Netflix’s ‘Last Samurai Standing’ Debuts Thursday With Real-Scale Samurai Battle Royale

Overview

• The six-episode series adapts Shogo Imamura’s Ikusagami, set in 1878 Kyoto with 292 warriors battling at Tenryuji Temple for a 100 billion yen prize.
• Director Michihito Fujii pairs high-impact combat with character-driven drama, drawing on jidaigeki traditions and influences from Akira Kurosawa.
• An opening sequence employed 292 real performers without digital replication, filmed over three weeks after training roughly 300 actors with a 20-person action team.
• Junichi Okada also produced and oversaw action, emphasizing graphic practical effects including blood-heavy swordplay and controlled fire stunts performed with safety gear.
• The survival-game uses wooden tags taken from defeated rivals, with the last man standing claiming the reward, as streaming begins November 13 on Netflix.