Last Samurai Standing Season 1: How Many Episodes Are Dropping on Netflix?

Netflix has a new samurai series coming, and it is not shy about going big. Think late-1800s Kyoto, a brutal survival competition, and 292 desperate swordsmen chasing an eye-watering cash prize. Yes, really.

What it is

'Last Samurai Standing' is a six-episode action drama dropping all at once on Thursday, November 13, 2025, only on Netflix. It is based on Shogo Imamura's manga and directed by a trio of heavy hitters: Michihito Fujii, Kento Yamaguchi, and Toru Yamamoto. The show screened its first two episodes at the 30th Busan International Film Festival in September 2025, which is a solid vote of confidence for a streaming series that is also clearly built for big-swing spectacle.

The hook

Set during the Meiji Restoration, when Japan modernized overnight and a lot of samurai were left with no job and no safety net, the story throws 292 of those out-of-work warriors into a savage contest that starts at Tenryuji Temple in Kyoto. The rules are simple, and nasty: steal wooden tags from your rivals, make it to Tokyo alive, and the last one standing walks away with 100 billion yen. Every kill earns a point, so yes, it is a straight-up period-piece battle royale.

Underneath the action, the show leans into the moral messiness of survival. It is not just swords and foot chases across Kyoto (though there is a lot of that, shot on multiple real locations). It is also about what people will do when the old world collapses and the new one shuts them out.

Release plan

All six episodes land the same day, so no waiting week-to-week. Netflix is pitching this as a large-scale action series with authentic historical texture and meticulous fight choreography. Backing that up: more than 1,000 people worked on the production. It looks like a movie, but you can binge it in a weekend.

Cast and characters

Junichi Okada leads the ensemble as a samurai just trying to keep his family afloat, and here is a nice bit of behind-the-scenes trivia: he is also a producer and the action planner, which should tell you how seriously the team is taking the combat. Office Shirous pulled together a wide roster to represent different warrior classes and regional fighting styles of the era.

• Junichi Okada as Shujiro Saga — a down-on-his-luck samurai fighting to save his ailing family
• Yumia Fujisaki as Futaba Katsuki — a young girl caught up in the chaos
• Kaya Kiyohara as Iroha Kinugasa — an ally to Shujiro
• Riho Yoshioka as Shino — Shujiro's devoted wife
• Kazunari Ninomiya as Enju — one of the game’s co-organizers
• Masahiro Higashide as Kyojin Tsuge — a former Iga clan ninja
• Shota Sometani as Kocha Kamuy — an Ainu archer with deadly aim
• Hideaki Ito as Bukotsu Kanjiya — a vicious fighter with a personal score to settle with Shujiro
• Gaku Hamada as Toshiyoshi Kawaji — the Superintendent General pulling official strings
• Arata Iura as Toshimichi Okubo — the Home Minister involved in orchestrating the contest
• Also featured: Taichi Saotome, Yuya Endo, Yasushi Fuchikami, Jyo Kairi, Takayuki Yamada, Wataru Ichinose, and Hiroshi Tamaki

Why this stands out

On paper, it is a wild blend: prestige period piece meets do-or-die game with an absurdly huge payout at the end. The historical backdrop gives it weight, the rules of the competition keep it tense, and Okada overseeing the action suggests the swordplay will matter as much as the melodrama. If that mix sounds like your thing, November 13 is your day. And if you are the sample-before-you-binge type, the Busan festival nod should ease any worries about quality.

'Last Samurai Standing' streams worldwide on Netflix starting November 13, 2025.