From Berserk, Gintama, and Rurouni Kenshin to Samurai 7, Blade of the Immortal, and Samurai Kings, find out which samurai anime reign supreme.

When it comes to the best of Japanese storytelling, few subjects have provided such a rich cultural history as the samurai. Known for their honorable and highly skilled sword fighting and strict code to live by, samurai stories have proliferated in the world of anime as much as anywhere else, providing endless entertainment over the past several generations.

At its best, samurai anime attempts to pay homage to the legacy of ancient Japanese warriors, customs, and practices, while also delivering ultra-bloody thrills and chills for the widest audience possible to enjoy.

Samurai 7

Loosely adapted from the universally-acclaimed Akira Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai, Samurai 7 is a richly textured anime set in an alternative feudal Japan. A brutal and ultra-bloody revenge tale, the story concerns an exploited village that hires a septet of samurai warriors to serve just desserts to a barbarous gaggle of bandits.

With excellent source material augmented by top-notch animated artwork and intense fighting action, Samurai 7 marks an exhilarating blend of a timeless classic with sci-fi tropes and tenets that creates a wholly new experience for past and new generations to enjoy.

Sengoku Basara (Samurai Kings)

Also known as Samurai Kings, Sengoku Basara is an enthralling anime that mixes video game aesthetics and ancient samurai swordplay with futuristic superpowers to create a really memorable culture clash of intense fighting. The story is set in the period of the Warring Countries, where Japan is left to fend for itself from The Devil King.

To protect their land, Japan consigns Date and Sanada, mysterious samurai warriors who lead the charge against the feudal lords hell-bent on seizing as much property as possible. Based on the Capcom video game of the same name, the series fuses multimedia conventions into one riveting new whole.

Shigurui: Death Frenzy

As gory as they come, Shigurui: Death Frenzy presents awesome tournament-style samurai fighting that is sure to appeal to fans of epic swordsmanship. Also functioning as a compelling character study the dovetails into the history of Japanese samurai, the story follows a blind fighter who takes on a one-armed fighter to the death.

During their heated battle, the anime explores each character's backstory, how it relates to the larger context of Japanese samurai history, and how they use their scarred pasts to find the strength to succeed in battle. Surreal, nightmarish, yet wholly original, Death Frenzy is hard to beat.

Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls

Set in 1614 AD, Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls concerns two warring ninja factions, essentially playing out like a modern-day Japanese Romeo and Juliet. Each side supports one son of the Japanese shogun to inherit the title. To settle the dispute once and for all, each faction must take on 10 ninja warriors in an all-out deathmatch full of tension, suspense, grisly violence, and unpredictable mayhem.

Hailed for its stunning animation, fascinating sociopolitical context, and interwoven historical events, and tender romance, The Kouga Ninja Scrolls carries longheld blood feuds to the bitter end.

Samurai Champloo

Due to its lighthearted sense of humor, cool hip-hop music, and playful young characters, Samurai Champloo has become one of the most beloved anime of the last two decades. From the inspired mind of Cowboy Beepop creator Watanabe Shinichiro, the series defies samurai convention by uniting three unlikely teenage heroes.

When teahouse waitress Fuu rescues two disgraced samurai before their execution, they, in turn, help her locate a mystical samurai who holds the key to her cryptic past. With a unique tonal mashup, excellent animation, a fusion of intense violence with light humor, few single-season anime can compare with Samurai Champloo.

Berserk

Created in the late 90s and rebooted in 2016, Berserk is one of the most acclaimed and highly influential samurai anime of all time. With relentless swordplay and concomitant bloodshed, the story follows a loner named Guts, aka the Black Swordsman, a mercenary who vows to avenge his odious mentor Griffith who leads the ruthless "Band of the Hawk" samurai.

The superb dark fantasy anime series fuses fascinating Japanese culture and history, political intrigue among the royal court, and religious tradition all wrapped into one, with a compelling revenge mission driving the narrative.

Afro Samurai

Created by Takashi Okazaki and voiced by the legendary Samuel L. Jackson, Afro Samurai is a highly entertaining clash of cultures that finds a Black samurai out to settle a personal vendetta in Japan following the merciless murder of his father. In a brilliant blend of futuristic samurai action, sci-fi-fantasy, blaxploitation, and hip-hop music, the resulting flavor is far more unique than most anime.

With constant swordplay and intense carnage geared for more mature audiences, Afro Samurai knows its audience and uses its self-awareness to capture the imagination by conflicting Black culture with the Japanese traditions. There's really nothing like it on the market.

Gintama

A landmark series that lasted 375 episodes from 2005-2018, Gintama will always be recognized as one of the preeminent samurai anime. The action is set in medieval Tokyo, where high-tech aliens have overtaken the land and wage undying battles with the low-tech samurai warriors. To save the day, the locals turn to unemployed samurai Gintoko, a wayward warrior with a sweet tooth.

With superbly-written characters, and a light and breezy comedic tone to balance the excessive carnage, the show has a broad appeal to resonate with both young and mature audiences. The sheer longevity of the show indicates its popularity, providing a consistent level of amusement that few series will ever outlast.

Blade Of The Immortal

Blade of the Immortal boasts a terrific premise that fuses samurai culture with the supernatural. The story traces Manji, a swordsman in feudal Japan who is cursed by a witch to live forever. To reverse the curse, Manji asks the witch if can defeat 1,000 evil minions with his trusty samurai sword, leading to an indefatigable series of ultra-brutal swordfights.

Along the way, Manji links up with Rin, a young girl with her own personal revenge plot who helps him take on the 1,000 evil warriors. In a tale of profound friendship to go with some of the most beautiful artwork, Blade of the Immortal is as timeless as its namesake.

Rurouni Kenshin

Almost every anime fan will agree that Rurouni Kenshin is, was, and will always be the most excellent samurai anime ever made. Created in 1996, the watershed series has been oft-imitated but never duplicated en route to paving the way for the samurai subgenre to proliferate.

Set in 1878 Japan, the story follows vagabond samurai Himura Kenshin, who happens upon a martial arts school and vows to instruct the locals to repent for killing a shogun. Using his reverse blade, Kenshin unites with a young bullied boy and goes on a revenge campaign to assist the innocent, leading to one gore-sodden swordfight after another. The emotional impact of the story and the riveting nature of the swordplay cannot be eclipsed.

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