Hideo Kojima Praises Netflix’s Near-Perfect Manga Live-Action Adaptation As One of 2025’s Best

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Hideo Kojima, the famous video game designer, recently shared his top entertainment picks for 2025, and included a popular action series from Netflix—a live-action adaptation of a Japanese manga. While best known for creating games, Kojima is a huge fan of all types of pop culture, including movies, TV shows, and anime. Because of his innovative games, fans really trust his recommendations. He also consistently uses licensed music in his games, always giving credit to the artists, which shows how much he respects and loves entertainment and wants to share his inspirations.

I’ve been totally hooked on Hideo Kojima’s recommendations on X lately! With so much stuff coming out all the time, it’s amazing to get his picks for things that are really worth watching. He’s been sharing lists for all sorts of genres, and I was especially excited to see his top dramas for 2025. One that really stood out was Last Samurai Standing on Netflix – it’s a live-action manga adaptation and honestly, it deserves way more hype! I’m adding it to my watchlist right away.

Hideo Kojima’s Best Drama of 2025 Includes Netflix’s Heavy-Action Japanese Drama

Here’s the list of what I watched, in the order I watched it. It’s broken down by how I watched it – streaming dramas first, then streaming movies, and finally, movies I saw in theaters as part of a 4K revival series.

Streaming Dramas:
Adolescence
 El Eternauta (The Eternaut)
Pluribus
 Last Samurai Standing

Streaming Movies:
Frankenstein (also shown in theaters)
 KPop Demon Hunters

4K Revival Theatrical Releases:
Days of Heaven
 The Fall
* Le ballon…

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) January 6, 2026

Hideo Kojima, who considers Last Samurai Standing one of his favorite shows of 2025, clearly has high standards. Interestingly, despite praising the hugely popular final season of Stranger Things, he didn’t include it on his list. Last Samurai Standing is based on a novel and manga, and tells the story of samurai forced to fight for their lives in a deadly competition as their era comes to a close. The series shares similarities with Squid Game, but with a samurai twist, focusing on intense action and a thrilling conflict.

Hideo Kojima recently watched all six episodes of a new drama after initially being hooked by the show’s concept. He described it as one of the most captivating series he’s ever seen, praising its unique qualities. He enjoyed it so much that he started reading the original source material to find out what happens next, knowing a second season is still a ways off.

I really enjoyed the first six episodes of “Ikusagami (Last Samurai Standing)”! The world they’ve created reminds me of a mix between Yamada Futaro and Squid Game, which is fantastic. I especially liked how the story jumped between the players in the deadly game, the people running it, and the government investigating – it all felt really well-paced and intense. They don’t hold back at all!

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 15, 2025

If you’re a fan of Hideo Kojima looking for a new series to watch, Last Samurai Standing is a great choice. He clearly enjoyed it, and it feels like a thrilling samurai action game come to life as a Japanese drama. Also on Kojima’s favorites list is the animated film KPop Demon Hunters, which hints that he’s been especially drawn to anime and manga-inspired content in 2025.

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2026-01-09 00:14