Shōgun grabbed people’s attention with the journey of John Blackthorne, a shipwrecked Englishman who finds himself in the political landscape of 16th century Japan.

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Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshii Toranaga in Shōgun

The show stayed true to the fantastic 1975 novel by Australian-British writer James Clavell. It is beloved for its great characters, twisty plot, and exploration of cultural differences. Now that the first season has ended on April 23rd with the finale titled A Dream of a Dream, a big question remains: will there be a season 2?

For fans hoping for a second season, the news might be a bit disappointing. Even though the ratings of the show have been good, the people behind the show are being careful about whether to keep the story going.

Shōgun Creator Delivers Disappointing News for Season 2

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A still from Shōgun

In a recent chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Shōgun co-creator Justin Marks addressed the burning question on everyone’s mind: will there be a season two? He hinted that it’s tricky to keep going after the first season wrapped up so well. Marks stressed how vital it is to honor James Clavell’s amazing story, which pretty much ties up by the end of the first season. He said:

“I don’t know. I keep saying it’s like we want to let everyone be on the same page when it comes to the book. And hopefully now the TV audience and the book audience are on the same page with what the story is and where it resolves. But I don’t think that anyone ever wants to be out over their skis without a roadmap and everything. And it’s also just about, do people want more of it? But it’s also about, not even topping the book, but, how do you even equal the roadmap that Clavell laid out? And I don’t know if it’s possible. I don’t know if Clavell could have done it either. That’s probably why he moved on to other books too, right? He knew what he had done. Yeah, it’s a tough one.”

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Marks meant that the first season of Shōgun was super faithful to Clavell’s whole book. Some TV shows change things up to make room for more seasons, but coming up with a totally new story for Shōgun sounds pretty tough.

There’s Still a Glimmer of Hope on Shōgun Season 2

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Shōgun

Even with the hurdles, Justin Marks isn’t ruling out a second season of Shōgun completely. In the same interview, he teased, “If we had a story, if we could find a story, we would be open to it.” That gives fans a bit of hope! The future of Shōgun is up in the air.

Even though the second season might not be in the cards, the show’s popularity shows how much people love James Clavell’s story. If they’re looking for more historical drama, checking out Clavell’s other books or Japanese historical fiction could hit the spot. Fans can get more of his Asian-set tales by reading his other books like Tai-Pan and Gai-Jin.

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Watch Shōgun on Disney+.

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