Shōgun season 2 is occurring — right here’s what it may be about

Shōgun is an early contender for 2024’s greatest TV present. The collection, which debuted in February, is wise, difficult, tremendously effectively made, fantastically acted, and essentially the most watched FX collection ever, in accordance with a press launch from the community. All of which makes Thursday’s announcement that the present is coming again for extra season fairly unsurprising. The one query that is still is what precisely these seasons are going to be about.

In response to FX’s announcement, the collection is coming again for 2 extra seasons. Improvement on the brand new seasons will start quickly, with work happening between FX and the property of authentic Shōgun creator, James Clavell. The upcoming seasons may also deliver again most of the key skills behind season 1, together with co-creators, showrunners, govt producers, and writers, Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, in addition to govt producer Michaela Clavell, and producer and collection star Hiroyuki Sanada, who performed Lord Yoshii Toranaga in season 1.

Shōgun’s first season is an adaptation of James Clavell’s novel of the identical title, which was initially launched in 1975. The present’s first season adapts Clavell’s whole (very lengthy) novel, which leaves the query of what precisely it can cowl in its subsequent two seasons up for debate.

Photograph: Colin Bentley/FX

One attainable choice for the present could possibly be trying to Clavell’s different work for inspiration. Whereas Shōgun is certainly the preferred of the books, Clavell truly wrote three extra novels in his Asian Saga, with Shōgun being the primary chronologically. He additionally wrote Tai-Pan, a ebook about two merchants venturing into Hong Kong within the 1840s after the First Opium Warfare, Gai-Jin, a sequel to Tai-Pan set 20 years later and principally in Japan, and Noble Home, which is ready again in Hong Kong in 1963.

This number of novels might present a strong foundation for a number of seasons, every happening in a definite time and place. Nonetheless, this may deliver with it loads of different issues together with problems with cultural accuracy. Each Marks and Kondo have been very vocal in regards to the accuracy of Shōgun being extraordinarily vital to them, steadily rewriting scenes to higher replicate cultural Japanese attitudes of the time. To all of the sudden transplant the collection to a completely new nation, with a completely new tradition and totally different customs can be a large endeavor, and certainly change the present considerably. Though that’s to not say it couldn’t be carried out.

Maybe much more compelling although is the presence of Sanada. With the legendary Japanese actor returning to the present, and his towering efficiency as Toranaga being a standout facet of the collection’ first season, it appears extra probably that Marks, Kondo, and the remainder of the manufacturing would choose to maintain the story in Japan and create a collection that’s a extra direct observe as much as Shōgun’s story. Fortunately, this era of Japanese historical past has no scarcity of fascinating and sophisticated subjects for the present to cowl.

Photograph: Katie Yu/FX

Whereas Clavell’s authentic novel modifications the names of well-known Japanese historic figures, it’s carefully primarily based on the nation’s actual historical past, which suggests we can also look to historical past to see what could possibly be subsequent for the present. Toranaga is predicated on Tokugawa Ieyasu, an actual Japanese daimyo and the primary shōgun of the mighty Tokugawa shogunate which dominated the nation from 1603 till 1868.

The primary season ends with Toranaga on the verge of capturing Osaka Citadel, an actual factor Ieyasu did (though barely sooner than 1600). So, if the timeline of Japanese historical past is what the present plans to observe, then the subsequent season would probably be in regards to the fallout of Toranaga’s resolution to overtly seize energy. In actual life, Ieyasu met with fairly a little bit of resistance within the type of a rival daimyo named Ishida Mitsunari who would go on to steer a military in opposition to Ieyasu, throwing Japan right into a civil struggle.

We’ll cease the story there on the danger of showing a number of probably important plot factors, however evidently a civil struggle would give future seasons of Shōgun loads of floor for excellent tv.

After all, we gained’t know for certain what precisely these upcoming seasons of Shōgun will probably be primarily based on till FX makes an official announcement, however we all know we’ll be watching it doesn’t matter what.