Netflix has announced additional cast for Last Samurai Standing, the highly-anticipated new action drama series from Japan. Check out the recently-released teaser.
Could Last Samurai Standing be Japan’s Squid Game? Or the next Shōgun? The series is already drawing international buzz, plus a coveted invite to the 30th Busan International Film Festival. I hope it lives up to the hype, because the story sounds like a winner and the teaser looks awesome.
Set in the late 19th century during the Meiji period, when the age of the samurai was coming to an end, Last Samurai Standing revolves around a relentless life-and-death game.
On one fateful night, 292 warriors gather at Tenryuji Temple, a historical hub and spiritual sanctuary in Kyoto. They have been lured here by the promise of a huge cash prize. Amongst them is Shujiro Saga (Junichi Okada, Hard Days, Hell Dogs). He, like the other 291, wears around his neck a single wooden tag. The battle royale requires participants to steal the tags of their rivals and race to Tokyo to claim victory — using whatever means and at any cost. As the game signal sounds, the temple erupts into chaos, launching a brutal fight for both money and survival where only one can stand victorious.
The previously-announced cast also includes Yumia Fujisaki (The Parades) playing Futaba Katsuki, a young girl caught in the desperate battle; Kaya Kiyohara (Switched), Taichi Saotome (Fermat’s Cuisine), and Yuya Endo (Million yen Women) as Iroha Kinugasa, Shikura Adashino, and Sansuke Gion, Shujiro’s sworn allies; Masahiro Higashide (The Confidence Man JP) as former Iga clan ninja Kyojin Tsuge; Shota Sometani (Tokyo Swindlers) as Ainu archer Kocha Kamuy; Yasushi Fuchikami (The Days) and Kazunari Ninomiya (Vivant) as Sakura and Enju, the organizers of the game; Kairi Jo (Shoplifters) as Shinjiro Sayama, a young man burdened by debt; Takayuki Yamada (The Naked Director) as Kyoto police officer Jinbe Ando; Wataru Ichinose (Sanctuary) as the imposing Raizo Tachibana; Riho Yoshioka (House of Ninjas) as Shino, Shujiro’s wife; Hiroshi Tamaki (Golden Kamuy) as the longsword-wielding noble guardian, Ukyo Kikuomi; and Hideaki Ito (Tokyo Vice) as the notoriously vicious Bukotsu Kanjiya, who has a history with Shujiro.
Joining them in the six-episode series are Gaku Hamada (Pararescue Jumper) as Superintendent General Toshiyoshi Kawaji; Taiiku Okazaki (Light of My Lion) as Jinroku Keage, a successor of the Kyohachi-ryu school of swordsmanship; Arata Iura (Golden Kamuy: The Hunt of Prisoners in Hokkaido) as Home Minister Toshimichi Okubo; Tetsushi Tanaka (The Parades) as Bureau of Communications chief Hisoka Maejima; and Ayumu Nakajima (Learning to Love) as Okubo’s secretary, Shinpei Nagase.
Based on the “Ikusagami” (“Last Samurai Standing”) book series by historical novelist and Naoki Prize winner Shogo Imamura, Last Samurai Standing, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Thursday, November 13, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
__________________
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Ditto for other affiliate links, all at no extra cost to you.
Last Samurai Standing 1 by Shogo Imamura
Last Samurai Standing 2 by Shogo Imamura
Last Samurai Standing 3 by Shogo Imamura
Last Samurai Standing 4 by Shogo Imamura
