Last Samurai Standing

No it's not Japanese Squid Game :, It's Awesome!!

"**Some of the participants are as strong as monsters**" 😂🤣😅... *I was like that's true my man run if you can*. 🏃🏽‍♂️🏃🏽‍♂️

Wow : I loved it!!! loved the background stories, loved the fight sequences, loved the cinematography, loved the mystery 10/10🌟

If someone says this is just like Squid Game, don't believe them because this is more than games and killing each other. It's *espionage, mystery, intrigue*. I get Squid Game reference though but I also saw many parallels with Japanese death game genre movies like Battle Royale, As the Gods Wills, Harakiri, Kaiji etc.

If you’re familiar with jidaigeki or samurai films, you’ll recognize the historical backdrop — the fall of the samurai class and the dawn of a new world order. That old-world-vs-new. The political tension runs deep.

I loved the layered mystery: the characters’ backstories, the “who’s behind it,” the “what’s the purpose.” Even the side characters get a bit of depth, you connect with them, you feel for them.But the background characters are also explored in great depth and you're able to connect and sympathize with them.

Our Samurai has PTSD, but is forced by cholera and poverty to raise his sword again and he unwittingly assembles a team of misfits along the way.

Through his team of weaklings and misfits some of whom cannot fight but have a fighting spirit, you will find plenty of inspiration about the meaning of

*real strength, being strong, good vs evil, finding yourself, friendship, found family*

And that it's okay to "*waste*" some of your "*precious*" tags on someone weaker than you or who has no chance of winning... that's the beauty of life.

Waiting for S2 announcement.

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Last Samurai Standing is set during the final days of the samurai during a cholera epidemic. Stripped of their wealth and their reason for living, warriors with nothing left to lose sign up for a no holds barred race from Kyoto to Tokyo. The prize is 100,000 yen, enough money to sustain a family for a century. The only catch? The contestants have to capture wooden tokens from the other contestants to pass each check point and to finally enter Tokyo.

Shujiro Saga is a skilled samurai who has been retired after a devastating battle that obliterated everyone on the battlefield with new weaponry. Swords have been outlawed in the new government and the samurai have been shuttled aside. Suffering from debilitating PTSD, he couldn’t use his sword if he had to. To top things off, his family is suffering from cholera and he has no money for medicine. When he hears about a gathering of samurai for a contest with a 100,000 yen prize, he has no choice but to join. At the gathering he finds other desperate people and also samurai desperate to fight, a deadly combination made worse by the conditions of the contest and the ever watchful, heavily armed guards. Along the way from Kyoto to Tokyo, Saga becomes allied with, or rather babysitter for an eclectic group. Aside from the rank-and-file contestants after them for their tokens, is also a shadow from his past intent on taking more than his token.

The comparison to Squid Game was inevitable despite the fact that these kinds of gruesome games have been played out in the movies and television shows for decades. The main thing the two have in common aside from pitting players against each other is that both focus on people who have been pushed to the edge economically and emotionally. I suppose the other is that whenever the camera diverted to the wealthy elite betting on the contestants, the emotional momentum came to a standstill. None of the people behind the game was particularly compelling, in fact, the Big Bad was downright disappointing. The drama was at its best when it focused on the contestants.

Okada Junichi made for an excellent conflicted lead. A loving father and husband, he was also believably Kokushu the Manslayer. I won’t go into his entourage so as not to spoil too much. The acting there was hit or miss. One of the villainous contestants was simply drawn as a mindless killing machine, though the actor chewed through the scenery in the bloody performance. In this contest, aside from Saga, mercy or complexity was rarely a strength.

The Last Samurai Standing was on its way to an 8.5 from me as I was quite enjoying it. For the genre, it delivered on what you’d expect, though no real surprises. The fights were well choreographed and not for the squeamish. The last episode veered into unrealistic territory which was jarring. Yet it also set up huge stakes beyond the contest for our intrepid little band of contestants. Surrounded by powerful enemies, it will be interesting to see how or if the writers can bring this to a satisfying conclusion when the second season rolls around.

14 November 2025
Trigger warnings: The heads rolled in this drama like a macabre bowling match. If you ever wondered what the Yojimbo blood spewing fight would look like in color, well, here’s your opportunity.

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The Obliteration of the Samurai

Last Samurai Standing is about an impoverished and struggling ronin just trying to make ends meet in the Meiji era where the samurai class had been abolished, wearing swords is considered illegal, and the remnants of his kind are shunned and treated like scum. Saga Shujiro is a former distinguished retainer of the powerful Satsuma clan that helped restore the Meiji rule in Japan and defeated the Tokugawa shogunate. He is betrayed and discarded like trash by the very people he reinstated in power. In a world where the samurai have become as obsolete as their katana and code of honor, they are forced to resort to drastic means just to survive, including engaging in a deadly game orchestrated by those in power.

At a glance, this seems like a simple story about people killing each other for survival. But it really is not. This doesn't only have a historical setting but also features known figures in Japanese history. Lord Okubo, the Home Minister was a real person who led the Satsuma clan during the Boshin War. He was named the Home Minister of the Meiji empire and helped shape the future of the country with his ideals and accomplishments. Unfortunately, with change always comes resistance and though he quelled many rebellions (many were led by his former associates), he ultimately couldn't escape assassination by his own former comrades. That segment of Japanese history is the core of this drama. It is also the reason why the “Kodoku” exists. The abhorrence for the samurai and the old ways stems from their inability to accept and adapt to change as well as their gruesome history of bloodshed, unsquashable belief in their code, and their previous position as the elite military class of feudal Japan that they so vehemently abused. There is no unfounded hatred for them, they were hated as much as they were revered. Kawaji most likely suffered or have seen people suffer from the hands of the samurai who demanded respect from peasants and ordinary folk. I do not condone his actions but I do understand his hatred.

The Zaibatsu or the four powerful oligarchs involved in the Kodoku are based on real power hungry families who had a hand in governing the new Meiji empire. They were most likely in favor of obliterating the samurai considering their positions in government and their desire for reform. The death game aspect in Last Samurai Standing is merely a tool to demonstrate the lengths that this new government took to rid itself of its former military class in order to modernize Japan. I just wish they had written them in a less caricature-ish way, though.

The rest of the characters are more complex, thankfully. Shujiro is not your typical hero. In fact, he's flawed, cowardly, and selfish. He left his siblings to fend for themselves because he was afraid. He fought under the Meiji banner with the goal of reforming his country, but he was betrayed, lost allies, and drifted away into obscurity. He started a family but is on the verge of losing them to another enemy, the cholera epidemic that hit Japan. He wanted only to save himself and his family until he met a young girl who reminded him of his dead daughter. So no, he didn't join the Kodoku to save his village. Far from it. Even Kanjiya is not your cookie cutter villain either. In a time when warriors that were bred to do just one thing, which is to kill, lose their purpose, they struggle to find their place in the world and refuse to accept a world that no longer needs them. Sakura is also an interesting character, a former samurai who decided to help oligarchs eliminate his own brethren. His story has yet to be revealed.

While the plot may be more straightforward with little to no twists, I don't think it's that predictable. For one, some characters that were played by prominent actors were killed off almost immediately after being built up to be potential contenders in the game. So really, how did they know who will die exactly? Not to mention Tsuge's character is still a mystery. Do people who say that it's predictable actually know his plan? Who is he? What kind of twists do they want to see? That Saga Shujiro is actually the mastermind? I just can't with some of the comments and reviews of this drama that I've seen on MDL and Reddit. lol

Yes, it's no Shogun, I've been telling people that from the start. But it's not like any other death game story either. It is not a Squid Game-wannabe. In fact, the “death game” concept was popularized in Japan as early as the 1990's, reaching global heights in 2000 with the highly acclaimed Battle Royale. It doesn't rip off from Squid Game. If anything, it's Squid Game that follows this Japanese trend. But that's another argument.

It's also not Rurouni Kenshin. Although the setting is the same and both main characters were former retainers of powerful clans who supported the Meiji restoration, Shujiro is no Kenshin. He doesn't have a strong “no-kill” code and he's not idealistic or self-righteous. He became a samurai because he was raised as one and that's all he knows unlike Kenshin who had a traumatic childhood that drove him to pursue fighting for the weak and affecting change. The fights in this are visceral, bloody, and undeniably brutal that mirrors the horror of Feudal Japan. The fight choreography is more grounded and less stylized, very reminiscent of samurai films of old.

The cast is perfection! Okada Junichi channels a young Sanada Hiroyuki with every swagger and precise strike of his sword. Ito Hideaki is almost unrecognizable as the monstrous Kanjiya, fully immersing himself in the role and probably having a blast with it. Almost all of the cast members are highly popular actors. If you're familiar with J-entertainment, you could probably recognize all of them. lol

This is a well-produced and excellently acted drama that deserves more praise than it's getting. I would recommend it to anyone who has an ounce of interest in Japanese history and samurai culture. Action-fans will no doubt find this enjoyable too. It is now the number 1 most watched show on Netflix globally so a season two is certain at this point. The only question is, when will it come out?

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Beautiful Fight Choreography

Every now and then, I get tired of all the romance and want to immerse myself in some violence, mind fuckery, and death. This doesn't provide mindfuckery, but it has the violence and death thing down pat.

What I Liked
⚔️The fight choreography - Every time you watch a show, there's something that stands out the most. In this one, the fight scenes were it for me. They were phenomenal. I remember rewinding multiple times within episodes, with the thought 'How did they do that' being prominent in my mind.

⚔️The overarching story - Yes, the story does initially remind one of Squid Game. I don't think that comparison is a bad thing tbh. After all, Squid Game is the most recent and most popular show with this concept. However, this goes beyond poor people being forced to die for money and the entertainment of some rich bastards. It's a fight not just for the country, but for the characters themselves

⚔️Interesting characters - Saga is not your ordinary hero. Bro has some severe PTSD in the beginning. It's shown so well that I was seriously wondering how he'd survive the entire show, fighting all these people without unsheathing his sword. When he finally drew that sword.... Holy Shit. *standing ovation, my dude* The name 'manslayer' wasn't wasted on him
🌸Futaba - She adds an interesting layer to Saga, who sees her as his daughter. She increases the stakes of this game. You don't want her to die, even when you know that her being with Saga is a liability. It's also nice how she helps soften these seasoned killers
🌸⚔️The Kyohachi Siblings - I'm so happy that they're all headed toward each other. I cannot wait for them to eventually meet. The tension.... Oh boy. Plus, I can just imagine them fighting together. It's going to be beautiful, I just know it. I hope we see all four together in the coming 2nd season
🏹🌸⚔️Others - Kyojin, what's up with this Njinja fellow? Whose side is he truly on? Why did he send Gentosai to the other siblings? And how the hell does he know who everyone is and where they are and what makes them tick? I know he says he's a strategist, but bro knows way too damn much. I need to know how he knows it
🏹Kamuikocha - Consider me deathly afraid of anyone with arrows from now on. They highlighted him several times in the show and also in the last ep, so I think he'll play a bigger role in the coming episodes. I'll be sat for that
⚔️Gentosai - Hell no. Absolutely not😭. He's hella scary, but watching him fight is beautiful. Can't wait to see him in season 2, even though he scares the shit out of me
🔪Kanjiya - I'm sorry, but I'm glad bro's dead. He stressed me out the entire story
🔫Kawaji - I need the backstory on this scheming, cold man. I have to know where all this hate for the samurai comes from
⚔️Now, who was the guy who was introduced in the very last episode? Close to the end? The guy who killed like 5 people in seconds and proceeded to hop around like a bunny to collect tags? I really need to know what's up with this unhinged self

What I Didn't Like
It's only one thing, and that's the lack of self-preservation of the 'villagers'. Can someone explain to me why they simply stood around to watch as pple were swinging swords and at times, arrows were flying around? Especially when Kanjiya was around? He goes around stabbing and slashing any and evryone in his way, and the folks just stood there or stupidly ran towards him to escape instead of away... I🤦🏾‍♀️. I need to know who told the extras to do that so I can slap them upside the head

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Slick & Stylish

A 6 part series about a competition amongst the Samurai towards their final days and with a cholera outbreak, to win 1,00,000 yen sounded an interesting concept. And to my surprise, it was, to some extent.

The series seems like a combination of Squid Games, Hunger games and many other movies/shows based on competition. But what hooked me to the show was the clean production and the action choreography with many brutal fights that were very well done.

With respect to characters, their arcs have a small screentime except for Shujiro Saga, the main lead of the show. I wished the narrative and every character's arc was developed a little more. The pacing was sluggish, even with just 6 episodes. I saw either rigorous action or very minimal conversation among the characters, nothing in between.

The last episode veered into unrealistic territory which was jarring. Yet it also set up huge stakes beyond the contest for our intrepid little band of contestants. Surrounded by powerful enemies, it will be interesting to see how or if the writers can bring this to a satisfying conclusion when the second season rolls around.

My Rating : 3.5/5

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From Chanbara Promise to Death-Game Recycling

Everyone online is calling this the ‘next great samurai series,’ but let’s be honest: it starts like real chanbara and ends as another recycled death game.
The opening is excellent — clean framing, silence, iaijutsu-style movement, a duel over in seconds. Pure Kurosawa influence.
But as soon as the rules, numbers, VIP spectators and the ‘last-one-standing’ structure appear, the mysticism collapses.
It’s Squid Game in a kimono.
Not a bad show — just not new.
And for viewers who actually know classic samurai cinema (Inagaki, Mizoguchi, Kobayashi, Uchida, Kurosawa), this feels more like spectacle than substance.

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..A Mixed Of My Favorite Anime and Manga..

..are you a fan of Rurouni Kenshin (since a manslayer is one the casts), Battle Royale (the last man standing game), Alice In Borderland (startegy of mind and heart is a must), Gamaran (different weapons are here)..

..then this one is for you..

..does the past must still live in the present or must erase and end as a history..

..where the samurais are needed no more, a new government must alive..

..without knowing if the prize is real by moving forward they must take the path with blood as their pathway..

..I do love the fighting scenes really looks real and feel the bloodlust - to kill or to be killed..

..I never thought on the last episode, this will be just the first chapter of the series and wiaiting for the second chapter to open..

..the castings are famous and carried their own role effectively..

..it is not only the blood on their blade for them to live but their own reason why they need to get on the end and win..

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Wonderful

Exceptional, really loved this, Acting, special effects and story were wonderful, this would have been a high 9.5 for Me if it hadn't of felt like I was only half way through the first season when it finished. It felt like Squid Games season 2, a rushed finale to make way for a second season. Still this is well worth the watch, I thought the sword play and ambience was exceptional and cannot wait for the second season. I suppose we'll have to wait for the viewer numbers before We get a second season. but on the strength of what I have just watched, this could well get three or four seasons if the performances stay this strong. Well done to all involved.

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Survive, Life, Lie. Samurai Is A Human. Always A Human.

A survival-jidaigeki series. Take a note, this is only a beginning of the story. This series is set during the final days of Samurai in a cholera epidemic. Centered on a man who is a former of Samurai and called 'Hitokiri (manslayer)'. He needs money to treat his family while cholera outbreak. A battle between his family's life or his inner trauma that never left.

An ode of surviving. Life for money. And money for life. Brutal, bloody, and bleak. Once they join, there's no way out. No matter of teaming up, nor even stand alone, blood gonna flood. The harsh truth of political intrigue that hiding behind the brutality of surviving that so called 'kodoku game'.

I'm beyond loving the action choregraphies in here. So tight, packed, yet well manage. The body control of each actors in here was utterly magnificent. The katanas dancing at its finest. Dare to say most of the actor have done well so it looks like they didn't use stunt double. Looks promising and realistic, by the way.

Not only by action performance, but the mimicking of every actor was undoubtful. I love their micro expression, especially Okada Junichi as the heroine. His attitude, his anger, his tremble hand, oh he just portraying his character as the best as he could. I knew it. Also the other actors too, even the cameos, bruh all of them are so good. Anyway, they did Takayuki Yamada's cameo screentime unbelievable, I scream for his scene, honestly.

The cinematography was peak cinema, peak beautiful. Like it should, Fujii-kantoku. The angle placement were masterpiece, oh I can't forget those bird's eye shots, the knee level shot. Precisely pretty. Also the lighting, those contrast, the intensity of light, just fit the best. Majestic. Oh unforgettable camera works, those shaky, zoom in/out, it's like we're dragged into those brutal combat with them.

The scoring, were bops. Also I love the way they serving 'silence moment' at the right scene, just give me goosebumps. Especially before the climax combat, oh define peak cinema.

All in all, I highly recommending this series, if you love hunger games, battle royale, combine with shogun, then you might love this. Let's watch it and wait the second part coming, guys! What a best experience I have while watching this! Don't miss this master-craft.

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