‘Shōgun’ on FX Review: A Dark and Dazzling Epic for 2024

Ancient houses locked in deathly power struggles. An honorable leader with his back against the ropes. An ambitious stranger bringing advanced firepower from across the seas. Enmity brewing between rival faiths, warriors willingly facing death, and secret love affairs unfolding in the shadows that could upend everything. These are the foundations of epic storytelling and they’re all on display in FX’s new ten-part limited series Shōgun. The show finally premieres on FX (and then Hulu) on February 27, almost six years after it was first announced back in 2018. Shōgun‘s size and scope and overwhelming excellence explain why it took so darn long to get the series right.

Shōgun is FX’s new adaptation of James Clavell’s 1970s bestseller of the same name, which, in turn, is loosely inspired by real historic events. Intrepid English navigator John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) has piloted a Dutch ship all the way around the world to pierce a path through the Spanish and Portuguese’s secret trade routes to Japan. However the Protestant explorer doesn’t find instant riches when he shipwrecks on the shore of a small Japanese fishing village. Instead he finds a complex culture of honor, grace, and cruelty that’s already aligned itself with his Catholic enemies. Blackthorne is lucky, though. His arrival in 1600 Japan coincides with the absolutely brilliant Yoshii Toranaga’s (Hiroyuki Sanada) risky ploy to outwit his rival regents. Toranaga immediately sees Blackthorne — and his ship, weapons, and tactical knowledge — as a tool to aid his complex strategies. Toranaga’s ultimate, always unspoken goal? To rise to the highest rank possible in Japanese culture: Shōgun.

FX’s version of Shōgun isn’t the first time this epic saga has been brought to life on the small screen. In 1980, NBC presented a five-part Emmy and Peabody-winning miniseries of its own. Richard Chamberlain played Blackthorne and samurai film legend Toshiro Mifuno was Toranaga. The series was beloved, but like the book, centered the story from Blackthorne’s point-of-view. What FX’s new adaptation, created by showrunners Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, does differently is embed us immediately in the world of pre-Edo Japan. The bulk of the series is presented in Japanese, with English subtitles. Early scenes immediately dig into the nitty gritty of Osaka’s dirty politics, before Blackthorne even has a chance to interlope on the action. Most importantly, Jarvis’s Blackthorne isn’t a dashing hero swiftly adapting to Japanese life, but an opportunist confusedly surfing the waves of fortune.

Perhaps Blackthorne’s biggest stroke of luck is being partnered up with the beautiful and brilliant Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), his primary translator in this foreign land. Lady Mariko comes from a disgraced samurai line, but has striven to find meaning through contradictory missions. One is to serve the Christian God as a devout Catholic, hence how she knows how to speak fluent Portuguese; the other is to steadfastly honor Lord Toranaga’s every request. Naturally, an attraction blossoms between Mariko and “Anjin-san,” as the Japanese nickname Blackthorne. The problem? Even though the Japanese are more open-minded than the Westerners of this era when it comes to sex, Mariko is married to a bullish and possessive samurai.

For me, the word that best encapsulates the world of Shōgun — both the new FX show and original James Clavell novel — is “metal.” Shōgun‘s story goes hard at every turn, gleefully serving up gore alongside eloquent sequences of poetry contests. There are explosions, beheadings, men boiled alive, and omnipresent depictions of seppuku, Japan’s ritual suicide practice. But Shōgun isn’t just a violent spectacle. It’s a poignant meditation on the natures of loyalty and freedom, side-by-side. It’s a lavish historic soap opera, full of depth and spectacle. Shōgun is also, at times, really funny? (At one point, Blackthorne is bullied into an abrupt sword tutorial and his meme-ready response is to say, “This appears to be occurring…”)

Shōgun is a saga about humanity, the universal passions we all share and the secret dreams that keep us going. As such, the FX series offers much for its international cast to tear into. Shōgun star and EP Hiroyuki Sanada brings his trademark blend of danger and gravitas to Toranaga, turning him into a titan just with his presence alone. Raised by Wolves alum Cosmo Jarvis lends Blackthorne his gravelly voice and quirky onscreen presence. It’s a combination that turns a character who could have felt like a two-dimensional white savior trope into a complex human being. As good as supporting turns from Tadanobu Asano as the treacherous Yabushige or Moeka Hoshi as the steadfastly brave Fuji are, Anna Sawai is Shōgun‘s biggest revelation. After doing fine work in Apple TV+’s Pachinko and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Shōgun finally gives the Kiwi star a chance to really shine.

Shōgun is a series that I sincerely hope finds an audience worthy of its ambitions. Much like Blackthorne himself, I relished entering its ruthless world and absorbing its lore like a fastidious student. I do worry that its violence may be too gruesome, its political soap opera too labyrinthine, and its primarily subtitled dialogue too off-putting for casual viewers to latch on as enthusiastically as I did. Shōgun is a special show and a perfect escapist epic for 2024.

Shōgun premieres on FX on Tuesday, February 27.