This Hulu Drama Sensation With 99% on RT Shatters Two Records With 14 Emmy Wins

Last weekend, the Television Academy held the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, where nominees in non-major categories were announced. The top series and actors will be announced on September 16.

FX's Shogun set an Emmy record – its creators took home 14 awards for one season. Even before the ceremony, Shogun set an awards record for the number of nominations – the project about feudal warfare in Japan was nominated in 25 categories.

Shogun Is Reminiscent of 2000s HBO Hits

An adaptation of James Clavell's novel of the same name, Shogun was compared to Game of Thrones even before its premiere: it seemed that the new series would focus on political intrigue and the struggle for power by any means necessary, fair or foul.

But the story of an Englishman who finds himself in early 17th-century Japan, closed to Europeans and in the midst of a civil war, is reminiscent of very different HBO hits. We're talking about Rome and Deadwood, two standout period dramas of the 2000s that used big budgets not for spectacular action but to convincingly recreate the era and tell a tale about ordinary people who suffer during other people's quarrels.

The new project refreshed the source material, managed to rebuild the narrative without harming the plot, and gave each key character enough screen time. Importantly, more than half of Shogun consists of authentic Japanese speech and does not forget about subtitles, which is a great victory for the representation of actors of Asian origin.

Shogun Works as Both a Brilliant Adaptation And a Perfect Standalone

The main successful decision of the series is to transfer the story to the level of feudal intrigues. We have already met more than once a European knight who changed his armor for a Japanese one and his sword for a katana in order to enter the service of a noble lord.

But the creators skillfully shift the emphasis, recognizing that it is impossible to literally retell the plot of the original source. Instead, the authors create a large canvas full of subtle nuance and originality. Of course, comparisons to Game of Thrones are obvious, but Shogun has less time to work out all the lines, so the action develops much faster.

Shogun gives you the feeling of being part of something big while watching it. Like early HBO projects from the 2000s and early 2010s, the show strives to dazzle with its scope, but does so gradually, giving the viewer time to settle in. And that's a luxury we have less and less of every year.

Where to Watch Shogun?

The first and only season of Shogun is available to watch on Hulu.