Warning: Spoilers ahead for Last Samurai Standing

In the breathless opening one-er of Last Samurai Standing , samurai protagonist Shujiro Saga (Junichi Okada, also a producer and action choreographer) cuts through dozens of men as he charges across a muddy battlefield, up a hill, and past the enemy’s jinmaku to behead their leader. His victory is short-lived, however. The sword-driven action that should halt the bloodshed is quickly swallowed by canon fire.

“Stop!” Shujiro screams into the gunpowder sky, as men from both sides of the battle are indiscriminately slaughtered around him, as if one man can halt the brutal churn of history. Most of Netflix’s Japanese action period drama takes place a decade after the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, a deciding event in the Boshin War, but the e

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