'Last Samurai Standing' Netflix Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text The press notes for Netflix's new action drama Last Samurai Standing are careful to mention that the series "has been in development since 2022, a vision that predates even the development of Squid Game." I assume that's a typo, since Squid Game premiered on Netflix in 2021. But the exact phrasing and even the actual truth are close to irrelevant. Whether Last Samurai Standing was put into development before Squid Game became a global sensation and FX's Shōgun emerged as an awards juggernaut truly doesn't matter - because every critic and every viewer is going to call the series Squid Game meets Shōgun, a comparison that isn't an accusation of theft so much as a very, very accurate description of narrative similarity. Under what circumstances is being Squid Game meets Shōgun anything other than a boon? Related Stories TV Michelle Monaghan to Lead High School Hockey Drama at Netflix Reporter's Notebook Netflix House Philadelphia Is a Pretty Photo Op for the 'Gram Last Samurai Standing The Bottom Line More action than character, but viewers won't complain. Airdate: Thursday, November 13 (Netflix)Cast: Junichi Okada, Yumia Fujisaki, Kaya Kiyohara, Masahiro Higashide, Shota Sometani, Taichi Saotome, Yuya Endo, Yasushi Fuchikami, Jyo Kairi, Takayuki Yamada, Wataru Ichinose, Riho Yoshioka, Kazunari Ninomiya, Hiroshi Tamaki, Hideaki ItoProducers: Junichi Okada, Kosuke OshidaDirectors: Michihito Fujii, Kento Yamaguchi, Toru Yamamoto Heck, it got me to watch and review Last Samurai Standing. The concern, I guess, is a matter of raised expectations. By couching its story in the late 19th century, Japan's Meiji era, Last Samurai Standing has the advantage of grounded historical context but the disadvantage of lacking the fodder for the sort of satire that made Squid Game so effective for one season. And while Last Samurai Standing surely received a solid budget from Netflix, it doesn't have quite the epic sweep that the FX production team could bring to Shōgun. So what of it? Last Samurai Standing has a catchy premise and enough of that aforementioned sweep, delivering an ample supply of the samurai action that some people - incorrect people - felt was missing from Shōgun. The first five episodes offered enough bloody, ambitious set pieces and character development to keep me generally engaged, with the sixth episode being the first one to come close to blowing me away with samurai clashing, setting things up intriguingly for a second season that, unlike with Squid Game, is probably necessary. Adapted from a novel by Shogo Imamura, Last Samurai Standing begins 10 years after the Satsuma Rebellion. That nine-month revolt affirmed the status of the rising new imperial government of Japan and stripped the samurai class of rank and privilege, in favor of a modernized approach to the military and security throughout the land. The first character we meet is Shujiro Saga (Junichi Okada), a once-legendary swordsman suffering from the disenfranchisement of the samurai. Shujiro doesn't necessarily have a profession, but he has a wife and two kids, which apparently brought him happiness (not that we see much of that happiness). A cholera epidemic sweeps the country, killing Shujiro's daughter and leaving his wife on the brink of death. With no way to get his family the medical attention they need, Shujiro responds to a mysterious flyer that has been posted around the country. A martial arts tournament is taking place at a temple in Kyoto, with the promise of an unfathomable cash prize. Shujiro and 291 other interested participants arrive in Kyoto and they're told the rules: They are to participate in a game. They've each been assigned numbered tags. The goal is to get the tags off of other players by any means necessary. Contestants must reach a certain number of assigned checkpoints on the road to Tokyo with a certain number of tags taken, with force, from rivals. There's also a group of oligarchs monitoring the game breathlessly, placing bets on the numbered contestants, fat cats throwing down wads of cash on the desperate likes of Futaba (Yumia Fujisaki), entirely untrained but willing to do anything for an ailing mother; Iroha (Kaya Kiyohara), once a part of a legendary training school and now a sideshow act for a traveling fair; Bukotsu (Hideaki Ito), wild-eyed and eager to get revenge on Shujiro; and Kyojin (Masahiro Higashide), whose tendency to talk of alliances and then disappear for long stretches makes him suspicious. Each contestant is there because they face some level of economic desperation. They don't know who's behind the game, though there's a lot of talk of an organizer or a mastermind. See, I wasn't kidding when I said Squid Game meets Shōgun