Netflix releases teaser for its Shōgun killer, Last Samurai Standing

In the grand tradition of Fyre versus Fyre Faud, Netflix has released a teaser for its own samurai series, which, at first glance, looks very much like Shōgun, with a touch of Squid Game for good measure. Based on the Ikusagami series of novels and manga by Shogo Imamura, Last Samurai Standing follows a 19th-century samurai competition in which hundreds of warriors compete for a cash prize, earning one point for every contestant they kill. Unlike Shōgun, Last Samurai Standing leans harder into the action, promising next-level samurai fencing from its 1,000-person production to “deliver some of the most realistic and visceral action scenes ever seen in Japanese television.” The teaser serves up the advertised samurai action, with the final shot marveling at the shining, clanking swords that will hopefully distract Netflix subscribers from the other popular Japanese historical fiction series that cleaned up at last year’s Emmys.