‘Shōgun’ TV series is being called “the new ‘Game Of Thrones'” by critics

nme.com:

Shōgun premiered last night (February 27), and some critics are calling it the “new Game of Thrones”.The series will run for a total of 10 episodes on Hulu and FX in the United States, while UK viewers can stream it via Disney+.

The first two episodes are already available, with the remainder to be released in weekly instalments.The historical drama is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell, which had previously been adapted into a 1980 American miniseries.

This version has been overseen by the husband-and-wife creative team of Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, the latter of whom was a co-writer of Top Gun: Maverick.Set in Japan in the year 1600, Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) is fighting for his life as his enemies unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby village, where the character of John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) is introduced.With dozens of reviews in, the show currently sits on an unimpeachable 100 per cent critics rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.In a four-star review, The Guardian describe it as “peacocking, mesmerising television”, noting: “It adapts James Clavell’s classic 1975 novel with ambition and evident respect for its source material, and given that the paperback is more than 1,000 pages long, it is extraordinary that they have managed to condense it into 10 episodes.”USA Today also rave about the show, saying: “Shōgun is the kind of series that reminds you that TV can be an event, not just something casual you click on while folding laundry.

It demands your full attention. So don’t scroll, don’t cook dinner, or get some work done while the TV happens to be on. Sit down.