3 months ago
5
Last Samurai Standing ★★★★
Comparisons be damned. This Japanese action extravaganza has a galvanising mystery plot deeply reminiscent of Squid Game, while the setting of a turbulent 19th century Japan clearly recalls Shogun. Both influences are so obvious that Last Samurai Standing refuses to be impeded by them. They’re building blocks, and this sword-on-sword extravaganza is more than happy to layer an entertaining series of its own atop them. Yes, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is a sacred text, but how much fun is 700 samurai?
Yumia Fujisaki, Junichi Okada, Kaya Kiyohara and Masahiro Higashide in Last Samurai Standing.
Opening with a bloody 1869 battle that ends the pre-eminence of the traditional Shogunate and the samurai, the six-episode series picks up 10 years later. The “Sword Abolishment Edict” is in effect, and one-time samurai legend Shujiro Saga (Junichi Okada) is desperate as poverty and cholera circle his family. When a brochure convenes a competition for former warriors with a vast cash prize Shujiro attends, discovering hundreds of fellow entrants and a deadly format: from one checkpoint to the next, the players advance solely by killing one another.
For the record, Last Samurai Standing was adapted from Shogo Imamura’s 2012 novel, Ikusagami, which also became a 2022 manga series. But the Squid Game parallels for streaming are obvious, starting with the black-clad guards who execute quitters and a mocking host, Enju (Kazunari Ninomiya). There’s also rich oligarchs betting on the carnage and a mystery organiser, but the aesthetic is different – Squid Game’s cartoonish pop is replaced by eerie nocturnal sets and supernatural malevolence.
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The show is also extremely dedicated to its fight scenes. The launch of the game turns into an extended Battle Royale bloodbath, and from there on the action set-pieces, choreographed by Okada, cover the martial arts spectrum. One episode might have a long, ritualistic duel between two former comrades, another might send the camera skittering through a chaotic trap being sprung in a teahouse. The fighting sets up various imposing villains, most notably the bloodthirsty Bukotsu (Hideaki Ito), who yearns to kill Shujiro and the naive young contestant, Futaba (Yumia Fujisaki), he’s protecting.
As a period mystery, Last Samurai Standing has an earnest momentum: telegrams are tracked and government officials race by carriage to understand what motivates the competition. Flashbacks illustrate the plight of entrants, such as a haunted female warrior Iroha (Kaya Kiyohara), while the driving martial score reinforces the inexorable condensation of the game. It all adds up to a wild variant that, whether sombre or slashing, happily takes off from its familiar foundation. Action heads should delight in a series where the fighting is so intense, sweat literally sizzles on a hot sword.
Last Samurai Standing is now streaming on Netflix.
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