REEL JAPAN

Netflix, 1 season, 6 episodes

Score: 5/10

Fujii Michihito, veteran director of the big and small screen, helms this project. He is best known for realistic thrillers like FACELESS, THE VILLAGE, and HARD DAYS (all excellent) as well as intriguing television dramas like THE JOURNALIST. I was surprised to see his name attached to this project because it falls squarely into the genres of samurai fantasy and dystopian survival. Based on a novel by Imamura Shogo, LAST SAMURAI STANDING will inevitably draw comparison to the popular series of RUROUNI KENSHIN films based on the uber-popular manga and anime. 

This series stars one of Japan’s hardest working actors, Okada Junichi, who has honed his samurai skills across countless projects. Okada’s best acting to date was probably in Fujii’s HARD DAYS (a heist story not about a heist) and in his lead role in the NHK Taiga drama GUNSHI KANBEI. He is always reliable to carry a project; most are samurai stories, some yakuza crime dramas. One of the many Japanese actors to originate in a boy band, he has come a long way from his youthful projects where he stood out as the dorky clothing designer in TIGER AND DRAGON. Whereas Kenshin, as played by Sato Takeru, evokes Matt Damon’s stunted and blank Jason Bourne, Okada’s Shujiro evokes Liam Neeson in his gloaming action career. Like Neeson, Okada’s haggard expression, his grimace-acting, and his preoccupation with saving his daughter-substitute are enough to make audiences relate and care. Fujisaka Yumia as the young lady in over her head brings sincerity and vulnerability to her role. An underutilized Abe Hiroshi plays the sinister Gentosai. Kiyohara Kaya imbues her wry warrior with world-weariness. Sometani Shota brings an otherworldly quality to his Ainu archer. Ito Hideaki shines as brutal killer, Bukotsu. Indeed, the whole cast is excellent, featuring a multigenerational array of Japan’s finest acting talent. And the wide scope of the story calls for a large cast. 

Although set in the aftermath of the 1860’s Japanese civil war and the restoration of the Imperial monarchy, the series does not inhabit a realistic historical setting, but a manga-verse like the KENSHIN stories. The usual tropes apply; katanas deflect arrows with ease. Supporting characters are plucked from the rosters of political figures and business moguls in history books; here they perform roles in machiavellian conspiracies. It can feel awkward when our feet leave the ground and we descend (or ascend if you prefer) from history into fantasy. Yet this is the exact same time frame as the KENSHIN films which explore much of the same concepts and plumb the same emotional depths as veterans of brutal conflict try to move forward together into a new Japan. 

The story of LSS is left unfinished and we await work about a second season. The narrative moves at a reasonable pace, and some episodes devote themselves to exploring Shujiro’s and Futaba’s backstories. The problem with Shujiro is how many backstories he has. Just how many people can you be on the run from while you are running towards your new enemies? 

The conspiracies which dominate the plot fail to be more interesting than the tragic, violent, actual Japanese history of that era. In that history, extraordinary figures from all walks of life embodied and explored all the same themes of personal and  national purpose, asking the soulful and tragic question: what do we do with all the samurai who are not needed anymore? You might as well read the history books or watch any number of more realistic Japanese productions about the generals, politicians, and businessmen who transformed Japan from a closed samurai state into a pacific power. 

LAST SAMURAI STANDING provides exciting duels and high-budget battles, some of which borrow Peter Jackson’s camera moves. The characters find themselves in a desperate battle for survival reminiscent of cult Japanese film BATTLE ROYALE (2000) and the HUNGER GAMES stories (2008–).  All the action entertains, but the RUROUNI KENSHIN films have already covered some of the same ground and are a superior series. 

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