Ikusagami

One point per life. During the Meiji era, 292 fighters came together at Tenryu-ji Temple in Kyoto after sunset, The challenge was clear: take each other's wooden tags and make it all the way to Tokyo. The winner would get the prize ¥100 billion.

The first five episodes offered enough bloody, ambitious set pieces and character development to keep me generally engaged, with the sixth episode (Action-packed climax) features the final showdowns of the tournament, concluding with an intense battle that takes place during fireworks.

Last Samurai Standing is a visual treat and sure to satisfy genre fans. If you're looking for seriously brutal samurai fight sequences and a tension-filled contest, "Last Samurai Standing" is a must-watch.

I was not expecting Last Samurai Standing to be nearly as good as it was. I was expecting some cheesy action show where I can just turn my brain off and enjoy it. It's much more than that. It's a mix of Shogun, Battle Royale & Squid Game. The only negative is it's only six episodes long. There are plenty of characters and backstories that would've benefited from a longer season. Every episode has enough action and drama to entertain just about any action fan.

Although this show plays to several tropes that could be better served.

The trope of a tired broken down soldier is beyond old... Do something different. The other trope is the one of the hopeless little girl who need saving, this is monumentally irritating as it sets up somebody who's going to sacrifice himself for the monumentally inept person.

Otherwise I do enjoy all the scenes. I just wish they wouldn't use some of the old tropes.

The title says it all. "Last Samurai Standing"' plot is generally laid out in its title with some interesting, intriguing twists. The six episode premiere of "Chapter One" effectively lays out the main general plot and introduces the primary characters, along with their motivations effectively.

Fans of FX's 2024 remake of "Shogun" and Takashi Miike's 2010 "13 Assassins" will likely enjoy "Last Samurai Standing". The melodrama in between set action pieces sometimes drops an anchor on momentum, but not so much to derail the story.

Let's hope Netflix generates enough positive interest for Chapter Two and this first season offering abruptly ends -ala iajutsu.

It's an entertaining mesh of "Squid Games", "Battle Royale", "Hunger Games", and a handful of other ideas rolled into some neat historical fiction.

If anything, I'll be curious to see what the consensus is regarding the English dub and Netflix's use of AI deepfake technology for the characters' mouths.