Last Samurai Standing begins with a familiar premise. Desperate samurai dispossessed by the restoration of the emperor enter into a deadly game for a life-changing cash prize — all for the entertainment of anonymous elites. Unlike its inspirations Battle Royale and Squid Game, however, Last Samurai Standing’s violence is chaotic, fast-paced, and kinetic, though it hides a careful choreography that makes the series a more electric proposition than its predecessors.
Technology
Does your Windows 11 PC keep restarting? Let's fix that frustrating problem
Experiencing a Windows 11 boot loop can be incredibly frustrating, transforming your computer into a seemingly endless cycle of restarts that disrupts productivity. When your system continuously fails to load the login screen and instead repeatedly attempts to restart, you’re facing a critical technical issue that demands immediate attention.
This persistent reboot problem can stem from various causes. So, what do you do? Let’s look at some ways to diagnose and resolve the Windows 11 boot loop, helping you restore your computer’s functionality and get back to work.
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Windows 11 PC (Microsoft) (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What causes a Windows 11 PC to keep restarting?
There’s no single cause for a Windows 11 PC getting stuck in a reboot loop. A reboot loop can be caused by an issue with your computer’s power supply, a malware infection, overheating or even hardware drivers. Here are the different things to check if your Windows 11 laptop or desktop keeps restarting.
Fix #1 – Boot your PC in safe mode
Step to boot your PC in safe mode (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
When you are troubleshooting any problem on your PC, you should boot your computer in safe mode. If your PC is in safe mode and no longer experiences the restart loop, this means that the default Windows 11 settings and drivers aren’t causing the issue. This allows you to narrow down the sources of problems causing your Windows 11 PC to crash, making it easier to troubleshoot. Here’s what you need to do to boot in safe mode:
- Press the Windows Logo key and R at the same time
- Type msconfig in the box
- Press OK
- Under Boot Options, click the Safe Boot checkbox
When your computer restarts, it will automatically restart in safe mode. If your computer restarting is making it difficult to follow these steps, you can also follow these steps at the sign-in screen:
- Hold the Shift key while clicking the Power icon
- Select Restart
- Your PC will restart
- Once your PC restarts, you will see a Choose option; click it.
- Select Advanced Options
- Select Startup Settings
Now, when your PC restarts, you will be presented with a list of options. Select 4 or F4 to start your PC in safe mode. If you need to use the internet while the computer is in safe mode, you can select option 5 or press F5.
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Fix #2 – Remove any new software
If your automatic rebooting problem began after installing a new app, uninstall that app and monitor your PC. If you still notice your PC restarting, there’s a chance that the app has infected your system settings before you uninstalled it. To fix this, you’ll need to restore the system. To do a system restore, you should first boot your PC in safe mode and then follow these steps:
- Open the Control Panel
- Search the Control Panel for Recovery
Step to remove any new software (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
- Select Recovery
- Choose Open System Restore
- Click Next
- Now you will click on your hard drive and select finish. Your computer will automatically restart.
Fix #3 – Make sure your computer isn’t overheating
An overheating laptop or desktop will try to prevent damage to critical hardware components by shutting itself down. This is one of the leading causes of a Windows 11 PC getting stuck in a restart loop. If you’ve noticed your desktop giving off a lot more heat than usual or a laptop feeling hot to the touch, chances are you have an overheating issue.
A computer’s CPU and GPU generate the most heat, so I recommend monitoring those hardware pieces to see if they are overheating. You don’t need any additional software to monitor the temperatures of your GPU, as some temperature readings are built into Windows 11. Here’s how to check your hardware temperatures in Windows 11:
- Open the Task Manager
- Click the second tile, Performance, on the left-hand side of your screen
- From here, you can click GPU, which will show you your GPU temperature.
Visual to show overheating on PC (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Unfortunately, the built-in temperature reading doesn’t read your CPU temperature, and you’ll need to manually go into the UEFI/BIOS to check the temperature without installing any additional software. However, there’s a multitude of free-to-use apps that manufacturers have developed to measure your CPU temperature, including Core Temp, HWMonitor or Open Hardware Monitor.
When you open one of these monitoring tools, you’ll be able to view your PC’s stats, including CPU and GPU temperatures and loads. If your CPU or GPU is running too hot, try cleaning the components to remove dust. For custom-built desktops, adding more exhaust fans to the case can improve airflow and cooling. Persistent overheating, especially in older laptops, may indicate that it’s time to consider upgrading your machine.
TAKE YOUR WINDOWS PC’S SECURITY TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Fix #4 – Check for issues with your PC’s power supply
Image of a PC’s power supply (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
A computer will randomly restart when it has a failing power supply unit (PSU). If you have an issue with your power supply, you’ll know if your computer won’t restart or turn on. In addition to causing shut-offs and restart loops, a faulty power supply can also cause a blue screen of death error. In severe cases, you might even smell a burning scent or witness smoke coming from your PC’s power supply exhaust vent. If you use a laptop with PSU issues, you cannot send your computer to a repair shop or the manufacturer for repair.
Desktop PC owners have it a bit easier, assuming they have a pre-built PC that can be altered easily. If you do have a desktop, turn off and unplug your computer before going into the case to investigate if dust build-up is affecting your PSU. If your PSU fails, you must purchase and install a new one.
Fix #5 – Scan your PC for viruses
Image of a woman working on a PC (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Malware and other viruses are a common cause of a crashing or constantly restarting PC. The easiest way to do this is by using strong antivirus software. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.
If your computer is stuck rebooting, you may need to boot in safe mode in order to run an antivirus application. Here’s what you need to do to boot your PC in safe mode with Windows 11:
- When your computer restarts, at the sign-in screen, press and hold the Shift key
- Click Power
- Click Restart
Now, your computer should act more stable after booting in safe mode, allowing you to run an antivirus scan.
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Fix #6 – Disable automatic restart
Step to disable automatic restart (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
If you have automatic restart enabled in Windows 11, your PC will restart every time it encounters a system failure. You can easily disable this future within the Windows 11 command prompt. Here’s what you need to do:
- Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard
- Type sysdm.cpl and click OK
- Select the Advanced tab
- Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings
- Under System Failure, uncheck the box Automatically restart
- Click OK
Keep in mind this isn’t a fix for the problem, but it will help you further troubleshoot the restart loop problem by disabling automatic restarts.
Fix #7 – Repair your system files
Step to repair your system files (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
An issue with your Windows 11 system files may be causing your PC to constantly restart. If you think a corrupted system file is why your PC keeps restarting, there’s a quick and easy fix you can do within the Windows Powershell. The System File Checker (SFC) is a built-in tool that will scan your Windows system files for corruption or any other changes. If a system file has been modified, it will automatically replace the file with the correct version. Here’s how to run the SFC command:
- Open the Windows Powershell (or Command Prompt)
- Type in sfc /scannow
- Press Enter
- Leave the command prompt window open until the command completes, which could take some time
If there’s no problem with your Windows system files, after the scan, you’ll see a message that says, “Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.” If you instead see a message saying, “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them,” you should try running SFC again but in safe mode.
Fix #8 – Check for RAM issues in the command prompt
Your PC might be restarting itself because it doesn’t have access to enough random access memory (RAM). Windows 11 may become unstable without enough RAM in your computer, causing the OS to randomly reboot. You can use the built-in Memory Diagnostics Tool in Windows 11 to check your computer for issues related to RAM. Here’s what you need to do:
- Press the Windows Key and R
- Type mdsched.exe in the text box
- Click OK
- Select Restart Now and Check for Problems
When your PC restarts, the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool will check for any RAM-related issues; if the test detects an error, take note of the error code. You can check the error code online to find the correct fix for that specific error.
Kurt’s key takeaways
These are the best fixes for a computer that is constantly restarting. While you can perform these fixes at home, it might be your best bet to send your computer to a repair shop or back to the manufacturer if you continue having an issue with your Windows 11 PC being stuck in a restart loop after these fixes. It also may be time to invest in a new laptop if you are experiencing a system slowdown and random restarting on your Windows 11 PC, but I would recommend trying to fix the problem first before buying a new machine.
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Viewers have Junichi Okada to thank for that. As well as starring in and producing Last Samurai Standing, he serves as the series’ action planner. Many will be familiar with the results of an action planner’s work — sometimes called an action director, elsewhere a “coordinator,” and even “choreographer” — though perhaps not what the role entails. In the case of Last Samurai Standing, it’s a role that touches on nearly every aspect of the production, from the story to the action itself.
“I was involved from the script stage, thinking about what kind of action we wanted and how we would present it in the context of this story,” Okada tells The Verge. “If the director [Michihito Fujii] said, ‘I want to shoot this kind of battle scene,’ I would then think through the content and concept, design the scene, and ultimately translate that into script pages.”
The close relationship between the writer and director extends to other departments, too. Though an action planner’s role starts with managing fight scenes and stunt performers, they also liaise with camera, wardrobe, makeup, and even editorial departments to ensure fight scenes cohere with the rest of the production.
Image: Netflix
It’s a role which might appear a natural progression for Okada, who is certified to teach Kali and Jeet Kune Do — a martial art conceived by Bruce Lee — and holds multiple black belts in jiujitsu. Though the roots of his progression into action planning can be traced back further, to 1995 when he became the youngest member of J-pop group V6.
“Dance experience connects directly to creating action,” he says. “[In both] rhythm and control of the body are extremely important.” Joining V6 at the age of 15, that experience has made Okada conscious of how he moves in relation to a camera during choreography, how he is seen within the structure of a shot, and, critical to action planning, how to navigate all of that safely from a young age.
That J-pop stardom also offered avenues into acting, initially in roles you might expect for a young pop star: comic heartthrobs and sitcom sons. But he was steadily able to broaden his output. A starring turn in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Hana followed, as did voice acting in Studio Ghibli’s Tales From Earthsea and From Up on Poppy Hill. A more telling departure was a starring role in 2007’s SP, in which he played a rookie in a police bodyguard unit, for which he trained for several years under shootfighting instructor Yorinaga Nakamura.
“What I care about is whether audiences feel that ‘this man really lives here as a samurai.’”
In the years since, Okada has cemented himself as one of Japan’s most recognizable actors, hopping between action starring roles in The Fable to sweeping period epics like Sekigahara. Those two genres converge in his Last Samurai Standing role of Shujiro, a former Shogunate samurai now reduced to poverty, working through his PTSD and reckoning with his bloodthirsty past in the game. These days, it’s less of a concern that the character butts up against his past idol image, he suggests. “What I care about is whether audiences feel that ‘this man really lives here as a samurai.’”
For Okada’s work on Last Samurai Standing, as both producer and action planner, that involved lacing high-octane but believable action with the respect for history and character studies of the period dramas he loves. “Rather than being 100 percent faithful to historical accuracy,” he adds, “my goal was to focus on entertainment and story, while letting the ‘DNA’ and beauty of Japanese period drama gently float up in the background.”
A focus on what he defines as “‘dō’ — movement,” pure entertainment that “never lets the audience get bored” punctuated — with “‘ma,’” the active emptiness that connects those frenetic moments. Both can be conversations, even if one uses words and another communicates dialogue through sword blows. This is most apparent when Shujiro faces his former comrade Sakura (Yasushi Fuchikami) inside a claustrophobic bank vault that serves as a charnel house for the game’s less fortunate contestants.
“The whole battle is divided into three sequences,” Okada says. The first starts with a moment of almost perfect stillness, a deep breath, before the two launch into battle. “A fight where pride and mutual respect collide,” he says, “and where the speed of the techniques reaches a level that really surprises the audience.” It’s all captured in one, zooming take with fast, tightly choreographed action reminiscent of Donnie Yen and Wu Jing in Kill Zone.
So intense is their duel that both shatter multiple swords. The next phase sees them lash out in a more desperate and brutal manner with whatever weapons they find. Finally, having fought to a weary stalemate, the fight becomes, Okada concludes, “a kind of duel where their stubbornness and will are fully exposed” as they hack at each other with shattered blades and spear fragments.
Image: Netflix
It’s a rhythm that many fights in Last Samurai Standing follow, driven by a string of physical and emotional considerations that form the basis of an action planner’s tool kit: how and why someone fights based on who they are and their environment. Here it is two former samurai in an elegant and terrifyingly fast-paced duel. Elsewhere we see skill matched against brutality, or inexperience against expertise.
“I define a clear concept for each sequence,” Okada says, before he opens those concepts up to the broader team. From there, he might add notes, but in Last Samurai Standing, action is a collaborative affair. “We keep refining,” he says. “It’s a back-and-forth process of shaping the sequence using both the ideas the team brings and the choreography I create myself.”
There is a third factor which Okada believes is the series’ most defining. “If we get to continue the story,” he says, “I’d love to explore how much more we can lean into ‘sei’ — stillness, and bring in even more of a classical period drama feel.”
As much of a triumph of action as Last Samurai Standing is, its quietest moments are the ones that stay with you. The charged looks between Shujiro and Iroha (Kaya Kiyohara) or their shuddering fright when confronted with specters of their past. Most of all, Shujiro watching his young ward, Futaba Katsuki (Yumia Fujisaki), dance before a waterlogged torii as mist hovers. These pauses are what elevate and invigorate the breathless action above spectacle.
The pauses are also emblematic of the balance that Last Samurai Standing strikes between its period setting and pushing the boundaries of action, all to inject new excitement into the genre. “Japan is a country that values tradition and everything it has built up over time. That’s why moments where you try to update things are always difficult,” Okada says. “But right now, we’re in the middle of that transformation.”
That is an evolution that Okada hopes to support through his work, both in front of and behind the camera. If he can create avenues for new generations of talent to carry Japanese media to a broader audience and his team to achieve greater success on a global stage, “that would make me very happy,” he says. “I want to keep doing whatever I can to help make that possible.”
The first season of Last Samurai Standing is streaming on Netflix now, and a second season was just confirmed.
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If your iPhone keeps warning you about low storage, your Messages app may be part of the problem. Photos, videos and documents saved inside your text threads can stack up fast. The good news is that you can clear those big files without erasing entire conversations.
Below, you will find simple steps that work on the latest iOS 26.1. These steps help you clean up storage while keeping your messages right where you want them.
If you haven’t updated to iOS 26.1, go to Settings > General > Software Update to install the latest version.
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‘CLOUD STORAGE FULL’ SCAM STEALS YOUR PHOTOS AND MONEY
An iPhone displays a low-storage alert as large photos, videos and documents saved in Messages fill device space, prompting users to remove files without deleting entire conversations. (Cyberguy.com)
Why clearing attachments helps your iPhone run better
Removing large attachments gives you quick breathing room on your iPhone. It can free up gigabytes in seconds, especially if you text lots of photos or videos. Clearing old files also keeps your message threads tidy and helps your device run more smoothly by reducing the amount of storage your system needs to manage. The best part is that you can clean up everything without losing a single conversation.
How to delete attachments but keep your conversations on iPhone
These quick steps help you clear large files from Messages while keeping every conversation intact.
- Launch the Messages app on your iPhone
- Open the conversation thread that holds the attachments you want to delete.
- Tap on the name of the contact(s) in the text thread.
To the right of Info, click on Photos or Documents; you may need to swipe over other tabs to see these. Photos will also contain videos and GIFs, while documents will contain Word documents, PDFs and other types of files.
- Hold your finger and long-press on a photo, video or document until a menu appears.
- Tap Delete to remove that single file.
Then confirm Delete when asked.
How to delete multiple files on your iPhone at once
To clear out several attachments at once, follow these quick steps on your iPhone.
Deleting attachments in Messages quickly frees space without losing your conversations. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
- Go back to the Photos or Documents tab.
- Tap Edit.
- Click Select documents or Select Photos
- Tap on the photos or documents that you want to remove. You will see a blue checkmark appear in the bottom-right corner.
- Tap the trash icon in the bottom right corner.
Confirm you want to delete the selected attachments by clicking Delete Photos.
These steps work almost the same way on an iPad. After you finish, you will often see an instant boost in available storage.
How to review large attachments in settings and delete them
If you want to clear the biggest files on your device, you can check them from your iPhone’s storage screen and delete them:
- Open Settings
- Tap General
- Choose iPhone Storage
- Tap Messages
- Click Review Large Attachments to see photos, videos and attachments taking up storage in Messages.
- Click Edit.
- Select items to delete by clicking the circle next to the attachment you want to delete. A blue checkmark will appear.
Then, tap the trash can icon in the upper right to delete it.
APPLE RELEASES IOS 26.1 WITH MAJOR SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS AND NEW FEATURES FOR IPHONE USERS
This method gives you a quick overview of what takes up the most space and lets you delete it quickly.
IPhone users can clear large photos, videos and files from Messages using built-in storage tools, helping free space, keep conversations intact and improve device performance. (Cyberguy.com)
Take my quiz: How safe is your online security?
Think your devices and data are truly protected? Take this quick quiz to see where your digital habits stand. From passwords to Wi-Fi settings, you’ll get a personalized breakdown of what you’re doing right and what needs improvement. Take my Quiz here: Cyberguy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Freeing up storage doesn’t have to be confusing. A few quick taps can remove bulky files and keep your conversations intact. With these simple steps, your iPhone stays organized, runs smoothly and is ready for more photos, videos and apps.
What is the one type of attachment that takes up the most space on your iPhone? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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The Federal Communications Commission has banned new drones made in foreign countries from being imported into the US unless the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security recommends them. Monday’s action added drones to the FCC’s Covered List, qualifying foreign-made drones and drone parts, like those from DJI, as communications equipment representing “unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of U.S. persons.”
DJI is “disappointed” by today’s action, Adam Welsh, DJI’s head of global policy, says in a statement. “While DJI was not singled out, no information has been released regarding what information was used by the Executive Branch in reaching its determination.” Welsh adds that DJI “remains committed to the U.S. market” and noted that existing products can continue operation as usual. Other items on the FCC’s list include Kaspersky anti-virus software (added in 2024) and telecommunications equipment from Huawei and ZTE (added in 2021).
The FCC says it received a National Security Determination on December 21st from an interagency body saying that “uncrewed aircraft systems” (UAS) and critical UAS components produced in a foreign country could “enable persistent surveillance, data exfiltration, and destructive operations over U.S. territory” and that “U.S. cybersecurity and critical‑infrastructure guidance has repeatedly highlighted how foreign‑manufactured UAS can be used to harvest sensitive data, used to enable remote unauthorized access, or disabled at will via software updates.”
If you already own a drone made outside the US, you will still be able to use it, according to the FCC’s fact sheet. Drones or drone components can be removed from the Covered List if the DoD or DHS “makes a specific determination to the FCC” that it does not pose unacceptable risks.
“Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones, offer the potential to enhance public safety as well as cement America’s leadership in global innovation,” FCC chairman Brendan Carr says.
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