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Set in Feudal Japan, this show is fiction but loosely based on a real story of an English Navigator who landed in Japan and integrated in the Japanese society and structure.

This show gave me real Game of Thrones vibes. With the exception of House of the Dragon, nothing has quite filled that void in the TV space for me (not in a world of swords, anyway). What it lacks in intense action or battle scenes (for now), it more than makes up for with incredible, dramatic performances from just about every actor in the cast. It's a show all about the story. The relationships between the characters.

A beautiful show with fantastic direction and storytelling.

This is hands down one of the best shows of the year, maybe of the last few years. Like millions of others, I'm a huge Shogun fan so I was counting down the days until this came out. Even though I couldn't wait to watch it I didn't have a lot of confidence it would be as good as the original but not only was it as good, it was even better and by a lot. The last episode was kind of disappointing. It wasn't bad but it could've been better. I was ok with the ending but it still left me a little unsatisfied so what do they do? They go and renew it for another two seasons to keep this amazing story going. I've already watched this first season a few times.

Shogun (2024) is a stunning achievement in television - a richly textured, deeply immersive experience that feels both epic and deeply personal. Rarely does a show balance historical authenticity, powerful performances, and emotional depth so effortlessly.

The production values are absolutely top-tier. Every scene feels meticulously crafted: from the lush, misty landscapes to the intricate feudal interiors, the show pulls you straight into 17th-century Japan without ever feeling forced or "touristy." The costume design and cinematography are gorgeous without being showy - everything serves the mood and story.

The performances are phenomenal across the board. Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Toranaga delivers a masterclass in subtlety and power. His portrayal of a man navigating impossible political currents is both riveting and moving. Cosmo Jarvis, as the shipwrecked John Blackthorne, brings a rawness and vulnerability that avoids the usual "white savior" trap - his arc feels earned, complicated, and human. Anna Sawai as Mariko is another standout, blending strength, sadness, and quiet dignity into one of the show's most unforgettable characters.

The writing is smart and patient, trusting the audience to keep up without spoon-feeding exposition. It captures the essence of James Clavell's novel while modernizing some aspects with sensitivity and intelligence. Themes of loyalty, honor, survival, and cultural clash are explored with nuance rather than cliché.

Why not a full 10? The pacing occasionally falters - a few middle episodes stretch scenes a little thin - and some viewers may find the dense political maneuvering requires close attention. But honestly, these are small quibbles compared to what the series accomplishes.

Shogun is television at its most ambitious and rewarding. It demands your full attention, and it rewards you with a rich, unforgettable journey. Highly recommended.

Always loved Japan since I first heard of their culture. Shogun, season 1 so far, was done nearly perfect. Everything, music, visuals, actors, class, story.

One remark though; it'd have been more 'interesting' if the English sailor's character had a little more depth and intelligence, but I can understand this choice for a dumb, simple sailor in the 15th century too. I just found Captain Allegren's character having that perfect natural dept that enriches a character. Jonathan Blackthorne is not bad however, just a little more 'down to earth'.

Well done, all who've contributed to this work of art.

Shogun is easily one of the best shows I've seen-like a Japanese Game of Thrones. While the pacing drags at times and the ending feels more like a setup for season two than a true payoff, the storytelling and acting are outstanding. The betrayal, romance, and rich cultural depth had me hooked. The translation scenes felt awkward, but they added to the show's authenticity. But for me, it was the dialogue and bursts of action that truly stood out-ultimately making Shogun an absolute must-watch. I'd like to also add that the camera work in this series was phenomenal too. I was blown away at some of the shots, made it feel like a movie not a TV show on Hulu.

Very clearly this is one of the best TV shows and a contender for top TV historical TV show.

The ambience, script, costumes, cinematography, they are so well designed that you would feel at home in XVII century Japan. This show is Art.

Clear careful treatment of culture, ideology and religion was taken into account, which highlights both the source material and its representation. Albeit not historically accurate, it is close to portraying the events enhanced for dramatic purposes. The mindset of historical figures depicted seems so realistic based on the ideologies of the period. The characters are flawed, realistic and not cartoonish. This show respects its audience just as much as the clan respects Tokugawa.

When I first heard about Shogun I couldn't wait to see it because I absolutely loved the original. I then read the reviews and while the majority of them are really good they were still mixed enough that I thought I'd judge for myself? Well, I loved it. I loved it so much I'm already watching it all the way through again. I kept telling myself that there's no way they can keep every episode as entertaining as the last but they did. It just kept getting better and better. Like many have already said it's historically inaccurate. I can get past shows like that as long as it was entertaining enough and this definitely was.

I have fond memories of the series from the 80's.

This started very impressively from every perspective. My partner became so fascinated by it that he read the book super quickly.

But after around the 3rd episode my patience ran very thin.

All the visual aspects of the show are incredibly authentic and impressive. What let the show down for me is the way the story is told.

Japan is portrayed as a massive death cult. People die at the drop of a hat to defend someone else's honour / face or whatever. With 10 hours of screen time you thought they might have time to portray some interesting / fun aspects of life at the time. But all you ever see is the ways people are killed or kill themselves, and a bunch of selfish old men wanting the power for it's own sake while being depressed about it. From what I remember GOT is like that too , that's why I stopped watching early in series 2. But remembering the 80's series and knowing this won't run to 7 seasons I persevered.

My partner said the book doesn't tell it like that at all. In fact so many storylines have been altered that it makes very little dramatic sense. Towards the end it's just talk and talk. It seems the producers wanted to avoid any big battle scene at all costs, so the characters just talk about how it all ends.

The Blackthorn character seems to understand no Japanese one minute, and totally fluent another. This especially when his translator is gone is very baffling.

For all it's flaws the old series afforded some satisfaction when it ended. This just left me scratching my head.

I have to agree with some comments before me. Visually stunning, nice story telling, great atmosphere. It was so satisfying to transport to a period Japan and learn more about such times.

My only complain is Cosmo Jarvis as Blackthorne. Since the first scene I could not forgive his fake blue lens and was staring at them the whole 10 episodes. Why it has to be like that? Just for one comment that he had a blue eyes?! It was totally not important.

Also it was not so believable to me to be so young as Pilot and make it that far (as career) to sail on such big mission. Of course, he had to be also very handsome (in same time) and in the middle of series lectured how English men treat women in those times so respectfully - it was super cringe and unnecessary.

At the end of the series the games were little bit too much, it was still enjoyable and made us expect a lot from the finale that never really happened. I am not sure if there will be season 2 with new cast and a new story... I would not mind.

Since the Englishman Blackthorne had quite a little impact on the story and also Portuguese, I don't think we have to force them into possible future series. I only enjoyed character of Blackthorne for the fact that all had to be explained to him from the scratch and it gave us more insights into Japanese customs that time, and of course he had to create this love interest to season things up. Other than that in some scenes he was slowly becoming even annoyance. I was also not completely sold with Cosmo Jarvis' acting, deep voice and supposed to be funny vulgar cursing?!

No matter, it was still very enjoyable and visually beautiful series and I wish to see more from Japan. I really enjoyed acting of all the asian cast and even those dark black eyes (which were also fake lens) of Tommy Bastow as Portuguese Father Martin Alvito...

This show is borderline perfect, it's weaves and bobs make so much sense that you are enthralled by its characters and stories. The shows music and cinematography is absolutely perfect. The existential questions that the protagonist asks to Mariko may seem odd at first but make up the fundamental philosophical difference between the western world and Japan. 'we live and we die' a quote from the show makes up this perfectly. The englishmans sharp critique of the Japanese and their way of life and eventual change of mind is the fundamental conflict in the mind of the protagonist. We are usually only given borderline racist or fetished version of feudal Japan in our movies and TV shows, this is a show which puts the Japanese characters front and centre and watches as the dance of death and power plays out with the foreigner playing the part of a catalyst or as Hiroyuki Sanada puts it a 'distraction'.

I can't recommend Shogun enough! This is one of those rare shows that's a must watch. It takes place in Japan during the 1600' where Lord Yoshii Torango is turned on by Council of Regents and they try to kill him and his people. Then he finds a mysterious European ship marooned with its crew in a nearby village and everything changes from what he finds on it. This series has the look and feel of a blockbuster movie. Its world building, character development and attention to detail is as good as anything you'll see in tv. FX usually does a great job with its shows and Shogun is no different. I'll be shocked if this isn't nominated for several awards.

Shogun - Streaming on the Disney channel.

My Rating 10/10

I put off viewing this 18 Primetime Emmy and 4 Golden Globe winning series for a while because I thought it would be a rewarding but difficult watch.

However it only took 2 episodes of the 10 one hour instalment epic saga produced by FX Hulu to realise I was watching something very special indeed.

I enjoy subtitle movies however it does take a lot of concentration reading the dialogue especially when some of the characters look very similar in appearance.

I certainly don't make that comment to sound odd racially but we are not used to many Japanese faces on our television screens ,especially when dressed so exquisitely in medieval costume plus there's a lot of action going on .

After a few episodes I got to know the main characters and certainly enjoyed their wonderful performances including Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne who in an interview said that he doesn't have a Welsh accent so he used a "contemporary posh bumbling English accent. I found that rather strange because he sounds uncannily like the famous Welsh actor Richard Burton.

John Blackthorne is a Protestant English maritime pilot who serves on a Dutch fleet seeking to establish trade with Japan.

The stranded alien sailor arrives on totally foreign shores when the Dutch trading ship Erasmus with its starving crew is grounded at Ajiro on the Izu Peninsula of Japan situated in the southern domains of Edo (now Tokyo).

The English pilot John Blackthorne and his crew are taken prisoner by local samurai some are executed rather gruesomely by being boiled alive however some survive including John Blackthorne who becomes known as "anjin" .

Angin in Japanese means pilot or navigator.

Later after escaping execution John Blackthorne joins the court of Lord Yoshii Toranaga a shrewd, powerful feudal Lord at odds with his own dangerous political rivals and played brilliantly by Hiroyuki Sanada who won this year's Primetime Emmy for Lead actor in a Drama series .

The drama of Shogun a saga of rival kingdoms really takes off when the four regents, led by Lord Ishido Kazunari meet at Osaka Castle to initiate the process to impeach and thereby condemn to death the fifth regent, Yoshii Toranaga.

All the characters of this great ensemble cast are interesting as well as fascinating . I won't even attempt to tell more of the plot of Shogun but will just mention a few more of the fascinating cast of characters that help bring this 17th Century historical drama to life.

Anna Sawai who won this years Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama is superb playing Toda Mariko a poised and mysterious highborn woman. Mariko is deeply faithful and darkly determined. She is married to Toda Hirokatsu "Buntaro", more in duty than in love.

The villain of the piece is Kashigi Yabushige a scheming lord of Izu and played by Tadanobu Asano .

It's interesting to compare the historical timeline of Shogun to Europe at the beginning of the 17th Century with the virtually unknown culture and customs of Japan at that time.

Charles the 1st was on the throne in England,the slave trade in Southern Africa was at its peak and in America the English established Jamestown in 1607 followed by the first permanent English settlement when the Pilgrims founded Plymouth in 1620 .

Now a little about the production itself Shogun won 18 Emmys, an all-time record for a single season of television as well as the acting awards it also won for Outstanding Drama, Best Direction , Costumes and make up ,Production Design and the fabulous Cinematography .

The opening title designs which also won an Emmy I especially mention because they are stunning I never got sick of watching the superb visuals which feature medieval war ships in combat sailing on a traditional and distinctive Japanese dry garden (karesansui) or Japanese rock garden .

The series music score by Nick Chuba, Atticus Ross and Leopold Ross is also outstanding and epically atmospheric .

Amazingly most of Shogun's filming locations are actually in British Columbia in Canada, with locations including Vancouver, Port Moody, and Ucluelet on Vancouver Island with a sprinkling of UK shots This is the second time Shogun has been made as a television series it was previously released 1980 starring Richard Chamberlain I might take a look at it sometime?

I can't praise Shogun based on the novel by James Clavell highly enough it's certainly not light entertainment and does take some concentrated effort but for me the effort was certainly worth it .

I've just finished the first two episodes and I cannot wait for more! The atmosphere, plot, acting are superlative. The politicking and scheming are prime Game of Thrones but I hate making that comparison as I want this show to stand on its own. The scheming between the various lords and the Portuguese faction is titillating and suspenseful as we watch various characters play the game. I love it! I cannot wait for next week. I haven't felt this way about a show in a long while. Highly recommended if you enjoy top tier drama.

Funny to see most one star review being uneducated people who complain about subtitles.

Japanese should never be dubbed. If you can't read, move to something your level like barbie.

Everything is just spot on with this series!

I get that Americans aren't used to reading subtitles, but come on. So what if the series is mostly in Japanese? It's about an English man stuck in Japan in the 17th century. Why wouldn't it be in Japanese?

The acting, staging, camera shots, editing, direction - everything is 10 out of 10.

I rarely give a 10 after just two episodes, but this is an amazing series. I rarely give anything a ten. This is probably one of the best series I've seen the last ten years.

Mark my words - this'll get an Emmy for sure! If you haven't watched it, be sure to do. It's exciting, full of history and just a gem to watch.

When I saw the title on the Disney channel I assume it's one of those mock Asian war drama we always see on the screen with fake mock Asian token actors like we always see. I can not be more wrong. The richness in characters is built on real Japanese actors who are world class actors in the film/Tv industry and the depiction of the religious and political tension is something I have not seen on a main stream service for long time. Not to mention how rare we get to hear Japanese spoken with majority of the air time on an English language channel. This authentic Japanese/Englsih drama is exceptionally well made and has the potential to lead the white audience into a new realm of Asian western fusion genre. I expect some awards to be won shortly.

There are small parts of it that I liked. But very few. The pace is very uneven. All Japanese actors are fantastic and believable- doing the best with what they are given. There are two main issues. First - the writing is atrocious, formulaic, overly simplified and incoherent. The 2nd issue is the way Blackthorn character is written. He is neither the English gentleman nor the simpleton. Writers can't decide, and because of that his actions and words do not make sense most of the time and it is frustrating. Overall - overrated by about 3 points. Only 6/10 really. Watch 'The Last Samurai' Instead. A very similar story but well written, cohesive and overall a much better quality.

Is it historically accurate? No. Neither the source material (novel) is. Is the show fully novel-accurate? No. Some things were changed, in order to tell the story for this show, and it works mostly??

There is some "modern" injected, although not too much, just it would seem that "we" can never separate fully from the time we exist in, thus our time's "bits and pieces", follow us on all our "time travels".., also as authentic it looks, still it only looks..

Have to admit that for quite some time, I haven't liked a TV show character as much as have Mariko, or Fuji, etc, while aware of figures from history, sad and happy at the same time, that the show stayed, more or LESS, true to it overall, "underwhelming" finale included..

Premise describes events leading to creation of (most powerful) longest lasting Shogunate, where "Sacrifice of the Few" was prioritized and made for "The good of Japan", thus, no large battles as well as attempting to avoid those same, is also more or less, true to it all..

As I'm writing my review, more than couple months after I saw the show, my question, or complaint is: "seasons two and three"?? This was obviously supposed to be a Limited Series that deals with this part, thus additional seasons will follow the events post creation particular Shogunate? An era of "Japan's closed borders" and "expelling of" the Catholics"? Is Shogun going to become Anthology Series??? What are we going to watch exactly part of additional seasons??

It would seem the show got "renewed" for additional seasons only to have an entrance into "Drama Series" promptly. Let's just hope that "business models" don't leave a bad mark on this well made, and obviously Limited Series, down the line..

Best drama,action & story telling with the best actresses i luv them more than any blue eyed samurai's please !!?

For lovers of breaking bad. I'm srry but this is a different category .

We luv not just any drama i just said breaking bad the most lovable drama there is but drama with samurai ?

If any who want shogunate i bow for u and should i say "john doe sama" u would luv it but i hate to break it to u it ended just like last samurai without fully content.

Best dressing, best places, best everything just needed a "Tom cruise" i'm srry but he stuck with us otherwise Awesome Mini-TV show really !!!