Every year hundreds of new shows and movies join Netflix’s library adding to its thousands of titles. Standing out from the crowd is far from straightforward unless a production has a string of A List stars. This makes it all the more noteworthy when a foreign title surges in interest which is exactly what is happening right now.
On the face of it, Last Samurai Standing seems like your typical Netflix production. Adapted from the novel with the same name, it is set in the late 19th century and tells the story of a tournament for Japanese warriors at the the Tenryūji monastery in Kyoto, 280 miles to the west of Tokyo. They compete to snatch a wooden tag from their opponent and take it on a trek to Tokyo with the warrior who has the biggest haul winning a huge haul of cash. Like an ancient ancestor of Squid Game, the show follows a warrior on a personal mission to help his sick wife and child. So far, so good.
The difference from many of Netflix’s most famous franchises is that it is not in English. A notable exception to this of course is Squid Game and Netflix commissioned Japanese-language Last Samurai Standing in spring 2024 when interest in the Korean survival thriller series was accelerating in the run up to its second season at the end of the year.
Sensing that it had another foreign franchise hit on its hands, Netflix spared no expense on Last Samurai Standing and the production features nearly 300 actors, with many dressed in intricate costumes. Its first two episodes premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in September this year and debuted on Netflix yesterday. The show’s feudal theme and sweeping settings quickly came to the attention of critics.
After just one day on release, Last Samurai Standing has joined the exclusive club of shows with a 100% critics and audience rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes though the the former is only based on seven reviews. Although Last Samurai Standing has yet to go viral, word is clearly spreading fast about the caliber of the show.
This can be clearly seen in the data below from Google which processed more than five trillion searches last year giving it a 90% share of the market.
The data comes from the Google Trends service which analyzes the popularity of top queries though the results don’t reveal the number of searches for a specific term. Instead, each point on the graph is relative to the others on a scale of zero to 100. A score of 50 means that there were half as many searches for a term on that date than there were when it hit 100 which represents peak popularity for the term. In contrast, a score of zero relates to the lowest number of search enquiries during the given time.
Crucially, Google Trends captures as many results as possible. It is not case sensitive, it shows worldwide search inquiries and can generate results for specific terms or broader topics. For example, typing in ‘Last Samurai Standing’ brings up an option to search for that specific string of words or ‘Last Samurai Standing – TV Series’ which also yields results including variations like misspellings and related terms. It is known as a topic search and Google describes it as the way “to measure the overall interest in the concept.”
The data above shows that when the first two episodes of the show debuted in September there was a small spike in interest which reached a level of seven on the graph. However, this week it has surged to 100 on release of the show on Netflix.
There is often a lag between release and an increase in searches for a well-reviewed show as it takes time for word of mouth to spread. Last Samurai Standing is bucking that trend though it remains to be seen if it can sustain it. Within a matter of days new original content will hit Netflix vying for audiences’ attention. Maintaining popularity in the face of competition will determine whether Last Samurai Standing becomes another Squid Game or a flash in the pan. It really is in the fight of its life.
