Following the release of Shōgun, the FX show has made a huge splash among fans gaining global fandom and praise for its holistic accuracy on the landscape the show is based on. Starring legendary Japanese actor and singer, Hiroyuki Sanada who recently appeared in John Wick: Chapter 4, Shōgun has elevated to be one of the greatest shows of recent times.
It was the hard work and years of preparation reimagining James Clavell’s 1975 historical novel of the same name for the purpose of cinematic representation. Sanada also served as a cultural adviser while being a producer of the show. Still, a recent update might upset you if you have showered lots of love for the epic show set in 17th-century feudal Japan.
Shōgun Season 2 Update Is Not Promising
Shōgun co-creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo recently chatted with The Hollywood Reporter after their show’s enormous success claiming a 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The co-creators revealed that there is an inherent limitation with the narrative before thinking of moving to another season run for the FX miniseries. “We took the story to the end of the book and put a period at the end of that sentence,” Marks told THR.
“We love how the book ends; it was one of the reasons why we both knew we wanted to do it — and we ended in exactly that place. And I’ve been party to this in the past with shows like this, where you build a whole factory, and it only pumps out 10 cars and closes up shop. It’s a bummer. You know, one of our producers wrote a nearly 900-page instruction manual for how we do this show — almost as long as the book Shogun itself. All of this infrastructural knowledge went into it. I just hope someone else — maybe a friend — needs a production primer on feudal Japan at some point, so I can be like, ‘Here you go, use this book. That will save you 11 months.’”
Marks’ comment explicitly suggests that narrative resources for the second season of the show have been exhausted as they have used every essence of James Clavell’s book. So, no Shōgun season 2? It is very unlikely, indicating the end of Hiroyuki Sanada’s tenure as Lord Yoshii.
Fans Made Peace With The Shōgun Season 2 Update
Mark’s comment on the season 2 update seems fairly definitive indicating a big “no go” but it was not completely devastating for fans as they have made peace with the series. Despite the enormous success, Mark and Kondo are not keen on reviving the Shōgun for the sake of extending as per the demand. “Oh, that’s just our bodies talking,” Mark told THR.
“Like, do you want to have another kid right now? (Laughs.) You know, we also made this show so long ago, because of the long tail of postproduction on it. It’s not like a normal TV series, where if we were in a situation like this promoting it, we wouldn’t just be in the writers room already, we’d be on set shooting season two by now,” he added.
Now, fans have taken to social media platforms to respond to the recent update.
Disappointing, but understandable.
— Ryan 'All Day News' Anderson (@Ryans_Ramblings) March 8, 2024
Better off a masterpiece with one season, than to turn into a milking machine for money
— Purp? (@purpyisgreat) March 8, 2024
Respect and nice. Sometimes its good to just finish a story.
— Tourens (@tourensexe) March 8, 2024
Makes me even more excited to tune in. A show that knows what it wants. Sometimes I feel the reason why I prefer film over TV is because of this intention. Blockbusters aside, film has a story to tell and then it’s done. Too often, TV becomes endless binges.
— Jared (@TheShiftingBlog) March 8, 2024
I’m satisfied watching SHOGUN without having to need a second season
— Kireina Kerner (@KireinaKerner) March 8, 2024
Good. I note that James Clavell did write other books with an Asian viewpoint, but he never wrote a sequel to Shogun.
It stands well on its own.
— Peter R Hann (@PeterRHann1) March 8, 2024
Despite the unlikely second-season run, Shōgun fans are happy with the astounding narrative, character development, and visuals upheld by the miniseries. The FX show also stars Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Takehiro Hira, Tommy Bastow, and Fumi Nikaido.
Shōgun is currently streaming on Hulu and Fubo.
