Netflix has released its first teaser trailer for Last Samurai Standing, the live-action series slated to debut on November 13. The series is based on the Ikusagami novels by Shogo Imamura, which have also been adapted as a manga series featuring illustrations by Katsumi Tatsuzawa. The Netflix series is being directed by Michihito Fujii, together with Kento Yamaguchi and Toru Yamamoto.
Last Samurai Standing is set in Meiji Japan during the late nineteenth century. It focuses on the exploits of Shujiro Saga, played by Junichi Okada, who enters a brutal survival-game competition with 291 other warriors to win a prize amounting to 100 billion yen. Saga is determined to win the prize to help his wife and ailing child. Okada is also serving as a producer for the project.
Shogo Imamura told Netflix he was quite pleased with the project. “I wrote Ikusagami with the intention of making a historical novel that could be enjoyed worldwide,” he said. “When Netflix approached me, I was overjoyed. And having Junichi Okada in the lead role was a dream come true, as I had envisioned him as Shujiro while writing.”
At the same time, Netflix announced the following five actors have been added to the cast: Gaku Hanada, Tetsushi Tanaka, Arata Iura, Tajiku Okazaki, and Ayumu Nakajima.
Last Samurai Standing will be presented in six episodes, with the first two slated to be screened on September 18 at the 30th Busan International Film Festival.
The official synopsis for the series includes the following teaser: “Under the veil of night, the temple grounds are filled with unease and the presence of bloodthirsty warriors. When the signal is given to begin the game, the combatants launch into their relentless battle for survival.”
Netflix claims that the series will be a “game-changer for the Japanese serial drama industry,” noting how it has “pushed the boundaries of visual storytelling, blending modern CG advancements with practical effects to deliver some of the most realistic and visceral action scenes ever seen in Japanese television.”
Announcing the release of the series in February of this year, Kaata Sakamoto, who heads content for Netflix in Japan, was quoted in Variety as saying: “When most people think about samurai, they think about this very glamorous period in Japanese history; But what a lot of people don’t realize is that, towards the end of the Edo period, the samurai lost a lot of their glamour and their power. Last Samurai Standing is about what would happen if these warriors – the toughest and best in Japan – all of a sudden became common people and had to fight for their lives.”