Last One Standing (Japanese: トークサバイバー！～トークが面白いと生き残れるドラマ～, Hepburn: Tōkusabaibā! ~Tōku ga omoshiroi to ikinokoreru dorama~; transl. Talk Survivor! ~Survive The Drama with Interesting Stories~) is a 2022 crime drama/comedy reality show, produced by Netflix and launched on the streaming service on March 8, 2022. It stars the comedy duo Chidori and features a number of Japanese comedians as contestants.
Contents
Premise
The story is a crime drama which starts at the NF High School, where a precious painting has been stolen from the principal's office. Several times each episode, a character would pose a question to the contestants, who also play roles in the drama and would then drop character and tell a story relevant to the question. In the end of each episode, one or more contestants would be eliminated from the contest and also removed from the plot.
Production
Last One Standing was inspired by the "Dramatic Heartbreak King" segments of the variety show Neo Battle Variety: King-chan, which was also produced by Nobuyuki Sakuma and hosted by Chidori, and aired primarily on TV Tokyo for three seasons from 2016 to 2018.
Reception
Last One Standing became Netflix's most popular show in Japan after its premiere. Decider rated the show "Stream It", commenting that it is "fun watching the contestants trying to one-up each other" and contrasted it to the "serious and dramatic" plot. The Times of India rated it 3.5 out of five stars, similarly praised its "entertaining" combination of suspenseful elements with light-hearted humor and suggested it might inspire an Indian adaptation.
Cast
MC
Nobu (Chidori)
Observers
Karen Takizawa
Shiori Sato (Seasons 1−2)
Reina Triendl (Season 1)
Manatsu Akimoto (Season 3)
Drama
Shotaro Mamiya as Saiki
Hikaru Takahashi as Misato
Masahiro Higashide as Sudo
Koki Okada as Kubota
Yuki Morinaga as Sakurai
Kaito Yoshimura as Student
Nadal as Student
Takenori Goto as Iwata
Mikie Hara as Teacher
Yoshifumi Sakai as Teacher
Yoshiyuki Morishita