Last Samurai Standing

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Based on Shogo Imamura's period novel Ikusagami, Last Samurai Standing is a Japanese Netflix series about Shujiro Saga, a samurai who throws himself into Kodoku, a contest set in the 11th year of Meiji (1878) in which fighters seize one another's wooden tags as they make their way from Kyoto to Tokyo, with Junichi Okada serving as both star and producer.

Netflix released all six episodes at once on November 13, 2025, after the series was invited to and screened in the On Screen section of the 30th Busan International Film Festival in September. Its English title is Last Samurai Standing, and the Netflix Korea page rates it 15+. The source is a series of novels by Shogo Imamura, winner of the 166th Naoki Prize, published by Kodansha Bunko beginning with Ikusagami: Ten in 2022 and completed in four volumes: Ten (Heaven), Chi (Earth), Jin (Man) and Kami (God). At the production announcement in April 2024, Imamura said he wrote the story with the concept of "a period novel that works around the world," and that while writing, he pictured Junichi Okada as the hero, Shujiro.

This is Okada's first time as a producer, and he also served as action planner, taking part in shaping the action. In the same production announcement conversation, he said that when Netflix approached him, he had been thinking about how to make a period drama that would be a hit in Japan and around the world, and that he set the goal of "a younger generation making a period drama that sells both in Japan and around the world." He added that he could not imagine anyone but Michihito Fujii, with whom he had worked on the film Hard Days, as director, and that he made the offer intending to step away himself if Fujii did not take it on. Fujii recalled that he had never been someone who enjoyed watching period dramas, but was stunned when he read the novel, wondering how a book could be this entertaining. Kento Yamaguchi and Toru Yamamoto are credited as directors alongside Fujii.

Yumia Fujisaki plays Futaba Katsuki, a girl swept up in Kodoku; Kaya Kiyohara plays Iroha Kinugasa; Masahiro Higashide plays Kyojin Tsuge; Hideaki Ito plays Bukotsu Kanjiya; and Hiroshi Abe plays Gentosai Okabe. Arata Iura plays the real-life figure Toshimichi Okubo, Gaku Hamada plays Toshiyoshi Kawaji, and Kazunari Ninomiya, Takayuki Yamada and Ryusei Yokohama also appear. Episode 1, "Kodoku," is set at Tenryu-ji temple in Kyoto in the dead of night. Drawn by the promise of a huge cash prize, 292 skilled fighters gather and are told the rules: they must secure wooden tags and make their way from Kyoto to Tokyo. Shujiro has entered the game to save his wife and child, who have cholera, and at Tenryu-ji he meets Futaba. In episode 2, "Awakening," Kyojin offers to travel together with Shujiro and Futaba.

According to Netflix's official figures, the series ranked No. 1 globally on the Non-English TV list in its second week, November 17–23, 2025, with 7.2 million views (total hours viewed divided by runtime) that week. Netflix said it made the weekly Top 10 in 88 countries and territories, and in Japan it was No. 1 on the weekly chart for four consecutive weeks, starting from its first week. It was also nominated in the Best Foreign Language Series category at the 31st Critics Choice Awards, which Netflix said made it the first all-Japanese production to be nominated. When season 2 was announced in December 2025, Okada said he had steeled himself and would aim for an even more energetic action drama, and director Fujii said it would be bigger in scale than season 1.

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Drama Lineup editors · Fact-checked against: enews.imbc.com, netflix.com, Wikipedia, about.netflix.com, eiga.com, realsound.jp, kodansha.co.jp, ja.wikipedia.org · 2026-10-18