectacular’.
Judy Berman of Time Magazine also wrote: ‘At a time when so many of TV’s biggest swings, from Amazon’s The Rings of Power and Citadel to Netflix’s Stranger Things and The Crown, have yielded at least partial misses, FX’s Shōgun stands apart as a genuine masterpiece.’
Matt Cabral of Common Sense Media shared: ‘Shogun is beautifully shot, features stunning costume design, stars a sprawling ensemble cast of captivating characters, and sports the sort of ambitious scale and scope typically associated with big screen sagas.’
Deepanjana Pal of Film Companion said: ‘From the haunting shots of the armours that stand in rooms as silent and magnificent reminders of past conflicts and present stakes… Shōgun is storytelling that puts its faith in the audience’s intelligence.’
Sarah Ward of Concrete Playground also added: ‘This is potent, thoughtful and immediately engrossing viewing, and lavish and precisely made also. As skilled at giant setpieces as it is at plunging into political scheming and emotional yearning, Shōgun makes getting drawn in instantaneous.’
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FX’s Shōgun is available to watch on Disney Plus with new episodes released on Tuesdays.
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