Summary
- Check out the list of Samurai anime that should be in your watch list
- Rurouni Kenshin is the best samurai genre to watch first
- Samurai genre anime have the best written protagonist with greater character development
Every highly watched anime has a filler or a story arc related to samurai story as it was always loved by the audience. The outskirts of old age period always had a great impact in the Japanese-Samurai anime making them a huge hit. If you are a lover of the samurai story based anime then these list of anime should definitely be in your watchlist.
Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin otherwise known as Samurai X is a famous historical fiction of a Gito Kashin which is a story of a wanderer swordsman, Kenshin Himura who leaves a group of revolutionaries promising not to kill again. It is a mix of love, fight, and ethics questions in the Meiji period. Sword soul Kenshin Kamiya takes part in the action of the Bakumatsu wars and after years of killing decides to abandon his former life, becoming a rurouni. Fighting with a reverse-blade sword, he saves those who are in danger together with showing a constant fight with his own dark side in an attempt of redemption. Kenshin is an interesting protagonist linked with numerous layers of kindness, while he measures darker and darker viewing himself as an assassin. Nayuemon, Sanosuke, Kaoru, and so on, are equally interesting as Shishio and other villains of this series.
Samurai Champloo
A fusion of Samurai of Edo era with a contemporary attitude of hip-hop music. You can see the comical ‘get-a-life’ adventures of Mugen, Jin and Fuu to ascertain the true essence of sword fighting. Samurai Champloo is about Mugen, a colorful bumpkins’ swordsman, and Jin, a serious samurai rōni,n and Fuu, a girl determined to find the ‘samurai with the scent of sunflowers. A surreal group of three musicians who are crow warriors, living in Edo period Japan but also rapping and dancing hip hop they fight crazy villains, their issues, and hilarious Hikarikubo catastrophes. Famous for brilliantly choreographed fight scenes, bright music, and a distinct atmosphere, the anime contains elements of humor, and warm-heartedness.
Blade of the Immortal
The plot is a rather bleak one of an immortal samurai, Manji, who is trying to regain his honor by serving as a bodyguard to a young woman on her noble endeavour of avenging her murdered family. Manji is a warrior who was exposed to violence and has had issues with a bloodthirsty past so to redeem himself he swore to kill 1000 bad men. His experience revolves around Rin Asano who is a young girl who wishes to avenge her family at the hands of a vicious sword school. Collectively, they face evil enemies, ethical issues, and the burdens of retribution in a dark and ethically ambiguous tale. It’s full of fury and philosophy, with some fantastic animation – and, believe it or not, it’s one for grown-ups; it’s about the swordsmen.
Shigurui: Death Frenzy
A television show of Japanese animation which is violent and cruel, which tells a story of a life-and-death battle between two swordsmen with complicated and twisted plot. In the first part of the series, you see these two fight and the state they are in, the bruises and the scars, then you learn about their backgrounds. The story has flashback scenes explaining how the men were trained and the hopeless situations that define them. On the way, numerous violent scenes control the series and elaborate themes of betrayal of honor, and the evil inside the samurai code.
Afro Samurai
A cool stylish anime to depict the lone samurai Afro seeking vengeance. Voice over by Samuel L. Jackson with an overdose of action and distinctive Nintendo animation. Afro starts his way to fight those who hinder him and to take revenge for his father, for becoming the ‘Number One’. During the journey he faces a number of strong and corrupt opponents, and internal conflicts and burden of revenge investigation.
Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls
The classic tale of two feuding families of ninjas required to bring hatred for each other and a love-struck couple trapped in the middle of it all. This is well compounded by the background that Oboro Iga and Gennosuke Kouga are lovers from the warring clans. However, the political goal of the shogunate and the hereditary hatred of the clans do not allow them to be united and happy. One team selects ten of their top fighters to battle the other team in a brutal ten-man death match, using various and usually grisly ninja tactics.
Hyouge Mono
A Samurai chan history piece that avoids the wars and focuses on politics, tea ceremonies, and aesthetics of the Sengoku period. The protagonist in the tale is Furuta Sasuke – a loyal servant of the commander Oda Nobunaga – who struggles with his thirst for power on one hand and passion towards tea ceremonies and the aesthetics on the other hand. Symbolism is at work again as Sasuke gets involved with chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony, where striving for perfection in art is a reflection of the man’s turmoil. Finally, he was influenced by his master, Sen no Rikyuu a historical figure famous for his mastery of tea ceremony, all this as he is in the middle of combating other warring lords.
Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion
Describes the event of defending the island known as Tsushima from the Mongol invaders concerning finer details of techniques and courage. The events take place on Tsushima Island the where a handful of Japanese samurai fight against the huge Mongolian army. The main character of the given story is Kuchii Jinzaburou, a fallen samurai who was driven out of his home. Although he is a criminal in the show, he ends up being one of the leaders of the defense of the island from the marauders. Sitting beside him is Terahi, the princess of Tsushima with the skill of bravery as she stands for the island and encourages the people to fight for their land.
Dororo
A story of a man from the age of fighting ‘Hyakkimaru,’ who was born without arms, legs or eyes and more, due to the pact he made with the demon. To challenge the demons to help regain his body, he is alongside Dororo. Hyakkimaru, is a young warrior who was born as a soul in the empty shell because his father Daigo Kagemitsu sold him to the demons in exchange for prosperity of the given territory. However, this man called Hyakkimaru stays alive and is even given prosthetic limbs by a kind doctor and is trained to become a warrior. Hyakkimaru sets out to the world to hunt the demons who took his body so he could have his humanity taken back from him part by part.
Gintama
Despite being mostly a comedy show, Gintama is a story of an Edo era, but with aliens of course, and such show does contain heroic battles of samurais, deep emotions and critical fights. A samurai who wants no part of hustling any longer and starts the Yorozuya with two fist-class troublemakers, Shimura Shinpachi and Kagura. Collectively, they end up doing lots of chores and get into many awkward and funny situations in their lives. Well known for its ecchi and fan service, the comedy is extraordinary, the jokes are often delivered in a break of the fourth wall, and Gintama parodies anime and other pop culture references.
Katanagatari
House of Five Leaves
