- Fans are celebrating the new blockbuster series looking at life in feudal Japan
Disney+ has dropped its gory new blockbuster series Shogun – which is being touted by fans as the next Game of Thrones.
The hotly-anticipated action-drama is set is 17th century showcases the brutality of feudal Japan and centres around a military chief battling for his life in a series of savage, violent clashes.
Based on the acclaimed 1975 novel by James Clavell, Shogun features brutal beheadings, people boiled alive and sliced open with katanas – with fans already celebrating it as one of the most blood-thirsty smash hits of the year.
The first two episodes of the 10-part weekly show were released this morning on Disney+, with the fantasy epic getting rave reviews across the world from viewers and critics alike.
One delighted fan said they were enthralled by the opening of the show, tweeting: ‘Holy s*** what an awesome way to launch me into the series today I’ve been waiting not so patiently for literally three years at long last I get my FIX.’
Disney+ has dropped its gory new blockbuster series Shogun – which is being touted by fans as the next Game of Thrones
The hotly-anticipated action-drama is set is 17th century feudal Japan and centres around a military chief battling for his life in a series of savage, violent clashes.
The first two episodes of the 10-part show were released this morning on Disney+ – with the show getting rave reviews across the world from viewers and critics alike.
Set in Japan in 1600, Shogun is rooted in the real history of the period, a dangerous time when several warlords jockeyed for ultimate power
Fans have been quick to share their joy at the release of the new blockbuster series
A second compared the series to the hit show, Game of Thrones, adding: ‘My mind has been blown by Shogun. The acting, the gore – good god the gore! Honestly, this feels like Game of Thrones, only better. Easily the best thing on TV right now.’
Another fan tweeted: ‘HOLY F*** I KNEW THIS SHOW WAS GONNA BE INCREDIBLE!!!’
While a lover of the original 1975 book added: ‘Hell yes. The book is an amazing portrayal of the era, so glad to have it brought to justice on the screen.’
‘What an awesome way to launch me into the series today I’ve been waiting not so patiently for literally three years at long last I get my FIX,’ added another.
Set in Japan in 1600, Shogun is rooted in the real history of the period, a dangerous time when several warlords jockeyed for ultimate power as European powers warily circled the island nation.
It focuses on the feudal 17th century culture within Japan and the battles for power
The story follows the arrival of a shipwrecked Englishman, John Blackthorne (played by Cosmo Jarvis) to Japan
Set in Japan in 1600, Shogun is rooted in the real history of the period, a dangerous time when several warlords jockeyed for ultimate power as European powers warily circled the island nation.
The arrival of a shipwrecked Englishman – John Blackthorne – disrupts the balance in Japan and yet offers intriguing possibilities since he knows important global information. A pawn at first, he rises to become a trusted adviser and ally.
‘It really came down to being the story about agency and this story about characters who are trying to exert control over the path of their own destiny in a very chaotic world where you can literally lose your head at any moment,’ said screenwriter Justin Marks.
The series has elements of intrigue and spectacle like ‘Game of Thrones,’ with brutal beheadings, people boiled alive or sliced open with katanas, blood splashing on window screens and fire-tipped arrows.
Fans of the show have celebrated it, hailing it as the new Game of Thrones (pictured Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko)
The series has elements of intrigue and spectacle like ‘ Game of Thrones ,’ with brutal beheadings and people boiled alive or sliced open with katanas
Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko in the Disney+ series Shogun, which has started streaming now
It also shows the hesitant understanding growing between Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) and a love story between Blackthorne and translator Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai).
‘Maybe fate brought you here for a reason,’ Blackthorne is told shortly after shipwrecking in Japan. ‘Maybe you’ll live long enough to find out what it is.’
But when Marks first picked up a copy of the original 1975 novel by James Clavell, the screenwriter admitted he had been reluctant to get stuck into it.
The book about a British navigator shipwrecked in feudal Japan was massive – over 1,000 pages. And old: ‘It was the book that was on our parents’ nightstand.’ Plus it sounded culturally out of step. He assumed it couldn’t be adapted for 2024.
But with urging from his wife, novelist Rachel Kondo, he eventually picked it up and soon realized why Clavell’s novel was so celebrated.
‘When you open it and you go through it, it is a remarkably modern story,’ he said. ‘It really does get to the core of what it is to encounter another culture and to encounter oneself in that culture.’
Fans have reacted with delight at the new series, which features an all-star cast
The 1975 book ‘Shogun’ sold millions and a 1980 TV miniseries, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune (pictured: Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga)
The series is now riding a wave of new TV offerings that embrace Asian culture, including Max’s ‘Ninja Kamui,’ ‘Warrior’ and ‘Tokyo Vice,’ Paramount+’s ‘The Tiger’s Apprentice,’ and ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and ‘House of Ninjas,’ both on Netflix.
Pictured: Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige in a moody shot from the new show on Disney
Marks and his wife plunged into the fish-out-of-water tale and now are ready for the world to see their 10-episode fictional limited series ‘Shogun.’
The series is now riding a wave of new TV offerings that embrace Asian culture, including Max’s ‘Ninja Kamui,’ ‘Warrior’ and ‘Tokyo Vice,’ Paramount+’s ‘The Tiger’s Apprentice,’ and ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and ‘House of Ninjas,’ both on Netflix.
The 1975 book ‘Shogun’ sold millions and a 1980 TV miniseries, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune, was watched by one in three U.S. households, winning three Emmys and three Golden Globes. Both the series and book triggered a wave of interest in feudal Japan, from kids playing with toy katanas to video games to Tom Cruise starring in ‘The Last Samurai.’
The 1975 book ‘Shogun’ sold millions and a 1980 TV miniseries, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune, was watched by one in three U.S. households, winning three Emmys and three Golden Globes
Atmosphere at the red carpet premiere for FX’s “Shogun” at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, California on February 13, 2024
Stars Hiroyuki Sanada (left) and Tadanobu Asano (right) attend the Los Angeles premiere of Shogun at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on February 13
Anna Sawai, who also stars in the 10-episode series, attended the red carpet event earlier this month in LA
‘It’s almost impossible not to continue to read `Shogun’ once having opened it,’ The New York Times said in its review. ‘Yet it’s not only something that you read – you live it. The imagination is possessed.’
The new show – with Clavell’s daughter Michaela as a producer – adjusts the story. Sanada said that if the book was ‘blue eyes watching Japan,’ the FX series puts on ‘Japanese lenses.’ Blackthorne is less the hero here than a catalyst, as co-creators Marks and Kondo explore power dynamics.
Those tuning in may feel a whiff of ‘The Godfather,’ another epic in the 1970s with a strong sense of loyalty, family and honor, while violence lurks nearby. There’s also a note of ‘Succession,’ which Marks doesn’t deny.
‘There’s always in a writers’ room a show we’re all watching when we’re doing it and `Succession’ was that show,’ he says with a laugh. ‘We really were sort of just loving it. And in some ways it probably bled into the mix.’
Shogun is available to stream on Disney+