Netflix’s Best New Show Has 100% Rotten Tomatoes Critic And Audience Scores

Last Samurai Standing

Netflix

I can’t say I’ve seen this all that often. This week, Netflix debuted a brand new series with a wild concept, and it seems to be paying off. Right now, it has dual 100% Rotten Tomatoes scores from both critics and audiences, something we almost never see on Netflix or anywhere else.

The show is Last Samurai Standing, and the caveat is that at least so far, this is from a small number of critics and viewers, so this is likely to change. But in the first 24 hours, that’s still pretty impressive, and it certainly seems worth checking out. I mean, I was already going to, given the concept, but if it really is this good? I can’t wait.

While battle royales have taken over video games and gruesome tournaments have been explored many times across movies and TV, Last Samurai Standing is unique. Here’s the concept:

“In 1878, 292 samurai gather for a battle royale lured by a 100 billion yen prize; wooden tags are given, and the last survivor reaching Tokyo wins.”

It may not be all that great a surprise that this is an adaptation of something else, in this case a manga series, and that is based on a novel written by Shogo Imamura, which came out in 2022. So this has had a bit of a hop, skip and jump journey to a live-action Netflix series.

Last Samurai Standing has debuted at #3 on Netflix’s top 10 list, behind new murder mystery The Beast in Me starring Homeland’s Claire Danes and The Americans’ Matthew Rhys. After that is former #1 Death by Lightning, an occasionally comedic retelling of the assassination of President Andrew Garfield. But neither have these scores.

One of the only criticisms I’ve seen of the show thus far is that it’s six episodes, and the series clocks in at just under six hours as a result. Interestingly, it is not listed as a limited series, so the potential appears to be there for further seasons, depending on how it performs. With high scores and a solid audience, that very well may be in the cards.

Netflix has relied more and more on Asian content over the last few years, especially Korean shows and movies, though Last Samurai Standing here is obviously Japanese. Japan has also produced a number of top series for Netflix as well, and this is another one to add to the list.

We will see how Last Samurai Standing progresses on the list. Could this be another surprise breakout akin to another death tournament, Squid Game? I mean, we can’t rule anything out just yet, but this is a fantastic start.

Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.