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.
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How Last Samurai Standing adds kinetic action to the Battle Royale formula
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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Strings of code in Samsung’s Galaxy Wearable app hint at an upcoming pair of over-ear headphones that could compete with the AirPods Max, SamMobile reports. Samsung’s reportedly referring to the headphones as the “Galaxy H1,” and SamMobile says they could launch sometime in 2027. That would make these the company’s first pair of over-ear headphones since the Level On in 2015, which was released well before Samsung acquired Harman and a number of other audio brands.
Connection status icons in the app standard show the design of over-ear, wireless Bluetooth headphones, but not necessarily exactly what these will look like in the end. Samsung’s main audio device right now is its Galaxy Buds line, but it doesn’t have high-end headphones similar to the AirPods Max or Sony XM series.
Apple released a revised AirPods Max 2 model earlier this year, which looked the same but added a new chip to power more features like adaptive audio and live translation. When the Galaxy H1 launches, as SamMobile points out, we would expect it to include the Samsung Seamless Codec Ultra High Quality (SSC UHQ) codec that works exclusively with 2023 and newer Galaxy phones and tablets, as well as support for AI assistants like Gemini and Bixby that’s similar to what we saw in the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro.
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You plug a streaming box into your television, connect it to Wi-Fi and settle in for a movie. Meanwhile, that little device may have a completely different job running in the background.
Security researchers say some cheap Android TV boxes can secretly route outside traffic through a household’s internet connection. New research from Bitsight shows that some boxes may also pretend to be smartphones, visit AI-generated websites and click online ads.
The hidden activity can generate advertising revenue or turn the box into a residential proxy that lets strangers use your home internet connection. Bitsight’s latest findings reveal how organized and technically advanced one such operation may have become. That inexpensive streaming box could cost you far more than its purchase price.
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Security researchers say some cheap Android streaming boxes can secretly click ads, spoof smartphones and route outside traffic through a home internet connection. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Bitsight uncovers a hidden TV box operation
Bitsight threat researcher Pedro Falé uncovered the operation while studying security risks involving cheap Android TV boxes. His team found an expired domain that had previously managed factory backdoors on certain devices. Bitsight registered the domain and began observing the information sent to it.
The domain collected hardware information and lists of installed apps from connected boxes. Researchers quickly noticed something unusual: Many of the devices identified themselves as phones from brands including Samsung, Vivo, Huawei and Xiaomi even though their software revealed signs of TV boxes. Falé wrote that researchers noticed “something was wildly wrong.” Bitsight eventually named the operation the Fuyao Enterprise.
Some H96 devices appeared to include the apps
Bitsight says the Fuyao apps appeared to arrive preinstalled on some Android TV boxes sold under the H96 name. Researchers found the apps most often on older H96 Max V11 devices. However, the available data covered only certain older models that reported to the expired domain.
The findings do not establish that every H96 device contains the software. Bitsight also raised the possibility that an original equipment distributor, reseller or custom firmware provider added the apps before the boxes reached consumers. That means researchers cannot say from the available evidence exactly where in the supply chain the software was added.
A Google spokesperson told CyberGuy, “The infected devices are Android Open Source Project devices, not Android TV OS devices or Play Protect certified Android devices. If a device isn’t Play Protect certified, Google doesn’t have a record of its security and compatibility test results.”
That distinction is important. These boxes may use Android’s open-source code, but they should not be confused with devices running Google’s official Android TV OS.
Is your Android TV box affected?
Bitsight has not published a complete list of every device connected to the Fuyao operation. Therefore, you cannot confirm that a box is affected based on its brand alone. Researchers found the Fuyao apps most often on older H96 Max V11 boxes. However, that does not mean every H96 Max V11 is affected or that other models are safe.
Google says it does not have the H96 device name we asked about registered as a certified device. However, Google would need additional technical information about the specific device to confirm its certification status. Start by finding your box’s exact brand and model number. Check the label on the bottom or back of the device. You may also find it in your order history, purchase receipt or device settings under About or Device Preferences.
Pay closer attention if your box:
- Is an H96 Max V11 or another inexpensive H96 model
- Came from an unfamiliar manufacturer or third-party reseller
- Was advertised as unlocked or fully loaded
- Promised access to paid content without subscriptions
- Requires apps from an unofficial marketplace
- Asks you to disable Google Play Protect
- Shows that it is not Play Protect certified
- Produces unexplained internet traffic when nobody is streaming
These signs do not prove the device contains Fuyao software. However, an H96 Max V11 or an uncertified off-brand box with several warning signs should be treated cautiously. Because malicious software may be built into the firmware, a factory reset may not remove it. Disconnect a suspicious box from your network and consider replacing it with a certified device from a recognized manufacturer.
How the hidden ad fraud works
Bitsight says the Fuyao software could disguise a TV box as a smartphone, then quietly send it to operator-controlled websites containing AI-generated content. The box could view and click ads while appearing to advertising systems like a mobile user. Researchers mapped 144 websites tied to the operation and said the actual network could be larger.
Bitsight says the operators also used computer vision to help the bots locate ads when webpage layouts changed. A customized version of Google’s Blockly programming tool made it easier for operators to build and send fraud tasks to the boxes. The result was an automated system that could generate fake advertising activity without showing anything unusual on the owner’s television. Bitsight says advertisers and ad networks were victims of the scheme.
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Researchers say compromised streaming boxes can continue working normally for viewers while secretly generating ad revenue or routing outside internet traffic in the background. (Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
TV on may mean proxy and TV off may mean ad fraud
One of Bitsight’s more unusual findings involved the television’s HDMI connection. Bitsight found that the boxes could switch between two money-making jobs. While an HDMI signal indicated that someone was watching TV, the box often acted as a residential proxy. When the TV was off, it could switch to ad fraud. Researchers believe this helped prevent the more resource-intensive ad activity from interfering with streaming. In practical terms, the box could route somebody else’s internet traffic while you watched television and start clicking ads after you turned the TV off.
Your internet address could hide a stranger’s activity
A residential proxy sends another person’s online traffic through a normal home internet connection. Websites then see the household’s public IP address instead of the stranger’s true location.
Residential proxies have legitimate uses, but criminals can also use them to disguise where their activity originates. A compromised box owner may never realize that outside traffic is passing through the home connection. The FBI has warned that compromised streaming boxes and other connected devices can give criminals access to residential proxy networks. The agency says malware may arrive preinstalled or enter through unofficial apps.
The Fuyao operation is separate from the FBI’s BADBOX 2.0 investigation, which has also involved compromised streaming devices and other inexpensive electronics. CyberGuy previously covered the FBI’s warning that more than a million Android devices had been hijacked by BADBOX 2.0. Both cases show how an inexpensive connected gadget can quietly become part of a much larger network.
How big is the operation?
In a 24-hour sample, Bitsight observed 65,957 reports tied to roughly 38,000 unique MAC addresses that appeared to have the Fuyao apps installed. Researchers cautioned that spoofing could make that figure higher than the actual number of physical devices. Their visibility was also limited to some older models from one brand.
Using the roughly 38,000 observed device identities, Bitsight estimated potential ad fraud revenue of about $47,500 per day. Fengwo Group’s website claimed more than 120,000 “AI digital humans,” although researchers could not confirm that larger fleet. Bitsight estimated that a fleet of that size could potentially generate about $150,000 per day before accounting for possible proxy revenue.
Bitsight links the operation to Fengwo Group
Bitsight attributed the Fuyao operation to Zhejiang Fengwo IoT Technology Co., Ltd., which it says operates under the Fengwo Group name. Bitsight says its attribution is based on evidence, including shared digital certificates, internal files, advertising revenue entities and company patents that appeared to match parts of the Fuyao system. The company’s website also advertised more than 120,000 “AI digital humans.” Bitsight suggested that phrase could relate to the automated device network, although that remains the researchers’ interpretation. These conclusions are based on Bitsight’s technical research. A court has not ruled on the allegations.
CyberGuy reached out to Google, Zhejiang Fengwo IoT Technology, Fengwo Group and H96 Max for comment. Google responded with information about the distinction between AOSP and Android TV OS devices, Play Protect certification and consumer security protections. We did not hear back from Zhejiang Fengwo IoT Technology, Fengwo Group or H96 Max before our deadline.
Tips to avoid risky Android TV boxes
A few checks can help you decide whether that bargain streaming box belongs on your home network.
1) Choose a recognizable manufacturer
Buy streaming devices from companies that provide security updates and customer support. Be cautious with unfamiliar brands that promise free access to paid content. Also avoid products advertised as “fully loaded” or “unlocked.” Established manufacturers generally provide a clearer path for updates, security information and customer support.
2) Check Play Protect certification
Google recommends checking whether your device is Play Protect certified. On your streaming device, open the Google Play Store. Select your profile icon, then go to Settings > About. Look for Play Protect certification. Google says uncertified devices do not have security and compatibility test results on record with the company.
Play Protect can also warn you about or block known malicious apps on certified devices with Google Play Services. This protection can apply to apps installed outside Google Play. Do not assume the Google Play Store means your device is certified. Check the status yourself. You can also review Google’s list of official Android TV OS partners to see whether the manufacturer uses the official platform.
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Bitsight researchers found some off-brand Android TV boxes may run hidden software that generates fake ad activity or turns household internet connections into residential proxies. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
3) Avoid unofficial app stores
Do not install apps from a marketplace you do not recognize. Stop if setup instructions ask you to disable Google Play Protect. You should also be cautious if a seller tells you to remove Google’s official app store. Those instructions bypass safeguards designed to detect harmful apps. An unofficial streaming app may appear to work normally while proxy software runs in the background.
4) Disconnect a suspicious box
Unplug the streaming box from your television. Then disconnect its Wi-Fi or ethernet connection. Open your router’s app or administration page and review the connected-device list. Remove devices you do not recognize. Change your Wi-Fi password if the suspicious box continues to appear. Use a password manager to create and save a strong, unique password. You will need to reconnect your trusted devices with the new password. This is also a good time to review CyberGuy’s guide to fixing common home Wi-Fi security risks.
5) Consider replacing the device
A factory reset may remove apps that were installed after purchase. However, a reset may not eliminate malicious software built into the original firmware. Replacing a suspicious box may be safer than continuing to use it. Do not sell it or give it to someone else. Take the device to a reputable electronics recycling program.
6) Put smart devices on a separate network
Connect streaming boxes and other smart devices to a guest or IoT network when your router supports one. That separation can make it harder for a compromised box to communicate with computers or other sensitive devices on your primary network. Look for Guest Network, IoT Network or Device Isolation in your router’s settings.
7) Watch for unexplained internet activity
A compromised box may use bandwidth when nobody is streaming. Review your router or internet provider’s app for unfamiliar devices and unusual overnight traffic. Slow internet alone does not prove that malware is present. However, unexplained activity from an uncertified device deserves attention.
8) Keep strong security software on your other devices
A streaming box may sit on the same network as your phone or computer. Use strong antivirus software on devices that support it. Security software can alert you to malicious downloads, suspicious websites and other threats that try to spread beyond the streaming box. Also keep your operating system, browser and security apps updated. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com
9) Report suspected criminal activity
The FBI asks consumers to report suspected compromised devices through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov. Include the device’s brand and model. Add the seller’s information along with any suspicious apps or network activity you observed. Save your receipt and take screenshots of anything unusual before disconnecting the device.
Kurt’s key takeaways
I love a good bargain, but I would be careful with any streaming box that connects to your home Wi-Fi. Bitsight found that some H96 devices may have quietly clicked ads or routed outside traffic through a household’s internet connection. Google also clarified that the infected devices in this case are AOSP devices, not official Android TV OS or Play Protect certified devices. Before using a bargain streaming box, check its model number and Play Protect certification. If you see several warning signs, disconnect it and consider replacing it.
Do you have a low-cost Android TV box at home, and what did you find when you checked its model and Play Protect certification? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Apple has reportedly trained a custom AI model for the China market alongside domestic tech giant Alibaba, a rare cross-border partnership that cuts across growing tensions between Beijing and Washington.
The China-focused large language model was developed in partnership with Alibaba and trained with the company’s support, Reuters reports, citing three unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Developing a custom model of its own marks a departure from Apple’s previous strategy in the country and would give the company more control over its products in the competitive Chinese smartphone market. Historically, Apple has used domestic Chinese models to bring generative AI to its devices sold there, as the US models it uses elsewhere — like OpenAI’s ChatGPT — aren’t available.
The report comes as Apple gears up to release Apple Intelligence in China. Sources told Reuters this should happen “in the coming months after an update to its iOS operating system.” Apple officially registered the on-device generative AI service with China’s cyberspace regulator last month, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for device rollout.
The China-focused model gives Apple a leg up as a US company navigating Beijing’s difficult regulatory landscape, particularly given escalating tensions surrounding AI development in recent months. AI models must be registered with and cleared by the government in China before public release. It would also make Apple the first US company approved to offer a proprietary AI model in China, according to Reuters.
Apple did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
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