Shogun
Summary
As developing on the next two seasons of the show fetch afoot , Shogunis lionize a new milestone of success with 25 Emmy nomination . Serving as the second adaptation of James Clavell ’s novel of the same name , the show is set in 1600s Japan and exploresthe life of John Blackthorne , a Protestant English pilot who is marooned in the country during a turbulent earned run average of multiple Almighty vying for ultimate power . One such physique is Yoshii Toranaga , the lord of Kantō who has been condemn to dying by the other regent of the commonwealth , but has his own mysterious plans .
Hiroyuki Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis leadthe ensembleShoguncastas Toranaga and Blackthorne , with the rest of the roll including Anna Sawai as Mariko , a consort task with acting as translator for Blackthorne , Tadanobu Asano , Takehiro Hira , Tommy Bastow , Fumi Nikaido and Nestor Carbonell . The show was uprise byCounterpart ’s Justin Marks and debut screenwriter Rachel Kondo , with the former also act as showrunner for the diachronic epic drama .
Fx ’s Shogun is officially returning for two more seasons , opening the room access for the return of eight of the show ’s most intriguing characters .
Airing on both FX and Hulu , Shogunhas prove to be one of the prominent hit of 2024 , netting a well-nigh - perfect 99 % commendation rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes with praise directed at the show ’s faithfulness to its source material , the functioning of its cast , particularly Sawai , and its counseling . This , in go , lead to the show setting a few milestones at the forthcoming Emmy Awards , including being the first Japanese - oral communication show to be nominated for Outstanding Drama Series , the second non - English - voice communication series to clear that nomination afterSquid Game , and bring in a total of 25 nominations .
In honor of the show ’s Emmy nominations , Screen Rantinterviewed editor Maria Gonzales and Aika Miyake to discussShogunseason 1 , their flavour on the awards recognition , capturing the Japanese authenticity of the story , how the conclusion was nearly different , and putting together some of the season ’s most iconic deaths .
Gonzales & Miyake Are “So Proud” By Their First-Time Emmy Nominations
Prior to the historic epic , Gonzales and Miyake have been part of the editing squad for a number of major production , include the Beyoncé optic albumBlack is King , the Apple TV+ post - apocalyptic dramaSeeand the sci - fi thrillerCounterpart . WithShogun , though , the distich line up themselves landing their first Emmy nomination , with Miyake express being " ecstatic " about the acknowledgment , while Gonzales feels it ’s " improbably sweet " , even as she finds it " a small bit difficult to process " :
Aika Miyake : Oh , I ’m ecstatic . I am so lofty . Also , it ’s really , really meaningful that a quite a little of Japanese the great unwashed are also nominated at the same clock time , and that I ’m put up for something that comprise our culture . It ’s really a immense moment for me and my family .
Maria Gonzales : For me , it ’s still a small snatch difficult to process . It ’s my first time being nominated , and at least for me , I never really feel like , " Oh , this is run to be part of my calling . " I just feel so implausibly prosperous to be part of this task , and that it was so recognized . We all worked so hard , so it is unbelievably gratifying and satisfying when the great unwashed in reality recognise your work and enjoy your work . I often say it ’s just as hard , if not harder , to make a bad show . [ Laughs ] You just never cognize if people are gon na receive your oeuvre , or what the response is going to be . So , this is by all odds ice on the cake .
Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore
Crafting A Translator Character Was “Really Meaningful” For Miyake
One of the biggest and mostemotional arcs ofShogunseason 1is that of Mariko serving as the translator for Blackthorne to the humanity of Japanese cultivation and customs duty , all while cope with Toranaga ’s plans and her desire to save her syndicate name . When it total to finding the good balance of portraying this authenticity and easy - to - admittance for American interview , Miyake found it a " really interesting " process , while also pulling from her own life experience :
Aika Miyake : It ’s really interesting , the way that Blackthorne is , we had to verify the learning curve of Nipponese culture [ was feel ] throughout the whole serial . There were a hatful of conversations , like , " Oh , he feels like he understands more , but he does n’t sympathise here . " But then , I listened to the Japanese , and some of the part utter quicker , like Yabushige , and it ’s hard to understand , even for Nipponese masses sometimes . We were just locomote back and off to make it right . Also , it ’s really interesting to show the translator role — Mariko ’s role , Alvito ’s role — because that ’s been kind of like my liveliness , as well .
I learned to mouth English when I was 20 , and a lot of the position that I was in , like workings environment , material with champion , sometimes , I ’d have to translate . You sense like you are the wedge grapheme of the group when you ’re doing that . And in this show , she is the principal character . It ’s really important for me , as a woman , and as a Japanese person , that ’s usually a side character , but she ’s actually the main character for this show . So , it was really meaningful to make it right .
Image via FX
Mariko’s Shogun Death Required A Lot Of Intricate Editing
Mariko ’s arc end in calamity inShogunseason 1when she sacrifices herself in episode 9 to prevent the shinobi ’s explosive from vote down everyone else trap in the room with her , including Blackthorne . In reflect on putting together the scene , Miyake recalled that fellow editor Thomas Krueger was the original editor for the episode , with her coming on to " fine strain " her death , explaining the difficultness of ascertain the right way to cut to total darkness at the end :
Aika Miyake : Yeah , so that scene was edited by Thomas Krueger originally , and I was added as an extra editor program at the end of the process to actually fine tune that last scene . It was a lot longer before , but Justin , the showrunner , he really wanted to make it super abrupt . It ’s really hard , actually , to make out something that feels abrupt . [ Laughs ] I did have shot that the manager , Frederick Toye , shot , like an awesome shooter of her .
I think they blew like a big funnel of airwave , and her hair is all blow out , and she ’s really backlit , and it goes into the unclouded variety of dig . So , I used that really , really quickly at the very , very terminal . But , a lot of the other edits are there when I was cut it , so kudos to Thomas . But yeah , we had to watch it from the really , really beginning to actually receive this abruption . It needs to feel right , and also how long the black needs to be after that was really fun to make that edit . I love watch the reaction videos and the great unwashed in shock . [ Laughs ]
Image via FX
Miyake & Gonzales' Favorite Scene Is A Full-Circle Toranaga & Yabushige Moment
When asked about their favorite picture to get to work on together , both Gonzales and Miyake orient towards Yabushige and Toranaga ’s epic face-off intheShogunseason 1 finale , in which the former commits harikari with the latter as his sec . In summation to feel that Yabushige was " one of the thinning elbow room ’s front-runner " of the show ’s roster , they both found that arrange together tell succession was a " rightful quislingism " , include ensuring that Toranaga ’s smiling before cut Yabushige ’s head off persist :
Maria Gonzales : Well , Aika and I sour together on the last sequence , episode 10 , and I call back from the collaboration that we had together , it would have to be — right , Aika ? — the conniption between Toranaga and Yabushige . Yabushige ’s final panorama . It was something that was a true collaborationism for the two of us , because I kind of started it in the editors ' cut , Aika worked on the theater director ’s cut . And then , once Justin Marks , our showrunner , it was his turn to do a passport , he came up with this whole sort of scramble of the scene that we then worked on together . And , character wise , Yabushige was one of the cutting room ’s favorites . It was just always super play to tailor scenes with him .
Aika Miyake : Yeah , so Maria , in her editors ' stinger , she put the smile before Yabushige killed himself , before Toranaga cut his headway off . He turned to Toranaga , and he smile , and that moment was in Maria ’s slice in the beginning , but then , along the process , we examine lose it , stress to make the cutting shorter . In the process , we lose it somewhere . And I always retrieve that I wanted to bring it back when I had an opportunity , so at the very , very last moment , I was like , " Can we strain to add this back ? "
I ask Justin to have a look , and he agreed , and when you watch the whole thing , he does the same thing when , in episode 1 , Blackthorne and Yabushige came up from the mound in the ocean . Yabushige almost die , and he was get up to the top of the hill , and Blackthorne had bowed . But Yabushige had the accurate same expression of a smile , and I just really felt like , " Oh this is such a cool shot . " I was so happy that I could bring it back .
When talk over Toranaga ’s smiling , in especial , Gonzales explained that it was one of multiple callbacks stand for to happen in the scene , along with Sanada ’s character reprocess a line Yabushige said in episode 1 that could ’ve chair to Toranaga ’s death :
Maria Gonzales : Toranaga does a serious part of grin himself . [ Laughs ] I do n’t recall actually ever having the discussion of leaving it out . It really sort of ties in for another callback that happen in that scene , which is , in instalment 1 , Yabushige and Omi are talking in the Greenwich Village , they ’re walk down this path and Omi says to Yabushige something along the lines of like , " Do n’t you require to warn Toranaga , our Lord , about this ? " And Yabushige says , " Why differentiate a dead homo his future ? " So it ’s something that seemingly happened privately between these two fibre .
Image via Hulu/FX
And then , when we go to episode 10 , in Yabushige ’s final import , Toranaga essentially brings that line up back to Yabushige , and Yabushige say , " I would just really love to see or know what ’s occur in the future tense . " And Toranaga basically says , " Why narrate a dead adult male his hereafter ? " Which I think kind of goes along the lines of , " Dude , I played you all along . I fuck everything that was come about , even in the back street of some tiny village of Ajiro . " [ Laughs ] I think the smile is kind of appropriate , because he is Shogun .
Shogun’s Ending Was Almost A Bit Longer
In a slight crook from the book ’s ending , theShogunseason 1 finale see Toranaga explain some of his future plans to Yabushige before killing him , includinghis Crimson Sky strategybeing to convince Ochiba to withdraw her support from Ishido ahead of the future Battle of Sekigahara , which gain ground him the battle without any literal fighting . When asked whether there was more footage of this flash - forward , Gonzales confirms that there " was a version of the script " that looked even further to the future , though was " quickly rid of " :
Maria Gonzales : I think there was a version of the script , there was go to be sort of a wink - forward to the future of Japan . Because the existent - life character of Toranaga , Tokugawa Ieyasu , he ’s the designer of modern - twenty-four hours Japan . So , there was a fiddling chip of a snipping of that in that shot where Toranaga tattle about the time to come of Japan , but that was quickly eliminated . I do n’t think that even survived , barely survived the editors cut . I conceive as presently as Fred , the theater director , got involve , that was cut out , and it was never put back in . So , in terms of the battle itself , yeah , no , it was never die to be much more than what we find on the silver screen . This was very much a show where the battles happened inside of the ceremonial rooms and back rooms , and it was the battle of words , more so than steel .
Shogun Episode 1’s Cliff Sequence Presented A Unique Challenge for Gonzales
As much as the show is a " battle of words " , it does sport a number of exciting action mechanism set spell . In reflecting on which was their favorite to put together , Gonzales recalls the episode 1 cliff sequence as one that represent a alone challenge for her , as she tried to capture the " fundamental objective " of the view :
Maria Gonzales : You know , a lot of the crazy action that happened was just encounter in bursts . Like , I had something in episode 4 , I had something in episode 7 . In sequence 4 , when Nagakado kills Jozen in the field of battle , or in instalment 7 , when Nagakado attempts to kill his uncle , but ends up drop dead himself . It ’s just very prompt and just sudden activeness . The big sequences that I reduce were in sequence 1 , there was a magnanimous storm sequence , and then followed by a cliff sequence , when they ’re hear to rescue Nestor . So , those were like the big activity successiveness that I was really involve with cutting , and they were quite intricate in getting the right step of them , too , so that they check the overall intentions for the show .
But also , with a mess of these scene , in the background , we ’re always trying to take care of the ethnic aspects of the time . For representative , it was just really difficult to get that drop scene going , but also showing what Yabushige was go through , and Blackthorne read it in , have in mind that he would rather die by his own sword than to be killed by the waves , or by the ocean and , and Blackthorne sort of taking that in and just being one of the first footstep of get wind about the culture . So , a wad of the natural process sequences always had an underlying objective , as well , that had to come to the cutting edge .
Gonzales & Miyake Don’t Know What The Plan Is ForShogunSeasons 2 & 3 (But Are Keen To Return)
Despite initially being billed as a miniseries , the show ’s vital and viewership succeeder led to FX renewingShogunfor both seasons 2 and 3 . Gonzales and Miyake both admit that because they ’re not in the writers room for the show , they ’re unsure what the precise plan is for the next chapter , but recall the " 900 - page Bible " Caillin Puente craft to build the world , and shared what their hopes are for where it will go :
Maria Gonzales : I mean , we ’re not in the author room , so we sleep together that the writers room is open , and they ’re actively working on season 2 . We also cognize from the first season that Caillin Puente , who was part of Justin ’s team , wrote this Bible , a 900 - page Bible , that was steeped in Japanese history , and it was kind of used as the Bible on adjust for all the unlike rules of the time , be it costumes , or how people of different social station regarded each other in public options . Everything was in this playscript , and there was a lot of factual account in it , as well . So , undeniably , Japan has a rich history , I recall a lot of what ’s coming is go to be rooted in that . Even though we do n’t have a leger . [ Chuckles ]
Aika Miyake : I ’m really excited to be able-bodied to showcase more of Japanese culture . I was never like a history kid , who loved reading about history , when I was unseasoned . But even still , I ’m really intrigued about watch more . The good affair about Japan is there are still a circle of places that you could visit , even where Blackthorne has a house in Tokyo , there ’s a monument .
I ’m exceedingly excited to be able to showcase the story of it , and also prod into what really happened , and also , possibly in the hereafter , I ’ll have to visit and travel and detect out , " Oh , this somebody was here and there . " And Mariko , the someone who she ’s base on , she in reality existed , and her story is even more heart - wrenching , in a path . As a woman , it ’s really inspiring , and I would love to chitchat the temple dedicated to her , like , she has a statue and monuments and material . But , yeah , I ’m like really super excited to be capable to — nothing is official right now , but I ’d love to be part of that .
Maria Gonzales : Yeah , we do n’t really know , we have no inside knowledge , really . And honestly , when we heard that there was a second time of year , possibly a third season — I judge they ’re both tentative — my initial chemical reaction was like , " What ? How are we die to do that ? No Yabu , no Mariko . Some of my favorite characters are go . Like what , who , why , what is this perish to look like ? " So , I would love it if some of those character would total back in some form or another . But that ’s for the writers to figure out , if , at all , they ’re call up that way .
AboutShogunSeason 1
FX ’s Shōgun , an original adaption of James Clavell ’s bestselling novel , is set in Japan in the twelvemonth 1600 at the dawn of a century - defining civic warfare . Producer Hiroyuki Sanada stars as Lord Yoshii Toranaga , who is defend for his biography as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him .
Check out our otherShōguninterviews here :
Shogunseason 1 is available to pour in full on Hulu .
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Shōgun , released in 2024 , is place in Japan during 1600 at the onset of a significant civil war . It play along Lord Yoshii Toranaga as he battles political adversaries on the Council of Regents , while a European ship mysteriously look in a nearby fishing village , complicate the tides of power .
