‘Shōgun’: Release Time, Trailer and What You Should Know About the FX Series – CNET [CNET]
Co-created by husband-and-wife duo Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, the highly anticipated show features Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis and Anna Sawai, and marks the second adaptation of Clavell’s book. In 1980, a hugely popular miniseries that starred Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune took the TV world by storm and gave NBC record-breaking ratings. It was nominated for 14 Emmys and won three for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series, Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Supporting Actor. Will FX’s Shōgun hold up by comparison?
Here is everything we know about the upcoming series, including where to stream it and the release date.
Shōgun release date and time on Hulu
The show will premiere its first two episodes on FX and Hulu on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at midnight, with each new episode airing weekly until the finale on April 23. You can also watch the premiere live on FX’s cable network at 10 p.m. ET on Feb. 27. Each episode will be roughly an hour in length. Below are the episode titles, for reference:
- Anjin
- Servants of Two Masters
- Tomorrow is Tomorrow
- The Eightfold Fence
- Broken to the Fist
- Ladies of the Willow World
- A Stick of Time
- The Abyss of Life
- Crimson Sky
- A Dream of a Dream
What is Shōgun about?
Shōgun takes place in the year 1600 after the death of the taiko, Japan’s supreme ruler, which causes a power struggle within the Council of Regents. With the arrival of British navigator John Blackthorne (Jarvis) on the shores of feudal Japan, the country’s tumultuous political landscape is disrupted as war becomes imminent.
Blackthorne is seen as a threat by everyone but Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Sanada), a samurai who’s hesitant to pursue the title of shōgun. He sees this newcomer as a potential asset, considering his knowledge of the world outside of Japan and experience with naval warfare.
An outsider in a mythical land, Blackthorne is thrown into the deep end of pre-Edo Japan’s culture and politics. It’s a lot for Blackthorne to process. Jarvis explained during the show’s presentation at the 2024 Television Critics Association winter press tour that he had some homework to do. “I learned at the same pace that Blackthorne learned things,” he explained. “I sort of tried to familiarize myself with the basic geopolitics of 1600, the Catholics and Protestants, Queen Elizabeth and stuff.”
The relationship between Blackthorne and Toranaga — which is based on the real one between warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu and British pilot William Adams — disrupts the natural order of things and sets in motion events that may eventually lead (historically speaking) to a peaceful period for Japan.