Sadly, all great things must come to an end. Based on the book of the same name by James Clavell, the epic series premiered on February 27, 2024, with 9 million streams in its first week, establishing itself as the first "Game of Thrones"-grade television event of the year. The film tells the fictional story of Toranaga Yoshii (Hiroyuki Sanada), a 17th-century Japanese lord whose power is taken from him by an enemy plot that nearly kills him and involves him in a battle of wits. If he dies, it is likely that all of his allies, including British sailor John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and translator Mariko Toda (Anna Sawai), will be executed together.

The season finale on April 23 brought the story of Toranaga, Mariko, and Blackthorne to a close, but fans are still hoping for a possible return to this brilliant, brutal, and complex series about 1600s Japan. Below is what we know so far about the future of "Shobu ga Gotoku". There are spoilers for the "Shobu ga Gotoku" finale ahead.

"Shobu ga Gotoku" depicts the looming war between Toracho and his vassals, as well as Kazunari Ishido (Takehiro Hira) and Oichi no Kata (Fumi Nikaido), and the end of the finale answered all of the big questions of the season.

After Mariko's sacrifice at Osaka Castle in the final episode, the other members of the regents turned against Ishido. He also loses Ochiba, who was a childhood friend of Mariko, and is furious that he had her killed. Therefore, Ochiba sends a secret letter to Toracho, promising that his son's army will not join Ishido's war. Without his heir's backing, the other members of the council are expected to turn against Ishido, and Toracho will easily win the battle and become the de facto leader of Japan. [Meanwhile, Blackthorn was devastated by Mariko's death. He is allowed to return to Toracho in Edo, only to learn that Mariko had made a deal with Portuguese Catholics. Instead of being killed, Blackthorn has his ship torched, and Mariko and the ship are gone, as is his queen, Fuji (Moka Hoshi), who had declared she would become a nun.

But when Blackthorn goes to Toranaga to ask permission to commit suicide, Shiba has another plan in mind: he tells him to rebuild the ship and resume his role as captain of Toranaga's fleet.

However, in the final scene where Toranaga explains his plan to the soon-to-be-executed Yabushige (Asano Tadanobu), the warlord reveals that it was he who burned the Blackthorn ships at Mariko's request. Toracho also admits that he had kept Anjin because he was interesting.

Although "Shobu ga Gotoku" technically ends before Toranaga and Ishido are seen on the battlefield, the finale depicts the moment before the battle when Ishido learns of Ochiba's betrayal. Thankfully, "Shobu ga Gotoku" is based on actual historical facts, so we more or less know what really happened.

The Battle of Sekigahara took place on October 21, 1600, and was won by Tokugawa Ieyasu, a real-life Tora Naga. The battle lasted a total of six hours and was won by the Tokugawa as other leading lords turned to the Tokugawa side.

According to the USC Pacific Asia Museum, the Tokugawa victory marked the end of over 200 years of civil war and the beginning of the peaceful Edo period. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan for the next 250 years from the relocated capital of Edo (now Tokyo). If the "Shobu ga Gotoku" novels and mini-series were to follow this path, Toranaga would have succeeded in bringing about a "land without war" and an "era of great peace. "

Unfortunately, creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo revealed that the "聲の形" team had no plans for an additional season.In a March 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the pair reaffirmed that the show's plot ends at the same point as the book The two reaffirmed that the plot of the show ended where the book left off and that the world of "Shōgun no Katachi" was over for now.

"We took the story to the end of the book and put a period at the end of that sentence," Marks told the outlet. 'We loved the way the book ended, and that was one of the reasons we both wanted to do it. In a show like this, you can build an entire factory and only produce 10 units and close up store. It's disappointing."

He also noted that "Shobu ga Gotoku" had a very long post-production period, so if there were plans for a season two, it would already be underway. He said, "The post-production period was so long that we produced this show a long time ago." It's not like a regular TV series. If we were in the situation we are promoting, we would be filming season 2 right now, instead of already being in the writers' room." [But there is still a chance that FX will reconsider once the final ratings and (almost certain) Emmy nominations are in place.

From the later years of Toranaga and Blackthorn's lives to an entirely new era of Japanese history, and even a prequel, there are certainly many storylines that a sequel season or spin-off could explore.

In an interview with Marie Claire, Ana Sawai admitted that she would be open to returning to the character of Mariko if the right circumstances arise.

"I love Mariko so much that if there was something I could delve into more, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I think her story is complete now, and maybe there's no need for someone to try to touch it. That ending is perfect."

Still, she expressed a desire to see her character get more of an arc in some form. If there's going to be a prequel, then yes, when she's much younger.