If this show wasn’t Japanese and also Western audience targeted it would be rated MUCH higher here. Unfortunately it’s not Koreaboo bait or the same murder, chaebol, romance storylines recycled for the 100th time (which aren’t apparently held to the same standard as this, so weird right?). It’s a shame that people are making bigoted or simply downright ignorant comments because they are very upset at the success of Shogun.

This shows sitting at insanely high critic and fan review score, it’s widely regarded as one of the best shows of the past year (if not of all time) and will be nominated for Emmys in EVERY single category it is eligible. Such a shame it’s not good enough for the people of MyDramaList :(

Is Shogun perfect? No certainly not, it has its faults and I could see why some people may take more issue on those than others. There’s criticism to be made around the development of characters like Toranaga not being flushed out or the performance of the Anjin by Cosmo Jarvis, but from start to finish it delivers a fantastic story filled with surprising twists and unexpected turns.

Shogun tries its best to remain as authentically Japanese as it can with the dialog, customs and acting. The latter of which is the standout, I’m not to big of a fan of Cosmo but besides that every single performance was stunning. Toranaga, Yabushige, Fuji, Ochiba, Mariko the list goes on and on. These are award winning, critically acclaimed level performances. The setting, tone and shooting locations absolutely nail not only what the book portrayed but also what Japan may have been like during this period.

The most iconic part simply remains the ending. Most (and that’s not an exaggeration), Asian dramas I’ve seen start falling apart near the end. They take a fantastic show and drag it on for a lifetime while making stupid writing decisions leading up to the end (COUGH QUEEN OF TEARS COUGH). Shoguns ending is so perfect. The acting is so subtle but emotionally powerful, the choice to not show the battle but leave with a somber tone is an amazing decision from the show runners. The finale leaves you satisfied but also wanting to know so much more.

Shogun will go down as an all time great show and take home several awards which it fully deserves.