10 Samurai TV Shows Currently Streaming (#1 Is A Masterpiece)

It appears we’re now in the midst of a golden age for samurai TV shows, with three major live-action series in the martial arts subgenre currently being released by different streaming platforms, and one more already in the works. This swashbuckling Japanese art form has always lent itself to onscreen combat, but television is fast becoming its most impressive format.

Some of the best martial arts shows of the last decade have centered on samurai warriors. Since 2024 the subgenre has hit new heights in live action, with blistering big-budget productions on Hulu, Netflix and HBO. These recent shows are comparable with the great samurai movies of generations gone by.

At the same time, animated samurai series have been in vogue for far longer than the past few years. Major streaming platforms now play host to many of the best samurai anime of all time, of both Japanese and American origin.

Overall, this specialized form of combat has never been rendered better on the small screen. Almost anyone with a streaming subscription has the chance to watch at least one samurai show that’s worth getting into. Here are the 10 series in the subgenre currently accessible on mainstream platforms.

10

Yasuke

Formerly a web series but now exclusively streaming on Netflix, Yasuke is among the best anime of any genre with a black protagonist. Based on a legendary African samurai of 16th century Japan, the show blends elements of sci-fi and fantasy with history to bring its brightly animated story to life.

Although it lasts just six episodes, Yasuke effortlessly immerses us in its fantastical world of warriors and warlords. Its title character is one of the most compelling of the samurai genre. Voice actor LaKeith Stanfield furnishes the show’s English-dubbed with emotional depth beyond the scope of most martial arts animes.

9

Into The Badlands

Another genre-bending action spectacular, Into the Badlands takes place after an apocalyptic war five centuries into the future has effectively destroyed society as we know it. In its place, a feudal order akin to medieval Japan has arisen in the American Great Plains, which is defended by an army of warriors known as clippers.

Many of the most able clippers resemble samurai, as they use longswords of various kinds to defeat their opponents in combat. While far from a typical martial arts series, this fascinating dystopian drama is steeped in the traditions of samurai movies.

8

Afro Samurai

Available via Prime Video thanks to the Amazon platform’s partnership with Crunchyroll, Afro Samurai is Samuel L. Jackson’s best animated series. Soundtracked by RZA, this action-packed cartoon miniseries adds some hip-hop flavor to its tale of the future’s greatest samurai warrior.

The series is based on Takashi Okazaki, and transfers his brilliantly distinctive animated style to the screen with exhilarating dynamism. It might be short and sweet, but this five-episode show is a modern classic of the subgenre.

7

Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan

It’s telling that Age of Samurai’s showrunner Matthew Booi used the original 1980 version of Shōgun as his primary reference point when making this Netflix documentary series. Featuring stylized live-action combat sequences alongside narrated graphics and expert talking heads, the show is arguably the definitive TV take on the real-life history of the samurai.

Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan hones in on the Sengoku period of feudal Japan in the second half of the 16th century, when civil wars between different samurai factions were at their height. It’s as thrilling as it is interesting, not least because of the elegant reenactments of actual historical clashes between groups of these iconic warriors.

6

Samurai Champloo

Another manga adaptation inflected with elements of hip-hop culture, Samurai Champloo is set during the Edo period of Japanese history, which was the last stage of the epoch in which shōguns ruled the country. It includes some of the best fight scenes in the subgenre, with elements of the choreography influenced by breakdancing.

What’s more, the show’s central trio, Mugen, Jin, and Fuu, are the perfect combination of individual protagonists with contrasting personalities. In a few years’ time, the live-action version of Samurai Champloo produced by One Piece’s Tomorrow Studios might be on this list instead, but for now the anime is a worthy inclusion.

5

Song of the Samurai

One live-action adaptation that’s already making waves is HBO’s Song of the Samurai, which delivers all the high-octane thrills and visual flourishes of its anime counterpart, only with an added dose of realism, and even higher stakes as a result. With its gritty, all-action style, the series immerses in the world of samurai warriors like few others.

Its release has confirmed samurai shows as a key TV trend of the mid-2020s, providing genuine competition for Shōgun and Netflix’s Last Samurai Standing. Given how accomplished Song of the Samurai’s HBO debut has been, it’s safe to assume the series will continue for more seasons, yet.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

4

Last Samurai Standing

Netflix’s answer to FX’s Shōgun remake, Last Samurai Standing has the potential to be the streaming giant’s best martial arts series of any kind. It’s certainly one for the genre purists, with its Meji-era backstory simply providing a motive for central hero Shujiro Saga to fight his way to Kyoto’s iconic Tenryū-ji Temple.

Last Samurai Standing is adapted from Shogo Imamura’s ongoing manga series of the same name, but it has its own live-action identity. With the show already renewed for a second season by Netflix, it’s easy to imagine more expansive storylines taking it from strength to strength.

3

Blue Eye Samurai

The best samurai show on Netflix right now, Blue Eye Samurai can currently be binged in one sitting, although that’s going to change when its second season is released later this year. Impossibly stylish and expert in its attention to period details, this animated series is more authentic than most live-action releases in the subgenre.

It also features one of TV’s best samurai heroines. Maya Erskine’s Mizu has faced brutal discrimination all her life, and it shows in the way she fights. Her struggle reveals a side to historical Japan which hasn’t been explored in depth on the small screen before, and which we’re bound to see more of in season 2.

2

Samurai Jack

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An animated show comparable with Avatar: The Last Airbender as one of the 21st century’s best animes, Samurai Jack is the brainchild of legendary cartoonist Genndy Tartakovsky. It combines elements of religious mythology and dystopian sci-fi in a rip-roaring adventure about a young warrior’s quest to overcome a shapeshifting demon.

The show’s innovative animation style, less-is-more approach to dialogue and sound, and nods to the traditions of great Japanese filmmakers have cemented its status as the best samurai animation ever produced for the small screen. Only a live-action masterpiece keeps it from the number one spot on this list.

1

Shōgun

Filming for Shōgun season 2 has started, and the next installment of this modern television great can’t come soon enough. Set at the turn of the 17th century, the show puts the Japanese feudalism of the epoch on a collision course with audacious English adventurer John Blackthorne.

The second small-screen adaptation of James Clavell’s landmark historical novel, Shōgun somehow manages to surpass the brilliance of its 1980 forerunner, thanks to peerless performances, stunning period visuals, and exquisite action sequences, all underpinned by the finest scripts in the samurai subgenre. This series is simply essential viewing for Hulu subscribers.