The Creator of Netflix's Hit 'Squid Game' Replacement Teases the Show's Future
Last Samurai Standing hasn't even had time to cool on the homepage carousel, and it's already the show everyone's texting about. In its first week, it shot to #2 on Netflix's Top 10 Non-English TV list - a quick sign there's heat here, not just hype. That's per Netflix's own charts, which you can check yourself if you like keeping score.
The pitch sounds familiar at first: a high-stakes contest that isn't what it seems. But instead of neon tracksuits and sugar candy, we're in the Meiji era, where samurai are suddenly out of step with a modernizing Japan. That contrast - honor codes colliding with a rigged game - is what's pulling people in.
So, will there be a Season 2?
There's no renewal yet. But creator Michihito Fujii isn't shying away from the idea that the story can continue. In a new interview, he said there's room to close things out with another chapter - maybe two.
"Two or three seasons. However, sometimes future seasons happen two or three years later, and viewers forget what happened in the past. Because I'm a fan of Netflix, I try to convey as much as I can in one season… If we could conclude the whole story with another season, I think that's our mission."
Here's where Season 1 left us: Toshimichi Okubo is dead. Shujiro and Futaba are told to head to Tokyo. And the organizer behind the Kodoku - the so-called "contest" - is revealed to have darker motives than a payday. That's a clean runway for a bigger, more political Season 2 if Netflix gives the nod.
And honestly, that's the bet. The show told a full, satisfying arc, but there's unfinished business - for Shujiro, for Futaba, and for the machine that set the deaths in motion. Maybe it's just timing, but this feels like the moment you expand the map and raise the stakes.
Why this one's hitting
Last Samurai Standing is based on Shogo Imamura's novel and stars Junichi Okada (movies and tv series) as Shujiro Saga, a former samurai who enters a Kyoto competition with a ¥100,000 prize to help his ill wife and kids. Then the trap snaps shut: it's a death game, and honor meets survival. Yumia Fujisaki (movies and tv series) plays Futaba Katsuki, who becomes key to that fight.
It scratches the same itch as Squid Game or Alice in Borderland - ordinary people pulled into rules they didn't write - but the period setting adds grit and consequence. Swords are outlawed, status is gone, and the old ways don't protect you anymore. That tension hums under every fight.
What to Watch if You Liked Last Samurai Standing
- Squid Game - The modern benchmark for death-game storytelling. Cold rules, brutal choices, and a beating heart under the shock.
- Alice in Borderland - Survival puzzles with a sharp genre engine. If you like strategy and dread in equal measure, this lands.
- Shogun - No death games, but a masterclass in samurai-era power plays and cultural clash, based on James Clavell (movies and tv series)'s novel.
- The Running Man - Edgar Wright (movies and tv series)'s film with Glen Powell (movies and tv series) about a man who joins a lethal reality show to help his family. Different setting, same "fame vs. survival" pressure cooker.
The takeaway
There's momentum, a clear creative plan, and an open door to Tokyo. If Netflix likes the numbers after a few weeks, don't be surprised if we get news of a final run to close Shujiro's story. Until then, all six episodes are streaming, and the conversation's just getting louder.
We'll keep watching the charts - and the hints - as they come in.
