Comparison always sours the joy, as it often diverts our attention from the personal satisfaction one has achieved. However, in this case, it is justified because Shōgun, the new historical epic, has become the flagbearer of everything that a modern TV drama should be. More importantly, everything that HBO’s Game of Thrones should have been.
With a number of positive reviews from the critics of the show and glowing feedback from its viewers, it seems that the show set new standards the moment the first trailer of the show was released. In the process, setting off a comparison with the 2011 fantasy drama. But GOT fans are quite offended by the comparison, as they have pointed out several reasons that make both shows different yet getting compared on social media.
Shōgun Gets Compared To HBO’s Game of Thrones For All The Just Reasons!
Ever since Shōgun’s first episode was aired, it set off a comparison, as the show featured something truly unique, capturing the audience’s attention, and what a ‘prestige show’ really means. The show is based on James Clavell’s best-selling 1975 historical fiction novel of the same name that went unnoticed by many until the show was released.
- A still from Shōgun
From the first episode itself, the TV Series has hooked its audience. Set in the 1600s, the story follows the brutal machinations and interpersonal politics of the leaders of Japan in the wake of the demise of Nakamura Hidetoshi (Yukijiro Hotaru) and their former Taikō, leaving behind a son too young to carry out his duties. The plot develops by exploring the religious and political powers in the Feudal Age of Japan and how the monarchs will battle to hold onto the prosperous lands they call colonies.
The show features a star-studded lineup featuring Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Cosmo Jarvis, and many more. But it is not the cast that makes Shōgun stand tall above Game of Thrones. As per IGN, the 2024 show features a perfect historical setting that would have allowed the show to sideline the women in the show. Instead, it did the opposite. The show gives more cultural context to the women of that period, showcasing them as prized possessions of the monarchs.
On the other hand, GOT developed their plot by abusing their female characters, where Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen was humiliated and abused by her older brother, who was going to sell her off. Though those characters became strong and complex later on in the show, their introduction was based purely on their humiliation.
However, in the historical drama series, women were respected and had an intriguing nature, where they are shown in the roles of assassins, mothers, maids, and leaders who would devise schemes. However, they would also love and nurture, making them more layered and showcasing them as something more than what meets the eye.
In addition to focusing on its characters, the show is also interested in showcasing to its viewers what the social strata of Japan were in that period. How living conditions would change when a new ruler would arrive and change the faith of the town and its residents.
GOT Fans Are Furious as Shōgun Raises The Bar For a Drama Series
With equal focus on different aspects of the show, that is, the cast, the storyline, pace, characters, and the living conditions of the working class people in Feudal Japan, Shōgun has set a new standard for what a drama show should be.
However, fans of the HBO drama were not thrilled as their favorite show was dethroned as the Best Drama Series to be ever produced. As IGN shared their opinion of the 2024 show on X, fans quickly went to the platform, tweeting how both shows are immensely different from each other.
Shogun is really good. In no way should it be compared to GOT. Shogun is it's own show based historical events. GOT is a fantasy powerhouse, one of the GOATs.
— AstrosWorldChamps (@drocka77) April 21, 2024
I like shogun, but in no way is season one of Shogun better than season one of GoT
— DeathSaveArcade ⚔️ GKCO ⚔️ (@DeathSaveArcade) April 21, 2024
It's one season, relax. I'm no fan of GoT but the exaggeration is a bit much. No one knows what Shogun would look like if it goes to 6 seasons. It could easily be just as disappointing. If we're judging both by their 1st season then they're both fine
— Gemel Walters (@shinakira00) April 21, 2024
One season in? Lmao okay
— Yung Kiryu (@yungkiryu) April 21, 2024
Such a good sho… GOT be damned.
— Tylarious (@TylariousYT) April 21, 2024
Ehhhh it’s great but so much slower than GoT ever was.
— Mystic Grizlow (@GrizlowGaming) April 21, 2024
Well, fans have their reasons to say but it is indeed true that certain points such as how women were portrayed in both shows and how the 2024 show focused on both social classes’ living conditions, while the other focused on only one. Such comparisons might seem minor, but when a title like the ‘Best Show’ is given, such details play a major role.
Shōgun can be streamed on Hulu.
