Netflix is always looking for its next big franchise, with series like Stranger Things and One Piece offering viewers wild new worlds to sink their teeth into. To date, one of the biggest surprises for the streaming service has been the rise of Squid Game, a South Korean series that rose in the ranks to become one of the platform’s biggest hits. The third season acted as the grand finale for the television series that presented children’s games as life-or-death affairs, meaning Netflix needs another big hit to fill the void. Luckily, a recent release might have fit the bill.
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Last Samurai Standing landed on Netflix earlier this week, on November 13th, presenting a high-stakes battle that had many thinking of Squid Game at first glance. Rather than focusing on kids’ games, however, the six-episode series gathers warriors and murderers from feudal Japan to fight in a bloody battle. Rather than fighting for a wish and/or clemency for crimes, the victor will receive a cash prize that is a life-changing amount during this Meiji era. While the show didn’t hit the top spot for Netflix in its opening week, it did come in at number three and has already become a critical darling.
Samurais Might Be Netflix’s Future
While Last Samurai Standing has a high ladder to climb if it is hoping to overcome Squid Game, it certainly is matching, if not surpassing, the previous Netflix hit in the violence department. Main character Shujiro Saga (Junichi Okada) finds himself joining this brutal tournament, facing down two hundred and ninety-one opponents standing in his way. As of the writing of this article, the new live-action series has yet to confirm if there will be a second season, though the show’s strong start is a good sign for those hoping for more samurai carnage on Netflix.
Last Samurai Standing might have a premise that would make it fit right into the anime scene, but ironically enough, it has never been animated. The story first began in 2022, thanks to the publisher Kodansha and creator Shogo Imamura, with the original manga still releasing new chapters of the story to this day. It isn’t too often that a manga bypasses the animation world completely, so Last Samurai Standing is definitely a special case in this regard.
Hilariously, while Squid Game’s main series might have ended, it would recently return thanks to the arrival of its North American reality show competition, Squid Game: The Challenge. In this challenge, various participants recreate the games from the series in the hope of scoring a big cash payout. It does seem unlikely that a similar reality show style series could be made for Last Samurai Standing, however, considering we can’t imagine there are three hundred samurai in the West looking to fight one another these days.
What do you think of Last Samurai Standing’s rise in popularity since it debuted on Netflix earlier this week? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
