Last Samurai Standing is currently riding high on the Netflix charts, and the show’s creators have big plans for Season 2 and beyond.
Last Samurai Standing star, producer, and action choreographer Junichi Okada has described the show as a cross between TV hits Squid Game and Shōgun, so it’s no surprise that the series has quickly captured the imagination of audiences worldwide.
A live-action adaptation of Shogo Imamura’s 2022 historical fiction novel Ikusagami – which was also adapted into a popular manga series – the period piece revolves around 292 samurai competing in a tournament where first prize is 100,000 yen.
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Okada plays Shujiro Saga, who is competing on behalf of his sick wife and child during an outbreak of cholera, and both he and showrunner Michihito Fujii have been dropping hints about the show’s potential future…
Michihito Fujii wants “two or three seasons” of Last Samurai Standing
With Last Samurai Standing attracting a huge Netflix audience, talk has inevitably turned to the future of the show, and when asked how long he’d like the series to run, creator Michihito Fujii told Forbes: “Two or three seasons.”
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He qualified that statement by adding: “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. I like to do as much as possible.
“If we could conclude the whole story with another season, I think that’s our mission.”
Expect superpowers in Season 2
As for what could be coming in that proposed Season 2, characters possess superpowers in the book, and Junichi Okada believes the show could lean in that direction.
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“The actual source material is the novel, and then there also is a manga, but, in the original, the characters have special powers,” Okada told The Hollywood Reporter.
“For our show, for the first season, we don’t have superpowers, but if Last Samurai Standing is very popular and well received, and if we were to continue on to the second season, there may be a possibility that we might be introducing some of those aspects.”
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As for how that could happen, Okada added: “In the first season, we introduced the kagura dance, which is like a spiritual ritual so there is this element of the superhuman power, so we may be able to introduce this divine power.”
Last Samurai Standing is streaming on Netflix. For more on what to watch, take a look at the new movies coming to Netflix this month, check out the best live-action anime adaptations, and everything coming up with our 2025 TV show release calendar.
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