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What is Last Samurai Standing, Netflix's New Meiji-Era Epic
- TalkTeaV
- Oct 14
- 2 min read
Junichi Okada leads a massive ensemble in a brutal race for survival.
Image of Jun'ichi Okada as Shujiro Saga in Last Samurai Standing (2025): Courtesy of Netflix
Netflix’s upcoming Japanese action series Last Samurai Standing premieres on November 13 on Netflix, uniting historical spectacle with modern cinematic storytelling. Set during Japan’s late-19th-century Meiji period, the series stars Junichi Okada as Shujiro Saga, a warrior drawn into a deadly contest at Kyoto’s Tenryuji Temple. At nightfall, 292 fighters gather, each wearing a single wooden tag. The rule is simple: steal the others and reach Tokyo alive.
Okada, who also serves as producer and action planner, developed the project with director Michihito Fujii (The Journalist). “When Netflix executive producer Mr. Takahashi reached out to me, I was still acting in historical dramas,” Okada said. “Back then, I was already thinking of ways to make this genre a hit, not just in Japan, but all over the world. I saw their potential for action, drama, social commentary, and entertainment, but I knew they could be taken further. That’s when I came across Imamura’s novel.”
Based on Ikusagami by Shogo Imamura, winner of the 166th Naoki Prize, the story blends historical realism with a “battle royale” setup that tests honor, survival, and sacrifice. Imamura said he was thrilled by the adaptation, sharing that he had imagined Okada as Shujiro while writing.
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Last Samurai Standing (2025): Courtesy of Netflix
The production was filmed on an epic scale. The large nighttime battle at Tenryuji Temple took several days to shoot, involving more than 1,000 crew members and nearly 300 costumed actors. Fujii worked alongside co-directors Kento Yamaguchi and Toru Yamamoto to balance practical choreography with cutting-edge CG, ensuring every strike and movement felt authentic. Fujii compared the scale of filming to “producing three movies” at once and said the team felt a strong “responsibility to deliver something unprecedented.”
The series features a large ensemble of established Japanese actors, including Kaya Kiyohara, Masahiro Higashide, Shota Sometani, Takayuki Yamada, Riho Yoshioka, and Kazunari Ninomiya. Each character fights for deeply personal reasons, from ambition and honor to Shujiro’s desperate mission to save his ailing family.
With Netflix backing this experienced cast and crew, we may all find ourselves glued to the screen watching a new epic, bloody action series unfold. Between its historical setting, survival premise, and grand production scale, Last Samurai Standing could mark one of the most ambitious Japanese dramas to hit global streaming.
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