While Japanese actor cum martial artist Hiroyuki Sanada has been in multiple masterpieces before, probably none comes as close to the epic superhit dropping-soon series Shōgun. One of the most anticipated series of perhaps the entire decade, it is a historical drama set in the year 1600, based on the same name novel from 1975 by James Clavell.
What’s more, is that Shōgun has already earned a perfect 100% rating from critics on the Tomatometer and holds a whopping 9.4/10 score on IMDb as well. With a stunning rating as this and a storyline as brutal and violent as ever, fans are dubbing this series as the next and much better replacement for Game of Thrones.
Fans are Calling Shōgun the Next Game of Thrones
Hiroyuki Sanada’s Shōgun would notably be a ten-episode series premiering on Hulu and FX, with its first two episodes set to be released on the 27th of February, 2024, while the remaining would be dropped weekly.
The limited series follows the storyline of Sanada’s Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who, in order to save himself, has to fight for his life after his enemies at the Council of Regents join hands with each other to defeat him.
Moreover, it even has a TV-14 rating, meaning only people aged 14 and above can watch the series under parental guidance.
Because of all these similarities between the two, i.e. them being based on gritty novels, having synonymous dark and gory themes, as well as sharing a similar rating, fans are thus baptizing the series to be “the next Game of Thrones.“
Taking to X, they’re expressing similar opinions on the series and this comparison all the while writing:
Let me tell you right here, right now: having seen the whole series, I believe that SHŌGUN is the best TV I’ve seen in a long time. You’re gonna want to watch it. pic.twitter.com/weTbvQWbxu
— Bill Bria (@billbria) February 27, 2024
tv has spent the better part of a decade trying to replicate GAME OF THRONES' epic scope and immersive world. SHŌGUN is the first show that even comes close: https://t.co/eQKnPDc933
— Alison Herman (@aherman2006) February 26, 2024
I was able to go to a premiere showing of the first 2 episodes of Shōgun and when I tell yall this show is amazing! I fucking loved it felt like the first couple seasons of Game of Thrones was too damn good #Shogunfx pic.twitter.com/qyR1u9XZb1
— Mr. Rogers Review 🎥 (@Than0sWasRight) February 23, 2024
#Shōgun should be a priority watch, as it dazzles us with political intrigue, culture, and an intensity that brings everything together nicely. 🔥
If there’s any series that has come close to being what Game of Thrones once was, it’s this one. 🤩 Review: https://t.co/hD9islClSP pic.twitter.com/PUcd4PmfG6
— Screen Rant (@screenrant) February 22, 2024
A reminder that Shogun starts on FX this week, and it's probably the best TV I've watched since Game of Thrones started https://t.co/HpUn8uGNJm
— Hayes Madsen (@Solfleet) February 26, 2024
It's the eve of #SHOGUN and it's just gotten a perfect 10 from @IGN and rightly so. Finally a show has achieved the storytelling and scale of Game of Thrones but only one season.
We're excited to chat all about it on our podcast from tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/7U8nPIuAR4— TV Podcast Industries 🌈 (@tvpodindustries) February 26, 2024
While this may sound offensive to some of the die-hard Game of Thrones fans, it’s only true that Shōgun is much better than GoT, and here are five reasons why.
5 Reasons why Shōgun is a lot Better Than Game of Thrones
1. It is in a Limited Series Format
Although Shōgun, too, is a novel-based series, it hasn’t been as stretched and created as extensively as Game of Thrones.
On the one hand, the creators of Game of Thrones did anything and everything with the series as they milked it down to the last bit. This resulted in the series having a total of 73 episodes of 50-82 minutes spread across eight seasons over almost a decade.
Shōgun, on the other hand, is a more concise series. It is an inevitable masterpiece in a crisp and brief self-contained story, covered in only one miniseries of ten episodes.
This way, the Hiroyuki Sanada-starrer isn’t stretched out for too long, thus, keeping up its glory without cheapening itself by spanning multiple seasons and projects and proving to be a much better alternative than GoT.
2. It Holds a Cultural Point of View, Depth, and Authenticity
Another thing that sets Shōgun apart from Game of Thrones in a much more outstanding way is the cultural point of view spread throughout the series coupled with it being authentic to the core, making it a natural masterpiece.
As opposed to GoT which never quite ran on such themes, this Hulu miniseries explores the Samurai and Japanese folklore in a much more extensive and unique way that hasn’t ever been done before on as big a scale.
Because of all the authenticity this exploration has added to the series, Shōgun is inevitably a better option as compared to the Game of Thrones series.
3. It is a lot more Realistic than Game of Thrones
Although it may sound offensive, Game of Thrones was indeed nothing more than a mythical fantasy storyline. In comparison to GoT, Shōgun is way more realistic and treads on and talks about actual cultures and folklore in Japan.
While both the series are fictional depictions, the Hiroyuki Sanada-starrer miniseries’ storyline is still more believable as it does not need to rely on dragons and magic to tell a tale, unlike GoT, which pretty much marched forward with these very mystical creatures.
Thus, simply through its depiction of people and politics, Shōgun has managed to prove to be a more worthy and realistic series despite being a work of fiction based on real-life events itself.
4. It is Based on a Single Book
One of the biggest flaws of the Game of Thrones series in the later era of its closing seasons was the problem of the narrative and the continuity. Because of the number of books in George R. R. Martin‘s novel series, it was a pain to keep up with the continuity, and fans weren’t all too pleased about it.
Well, with Shōgun, it’s a lot different. Instead of a whole, vast novel series, it is based on only one book — the 1975 novel of the same name by author James Clavell. Because of this, the miniseries is more brief despite being quite informative, and continues a crisp narrative rather than worrying about maintaining continuity.
5. It is more Politically Intriguing
Though Game of Thrones had a lot of politics in it too, Shōgun has proved itself to be more intriguing in that respect as well. Since feudal Japanese politics isn’t something that has been much explored in modern-age Hollywood, the miniseries proved to garner more interest from its audiences because of its mysteriousness.
While Game of Thrones trekked on the storylines of politics set in fantasy and mythical storylines — something that fans were already aware of because of the raging interest in mythological storylines at the time, the Hiroyuki Sanada-starrer miniseries brought about a more inquisitive plot, making it a better political thriller than GoT.
Because of all the above-listed reasons, Shōgun is more than just powerfully better than Game of Thrones, and critics’ stunning ratings on it all seem to only further prove these statements.
Shōgun would be available to be streamed on Hulu and FX.
