Stream It Or Skip It?

As the Meiji Era begins, an honorable samurai is forced to fight again, so that his family may live. The six-episode Last Samurai Standing, directed and co-written by Michihito Fujii, and based on the ongoing manga of the same name by Shogo Imamura, features Junichi Okada as a swordsman at his wit’s end. It’s 1879, and Japan’s new government is rapidly westernizing the country, leaving the samurai class – warriors of a previous age – hung out to dry. When a new competition is announced, with a hefty cash prize, samurai from all over the country gather in Kyoto for one last shot at glory – and survival.    

Opening Shot: Onscreen titles in Japanese tell us how 950 years of samurai warrior tradition ended with a single battle. Let’s go live to that carnage.

The Gist: In the midst of the Boshin War, when the Tokugawa shogunate clashed with the rising forces of Imperial Japan, samurai Shujiro Saga (Okada) found himself winning and losing at the same time. No matter how many men he cut down with his sword, there was always a gunshot or cannonball behind that enemy, and ten years after that bloody civil war, Saga represents a samurai class forced into unemployment and growing obsolescence. He has a rusty sword, PTSD from the war, a family suffering through a terrible cholera epidemic, and absolutely no prospects.

Until the mysterious game is announced. An offer is posted in Saga’s village. Tenryū-ji Temple, Kyoto. Participants wanted. Cash prize. Saga’s wife Shino (Riho Yoshioka) looks at him sadly. “Are you going to draw your sword again?” But he has no choice, and soon Saga is standing in the temple courtyard with hundreds of other samurai, where the patronizing Enju (Kazunari Ninomiya) announces the rules. The samurai will fight each other all the way to Tokyo, gaining points for each wooden ID tag taken from an opponent. And after a month of this secret competition, the last person standing will be rewarded with a big pile of gold.

As Enju establishes the seriousness of what’s at stake – soldiers ring the temple with rifles trained on the samurai – Saga takes a look at his fellow competitors. There are archers, wielders of long swords, and men carrying polearm-like naginata blades. There are even men he recognizes from his years on the battlefield, which doesn’t at all mean those guys are friends. Saga’s trauma makes it difficult to even pull his sword from its scabbard. But he’s gonna have to get over that real quick, because Enju is counting down to the beginning of this win or die battle royale.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Shōgun aesthetics crossed with the “you lose, you die” gameplay of Alice in Borderland? Not quite, but Last Samurai Standing incorporates exciting elements from both those series. Family bonds and swordplay also figure into Netflix’s House of Ninjas, set in modern-day Japan. And for a docudrama look at Japanese military history, check out Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan, which features Last Samurai co-star Hideaki Itō. 

Our Take: Blood on the lens! The battle sequences in Last Samurai Standing are a total thrill, combining continuous shot dynamics with the unpredictability of what weapons might be involved. While Shujiro Saga and the few samurai in the competition he can rely on not to stab him in the back all fight with traditional blades, they exist in an era of sweeping change, meaning flying bullets are equally in play. The fights in Last Samurai are as erratic and brutal as the Japanese men in western clothing observing the battle are arrogant and cruel, and we’re intrigued with what the early going of the series shows us about who has planned this deadly game. “These ghosts who call themselves samurai,” an unseen mastermind says. Let them “indulge in this dance that will finally lay them to rest.”

But as Saga confronts the arc of history, he’ll also have to simply survive, which will not be easy. It’s like The Hunger Games out here as an every-fighter-for-themselves mentality takes over, and for that matter, we absolutely don’t trust Enju and another guy in charge, the scarred-up Sakura (Yasushi Fuchikami), to play fair. Even if Saga manages to win a few rounds of this competition, he’ll still have to convince the gamemasters that he, as a washed samurai from a rejected past, deserves to live, and provide for his family back home. But we believe in Saga, and think he’s up to the challenge. We predict a marathon binge-watch of this running battle limited series, because it already feels like the third act of an action movie.     

Performance Worth Watching: Last Samurai Standing star Junichi Okada is no stranger to historical drama, with films like Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai and Sekigahara under his belt. For this series, Okada is also the fight choreographer, as well as a producer.  

Sex and Skin: Unless you mean skin being righteously sliced open by swords, there is none.

Parting Shot: “What’s it been, 10 years? I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Saga has learned how much of his bloody past is wrapped up in this present battle. Among the hundreds of fighters remaining, some have scores to settle with our hero.

Sleeper Star: It’s cool how early on, Last Samurai Standing doesn’t hit us with profiles of every competitor. Instead we catch glancing shots, like of Hideaki Itō as Katsuki and Kaya Kiyohara as Iroha, and a few looks at their gory kills, not yet knowing who is an ally and who is an enemy. 

Most Pilot-y Line: Saga’s ancient innkeeper buddy can see the writing on the wall. “Watch yourself. Kyoto feels different tonight. It feels just like the old days – that same iron scent of blood hangs heavy on the air.”

Our Call: STREAM IT! With furious fight action and a noble hero to follow through its pitched battle tension, Last Samurai Standing feels like a limited series well worth your time. 

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.