The fight between a warlord and a shipwrecked sailor is almost ready to arrive on television screens, as a final trailer has been released for Shōgun, the highly anticipated FX and Hulu limited series depicting a clash of cultures in Feudal Japan in the year 1600. The trailer shows extended clips of some of the show’s intense action sequences prior to it being released later this month.
The trailer features a voiceover from one of the main characters, Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai). “I have learned one truth; that enemies are everywhere and friends nowhere,” Mariko says. “To show your true heart is to risk your life, because death can come for us at any moment.” The trailer goes on to depict large-scale battle sequences as Japan appears to be preparing for a civil war. Shōgun is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell, which mixes both true and fictitious events. The show’s synopsis states:
Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis ), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies — the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants. Toranaga’s and Blackthorne’s fates become inextricably tied to their translator, Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line.
Shōgun features a large ensemble cast — beyond Jarvis and Sawai, the series stars Hiroyuki Sanada as Toranaga alongside Tadanobu Asano, Hiroto Kanai, Takehiro Hira, Moeka Hoshi, and more. The series was created by Justin Marks and Rachel Konda, with Sanada producing alongside Eriko Miyagawa. Executive producers include Michael de Luca and Clavell‘s daughter, Michaela Clavell.
‘Shōgun’ Is Highly Anticipated
FX and Hulu‘s take will be the second time that Shōgun has been adapted for television; the first was in 1980, when NBC produced a five-episode miniseries. That series is widely considered to be one of the best of the 20th century, so clearly, this new show has its work cut out for it, trying to live up to those expectations. It remains to be seen if this is the case, but early reviews have been mostly positive.
“While the series is building up to an immense confrontation that threatens to subsume all the characters in its bloody wake, the grounding presence of Sanada and Sawai is what holds Shōgun together,” Collider’s Chase Hutchinson said in his review. “Even when some moments can cheapen the experience, like an obvious fake-out demise that takes away from what could have been a haunting sacrifice, these two are each outstanding when at the story’s center.”
Shōgun premieres on FX and Hulu in the U.S. on February 27. Check out the extended trailer below:
via Collider