Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Last One Standing’ Season 2 On Netflix, Where More Comics Mix The Scripted And Unscripted In A Competition For Laugh Superiority

The first season of Last One Standing was a big hit for Netflix, and especially in Japan, so much that returning co-host Nobu of the comedy duo Chidori remarks that for Season 2, the streamer made their show’s budget even bigger. Nobu and his counterpart Daigo are the central figures here, and they’re joined by a group of Japanese comics and media personalities who must create laughs on the fly during a series of partially scripted challenges or be judged out of the ongoing storyline of Last One Standing, which in season two takes the form of a medical drama that might also involve deadly viruses, kaiju monsters, and criminals operating a fight club. In his capacity as host, Nobu will be joined by Shiori Sato and Karen Takizawa as they comment on all of the proceedings.

LAST ONE STANDING – SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: “The drama banter must be funny,” titles remind us over interspersed shots typical of a medical drama, because “if it isn’t funny, they leave the drama.” On Last One Standing, contestants will consistently be judged off the show within the show. “Only one survivor will finish the drama. Who will it be?”

The Gist: As Nobu and Shiori Sato watch, a scene of world leaders arguing in a meeting room appears, followed by an unknown person in a prison jumpsuit shooting and kicking their way out of some secret facility. Guns, blood, and high stakes – “Can they really make this funny?” Nobu wonders, and then the scene shifts to a pharmaceutical lab at night, where the Last One Standing hosts recognize Nishida of the comedy duo Lalande dressed as a security guard. He tells a self-deprecating anecdote and the entire lab explodes. The final scene of this opening sequence is at a hospital in triage mode, treating victims from the blast, and Yu Shirota and Karen Otomo – actual actors in the cast of this fabricated medical drama – are loath to acknowledge the only doctor who might be able to help them. It’s Daigo, but instead of responding to the crisis, he’s drinking beer and playing mahjong with a group of patients.

Last One Standing then shifts into challenge mode, as Daigo joins Shirota and Otomo in the hospital’s office suite. More contestants enter, all dressed as doctors, and the commentary calls out a group that includes comedian Koji Nishida, J-pop idol Nagisa Shibuya, Kazuko Kurosawa of the comedy troupe Morisanchü, Jiro of Sissone, and even Toshiyuki Itakura of Impulse, who deadpans that he’s grateful for the opportunity after bowing out early last season on Standing. “You’re been given a chance,” Daigo agrees. “Yoshimura doesn’t get that chance.” And the hosts off camera laugh as a picture appears of the season one contestant who wasn’t invited back.

Shiroda’s character calls out his fellow doctors, but his lines are actually setups for improvised, minutes-long soliloquies from the comics, whose responses to “Survival” prompts like “The time I was hurt” or “A memory I don’t want to remember” will either draw laughs from the hosts and an unseen studio audience or they won’t, with the level of response a factor in who’s on the ultimate hot seat during “Judgement Time.” Finally, the challenge sequence bleeds back into the ongoing plot of the medical drama, where all is not what it seems. Wait, is that a hulking kaiju with glowing red eyes stalking the halls of the hospital?

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? This Last One Standing is not to be confused with Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing, which has its own survival challenges. And while it only lasted a season, the Japanese drama Hibana: Spark told the story of two comedians working in the traditional Manzai style of comedy – we might understand it as an act featuring a “straight man” and a “funny man” – which is also a style adhered to by Nobu and Daigo of Chidori.

Our Take: One of the most enjoyable elements of Last One Standing is watching how each of its contestants gear up for the show’s improv-based sequences. Nobu, as host, will often call it out. “Oh, she’s strong,” he’ll observe as Nagisa breaks the pause that takes over the room and takes the pole position on a “survival” prompt. As the camera closes in, she’ll begin with a bit of innocent background framing that invariably turns south as the story’s humorous and usually mildly embarrassing conceit is revealed. 

Despite their extended length, these sequences don’t damage the pacing. In fact, they’re essential to who each contestant is inside of Standing – both as a kind of character on the show within the show, but also as a professional entertainer. And the show is happy to further break the fourth wall inside the improvised stories, because someone might mention a different real-life show they were a part of, or an encounter with an IRL celebrity everyone knows that quickly made the storyteller look like a buffoon. 

The improv moments, and how they’re handled with distinction in each contestant’s personal style, is by far the best part of Last One Standing. But money has clearly been spent in establishing the fabricated medical drama narrative – subtle lighting cues that emulate real dramas help differentiate the show’s different segments – and it’s always a hoot to watch Daigo, whose comedy is often of the confrontational variety. Somehow, in the context of Standing, he can be believable as a loose cannon doctor who pounds Asahi and munches on turkey legs while on duty, while also being outright funny as the embedded co-host of the show and a fellow storyteller to the other contestants. Last One Standing is working on a lot of levels, and the cast deserves credit for how they utilize the show’s production style to their comedic benefit. 

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Standing has rendered its judgment, and there are now only seven contestants remaining out of the original eight in competition. But there’s more mystery revolving around the internal storyline. Yoshimasa Kondo appears as a hospital director harboring secrets, and then the action shifts to a cocktail lounge populated by criminals and thugs and…Daigo again, trading in his doctor’s white coat for a red leather motorcycle jacket.

Sleeper Star: As Standing combines its dramatic elements with improvisational moments and the external commentary from Nobu and his celebrity guest, there’s a lot to manage here in terms of establishing continuity. Which is why its music and onscreen graphics are so key to the series. As the contestants settle into the story they’re sharing, the tinkling piano accompaniment leads the audience to the inevitable beat of humor or laugh line, which is also punctuated with text on screen. These improv moments are the show’s centerpiece, but they’re presented and integrated with an impressive tact. 

Most Pilot-y Line: “…then the dust that came from the futon mat triggered an asthma attack. I lost my debut match to a futon mat.” The punchline for one of Jiro’s stories is typical of Standing, where the storyteller often becomes the butt of their own joke. 

Our Call: STREAM IT. Last One Standing is refreshingly unpredictable in its format. And while some of the constructed drama inside the show is clunky, it always provides an interesting platform for its contestants, who must use different sets of comedy muscles to make their laughs happen.  

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.