One of the biggest shows of 2024 is FX’s Shōgun, created by created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks. The show is based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel Shōgun and has garnered widespread acclaim since it was released. We will be laying out the Shōgun TV show guide and origins so you know more about the show and how much of it is based on the books.
Shōgun TV Show
The first season of Shōgun debuted with two episodes in late February on FX and FX on Hulu. After that, a new episode was released every week for a total of ten episodes. The show was a success for it’s amazing directing, writing, visuals, production, and source material. Most of the show is in Japanese and subtitles are provided. This is from the original source material as John Blackthorne is stranded in Japan and is forced to learn Japanese.
Shōgun takes place in 1600 in Japan and the events of the novel are based on actual events. Nonetheless, the book and show are historical fiction and for anyone interested in the actual history of Japan around this time should do their own research. That will ruin the plot for the novel though so I do recommend that after reading the book or watching the show.
Inspiration
The obvious inspiration for the show is the book by James Clavell. But fans of Game of Thrones will see a lot of resemblance. Without Game of Thrones, this show wouldn’t have been adapted or sought out. The production and budget for this show is not cheap and only the success of Game of Thrones would have greenlit the show.
There are a bunch of shots and fight scenes that feel very Game of Thrones-esque. Few shows are ever this impactful and even after a decade after Game of Thrones premiered, we are still seeing its influence. Last year it was Three-Body Problem and this year it is Shōgun.
How True is Shōgun to the Book?
A question that many people will have is how true is Shōgun to the book? This is a tricky question because a TV show is never going to be able to be exactly true to the books because of time restriction and pacing. For the most part, the show is an honest adaptation of the book.
But as someone who read the book, I was not happy with the show. The main issue I have is that they butchered the character development of John Blackthorne. There are a lot of things he does that shapes his character and how his image among the Japanese changes over time. The show does a horrible job of this and removes all those scenes that make Blackthorne likable.
I understand that there wasn’t enough time to incorporate most of those scenes. But that creates the problem of creating a Blackthorne in the show that doesn’t resemble the character in the books. It makes me wonder if the people who created the show read the books instead of skimming it and taking the most important scenes from it.
If you read the books, you will not be happy with the show. I know I wasn’t as the show isn’t as honest to the books as I would have liked. That is why I recommend to only read the book after watching the first season. Besides the Blackthorne problem, I felt like the plot was simplified for the show so readers could follow.
Conclusion
Shōgun is a great TV Show that is unlike anything else out there. What other show would have cast mainly a Japanese cast and made the show in Japanese? If this show was produced 15 years ago, I do not think that would have been the case. While I do have my issues with the show, I do think the production and cast make it worth watching.
The success of the first season of Shōgun has greenlit a second and third season of the show and they are in early development. There are two books and I think there will only be three seasons as a result.
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The post Shōgun TV Show Guide and Origins first appeared on Books of Brilliance.