Warning! This article contains spoilers for Season 1 of Last Samurai Standing.
Last Samurai Standing The end of season 1 is filled with duels, betrayals and twists, leaving a lot on the line. Last Samurai StandingReviewers know exactly what the series is: a battle royale that focuses on badass samurai action. This action reaches its climax Last Samurai Standing episode 6, from individual duels to teases about future battles.
Inasmuch as Squid game encounter Shogun battle royale, Last Samurai Standing has its share of twists and turns in the middle of the action. The eye-opening narrative and action moments truly solidify it as Netflix’s next manga adaptation, allowing Last Samurai Standing to carve out its own niche in the genre.
By the time Episode 6 ends, the killing game at the center of the series accelerates, characters have climactic showdowns, and teases of shifting loyalties are provided. All this is compensated by Last Samurai StandingThe main villains are orchestrating things behind the scenes, hinting at a lot more to come in season 2, if it happens.
Why Kawaji and the organizers want to kill all the samurai
The main villain of Last Samurai Standing is Kawaji, the superintendent general of the Japanese police. Kawaji betrays the Minister of the Interior and his other government “friends” to host Kodoku, the central competition of Last Samurai Standing. It pits 292 samurai against each other in a race to Tokyo, with the true motivations of Kawaji and his evil allies revealed along the way.
Last Samurai Standing opens with the series’ protagonist, Shujiro, in a battle. After seemingly winning, Shujiro and his men are destroyed by cannon fire and gunfire, later revealed to have been orchestrated by Kawaji. To put it simply, Kawaji is a man who believes in Japan’s industrial and political progress.
SO, Kawaji considers samurai outdated in the modern era. He also believes that their codes of honor, loss of societal privileges, and high skills could pose a danger to any change in Japanese society. As a result, Kawaji brings together the country’s remaining samurai in the Kodoku competition.
Kawaji’s goal is to keep the samurai away from each other while providing entertainment for his wealthy elite benefactors. This will leave Kawaji to carry out his plan to take over Japan as a police state.as proven Last Samurai Standing» ends, in which he kills the country’s interior minister.
Bukotsu vs. Shujiro Explained: Why They Have a Rivalry and Who Wins
With all this outside of the Kodoku competition, several rivalries take place within it. The main one is Shujiro’s feud with Bukotsu, a brutal former samurai. In Last Samurai StandingAt the end of the series, it is revealed that Bukotsu was present at the initial battle shown in the first few minutes of the show. He and Shujiro dueled, with the latter leaving the former for dead.
Bukotsu was then left to rot in prison, going mad with vengeance and bloodlust. Bukotsu was freed by Kawaji’s main henchman, Hanjiro, also a former samurai. This explains why Bukotsu is so determined to defeat Shujiro and why his brutality leads him to kill innocent people.
In Last Samurai StandingIn the climactic duel, Shujiro and Bukotsu face off amid explosive fireworks. Eventually, Shujiro defeats Bukotsu, killing him this time, thus ending the latter’s chances of winning the Kodoku. and his brutal murder streak.
Last Samurai Standing ending teases that Kyojin is not an ally of Shujiro, Futaba, and Iroha
Throughout Last Samurai Standinga man named Kyojin is a strategist and mastermind who allies himself with Shujiro, Futaba, and Shujiro’s adopted sister Iroha. Kyojin teams up with the group to uncover Kodoku’s secrets, while seemingly knowing information about the other competitors that he shouldn’t.
In Last Samurai StandingAt the end of, Kyojin reveals that he sent another competitor, a mortal old man named Gentosai, to kill Shujiro and his other adopted siblings. Kyojin asks Gentosai: “Really? You couldn’t kill them? I even gave you their location.” This comes after Kyojin told two siblings of Shujiro and Iroha that the latter two were being chased by Gentosai.
The only clue as to why Kyojin orchestrated this battle between the siblings and Gentosai is that he wants to take advantage of Kodouku. while he is part of it. Clearly, there’s more at stake with Kyojin. Exactly what remains to be seen, but Last Samurai Standing The end of season 1 hints that he may not be the ally Shujiro thought he was.
Who is Gentosai from The Last Samurai Standing and Why Does He Want to Kill Shujiro’s Siblings
Regarding who Gentosai is, the old samurai was a mysterious ally of Shujiro’s old master. The school that Shujiro and his adoptive siblings belonged to once had its own Kodoku, which was supposed to leave one remaining student. Students were not allowed to flee, lest Gentosai hunt them down and kill them to protect the school’s teachings.
Shujiro ran away from school, allowing his other siblings to escape. Since then, Gentosai has been stalking the siblings to continue his former master’s bidding. However, more information about Gentosai remains shrouded in mystery. Last Samurai Standing‘s ending teases more revelations in season 2, whether it’s why Gentosai is such a brutal enforcer or why he’s allied with Kyojin.
How the ending of Last Samurai Standing sets up season 2
Last Samurai StandingThe latest episode showcases more things to come from the manga adaptation. Of course, Kyojin’s conflicting loyalties are the main tease of season 2, as are his true motivations and ties to Gentosai. Beyond that, Shujiro is aware of a coup within the Japanese government, though he’s not entirely sure of every moving part.
Last Samurai Standing The final moments of season 1 show Shujiro seeing Kawaji in a carriage, shortly after the Interior Minister’s death, and reveal that Shujiro’s government contact is heading to Tokyo in a state of emergency. Shujiro tells Futaba that they will reach Tokyo, both to win Kudoku and uncover the conspiracy led by Kawaji.
Shujiro’s other siblings, who are either grouped together or alone in Kodoku, vow to kill Gentosai, as they will never truly be free as long as he lives. Encircling all of this is Kodoku itself, as Kawaji and his allies promise that the game will only get bigger and more “entertaining” as the competitors get closer to Tokyo.
Obviously, Last Samurai Standing promises a bigger and more substantial second season. Whether Netflix will renew the series for this story remains to be seen, but many plot threads will remain unresolved if a sequel happens.
- Release date
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November 13, 2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Michihito Fujii
- Writers
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Shogo Imamura
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Junichi Okada
Shujiro Saga
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Yumia Fujisaki
Futaba Katsuki
