Hideo Kojima says he "binged" new Netflix samurai show with 100% Rotten Tomatoes score: "It was so good"



Hideo Kojima is heaping praise on Netflix's Last Samurai Standing

"I binged Ikusagami (Last Samurai Standing) up through episode 6! It was so good. I love the Yamada Futaro × Squid Game kind of worldbuilding," Kojima states in a social media post that appears to have now been deleted. "The cutbacks between the Kodoku-game side, the organizers, and the government side all move with great pacing. And they don't hesitate to kill off well-drawn characters (with a stacked cast) either. The Tsubaki Sanjūrō-style directing moment made my heart skip."

Last Samurai Standing is based on the novel of the same name by Shogo Imamura. Set in the 16th century, it follows warrior swordsman Shujiro Saga as he enters a high stakes tournament with a life-changing prize awarded to the winner.

Netflix Japan's head of content, Kaata Sakamoto, describes Last Samurai Standing as "Shōgun meets Squid Game," and it's easy to see why. People killing each other in a game for money, rich people watching from the sides, a death tally that counts down how many competitors remain… Sound familiar? The first episode of Last Samurai Standing even introduces a Salesman-like character who introduces the rules of the game with a smarmy smile.

The wooden tag system also calls to mind Battle Royale, a classic 2000 film directed by Kinji Fukasaku that Squid Game was often compared to upon its initial release, making it easy to dismiss this show as just another imitator with historical Japanese window dressing à la Shōgun. Yet in Sakamoto's description of Last Samurai Standing, he also speaks of this story's specific setting, which actually takes place around two centuries after Shōgun.