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Shōgun poster

Shows that feel likeShōgun (2024–)

In Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war, 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.

If you loved Shōgun, the closest series we have are Lioness (2023), Band of Brothers (2001) and The Last Kingdom (2015). All three share Shōgun's contemplative and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Into the Badlands (2015).

★ 8.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗1 season · FXcreated by Rachel Kondocontemplativebleak
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

If Shōgun hit the spot, these will too

Lioness poster
Lioness
2023– · 3 seasons · Paramount+
★ 7.8drama · war & politicsParamount+

People used as pieces in games run far above their heads

The difference: Modern spycraft muscle — no historical texture or patience

Cruz Manuelos, a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, is recruited to join the CIA's Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program, is tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.

Band of Brothers poster
Band of Brothers
2001 · 1 season · HBO
★ 9.4drama · war & politicsMax

War rendered with the weight and craft of a great limited series

The difference: No court intrigue — the enemy is across the field, not the table

Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as their journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men from paratrooper training in Georgia through the end of the war. As an elite rifle company parachuting into Normandy early on D-Day morning, participants in the Battle of the Bulge, and witness to the horrors of war, the men of Easy knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear - and became the stuff of legend. Based on Stephen E. Ambrose's acclaimed book of the same name.

The Last Kingdom poster
The Last Kingdom
2015–2022 · 5 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.5action & adventure · drama · war & politicsNetflix

An outsider caught between two cultures that both claim him

The difference: Faster and bloodier — battles outrank courtly maneuvering

A show of heroic deeds and epic battles with a thematic depth that embraces politics, religion, warfare, courage, love, loyalty and our universal search for identity. Combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters, it is the story of how a people combined their strength under one of the most iconic kings of history in order to reclaim their land for themselves and build a place they call home.

The Last of Us poster
The Last of Us
2023– · 2 seasons · HBO
★ 8.4dramaMax

Survival where every alliance is provisional and loss is certain

The difference: Post-apocalyptic intimacy — two people, not an empire, at stake

Twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the United States and depend on each other for survival.

Vikings: Valhalla poster
Vikings: Valhalla
2022–2024 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.4action & adventure · drama · war & politicsNetflix

Ambitious warriors and rulers colliding at history's hinge

The difference: Glossier and shallower — intrigue moves at streaming speed

In this sequel to "Vikings," a hundred years have passed and a new generation of legendary heroes arises to forge its own destiny — and make history.

Silo poster
Silo
2023– · 4 seasons · Apple TV
★ 8.1sci-fi & fantasy · dramaApple TV+

A closed world where power depends on controlling the truth

The difference: Dystopian mystery-box plotting — history swapped for sci-fi

In a ruined and toxic future, thousands live in a giant silo deep underground. After its sheriff breaks a cardinal rule and residents die mysteriously, engineer Juliette starts to uncover shocking secrets and the truth about the silo.

SEAL Team poster
SEAL Team
2017–2024 · 7 seasons · CBS
★ 7.9action & adventure · drama · war & politicsNetflixParamount+

Warriors bound by duty, counting what each mission costs them

The difference: Network procedural rhythms — earnestness over nuance

Military drama following the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute the most dangerous, high stakes missions our country can ask of them.

The Man in the High Castle poster
The Man in the High Castle
2015–2019 · 4 seasons · Prime Video
★ 7.9sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflixPrime Video

Occupation, collaboration, and survival under watchful power

The difference: Alternate-history sci-fi — and it sags badly in the middle

Explore what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States. Based on Philip K. Dick's award-winning novel.

Into the Badlands poster
Into the Badlands
2015–2019 · 3 seasons · AMC
★ 7.9action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Feudal power struggles settled by blade and shifting loyalty

The difference: Comic-book wire-fu pulp — spectacle first, politics a distant second

In a land controlled by feudal barons, a great warrior and a young boy embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment. A genre-bending martial arts series very loosely based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West.

War of the Worlds poster
War of the Worlds
2019–2022 · 3 seasons · Canal+
★ 6.5sci-fi & fantasy · drama

Civilization's collapse taken slow, quiet, and deadly serious

The difference: Drab and meandering — ambition the execution can't match

When astronomers detect a transmission from another galaxy, it is definitive proof of intelligent extra-terrestrial life. The world’s population waits for further contact with bated breath. They do not have to wait long. Within days, mankind is all but wiped out by a devastating attack; pockets of humanity are left in an eerily deserted world. As aliens hunt and kill those left alive, the survivors ask a burning question – who are these attackers and why are they hell-bent on our destruction?

Sweet Tooth poster
Sweet Tooth
2021–2024 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.7drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

Contemplative and bleak in the same breath

The difference: Leans harder into sci-fi & fantasy than Shōgun does

On an epic adventure across a postapocalyptic world, a lovable boy who's part human and part deer searches for family and home with a gruff protector.

Raised by Wolves poster
Raised by Wolves
2020–2022 · 2 seasons · HBO Max
★ 7.4sci-fi & fantasy · drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

After Earth is ravaged by a great religious war, an atheistic android architect sends two of his creations, Mother and Father, to start a peaceful, godless colony on the planet Kepler-22b. Their treacherous task is jeopardized by the arrival of the Mithraic, a deeply devout religious order of surviving humans.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed series that share Shōgun’s defining feeling.