The Samurai Champloo anime was developed by Shinichiro Watanabe and aired in Japan. It centers on a youthful vagrant named Mugen and an affluent samurai named Jin, who team up after meeting on the road and embark on a voyage through Edo-era Japan to aid Fuu, a young waitress searching for a mysterious samurai with a scent akin to sunflowers. Along the way, they meet a wide variety of characters and get into all sorts of exciting misadventures.
In many ways, Samurai Champloo was a watershed moment for the anime industry. Everything from comedy to drama was included in this exciting excursion. It had memorable protagonists, a refreshing fusion of hip-hop, samurai, and comedy, and an exciting plot that left many viewers wanting more. Fight scenes among swordsmen are some of the highlights of Samurai Champloo.
8 Rurouni Kenshin
Former assassin Kenshin Himura, aka Hitokiri Battsai, now travels the world as a swordsman. Atoning for the crimes he perpetrated while working for the bakufu, Kenshin now travels the countryside of Japan, helping those in need.
Throughout his travels, Kenshin meets and falls in love with Kaoru Kamiya, the head of a kendo dojo that is under attack by an assailant named Shishio Makoto. After Kenshin learns that Shishio is a former Hitokiri and a formidable fighter, he takes it upon himself to defend Kaoru and defeat Shishio.
7 Blade Of The Immortal
Manji is a swordsman who can't die and is immune to all poisons except for the rarest ones. An unknown witch cursed Manji with immortality, and he must kill a thousand evil men in order to regain his mortality.
Manji meets and befriends Rin, a young girl out for vengeance against the band of swordsmen responsible for the deaths of her parents. On their trip around Japan, Manji and Rin work together to face many enemies and find out more about each other's pasts. When they succeed in destroying an adversary, Manji moves one step closer to reclaiming his mortality and completing his goal.
6 Samurai 7
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This series tells the tale of a small village called Kanna that is under constant attack from an army of mechanical bandits called Nobuseri. As a defense against the Nobuseri, the villagers decide to employ seven samurai. Each of the seven samurai comes from a different culture and has their own set of capabilities.
To protect Kanna from the Nobuseri, the samurai must band together, and they must also figure out why they are being attacked. They learn of a wider plot involving a prominent family and their plans for global conquest. To defend Kanna and its citizens from the Nobuseri and the opposing clan, the samurai must engage in fierce combat.
5 Afro Samurai
The story follows a black samurai in a dystopian, alternate-reality version of feudal Japan. The samurai, known as Afro, embarks on a quest to avenge the wrongful death of his father, who was killed by a man known as Justice, the Number One Samurai.
As Afro seeks to avenge his father, he is confronted by several enemies and ends up becoming the powerful Number Two Samurai. Along the way, he is aided by his friend and mentor, named Jinno. Ultimately, Afro must face off against the Number One Samurai in a final confrontation that will determine the fate of the world.
4 Shigurui: Death Frenzy
A series of Japanese manga books that takes place in Edo-era Japan and chronicles the narrative of two swordsmen, Irako Seigen (who is blind) and Fujiki Gennosuke (who only has one arm), who are pitted against each other in a tournament.
The purpose of the tournament is to determine which of them succeeds in their master’s school. This tale follows two swordsmen as they train for a tournament, delving into their motivations and the results of their choices. It is a story of honor, revenge, and the will to fight.
3 Ninja Resurrection
Ninja Resurrection is a two-part OVA anime series released in 1998. Set in the Tokugawa period of Japanese history, the anime tells the story of a legendary ninja master, Jubei Yagyu, and his battle against the Christian persecution of Japan by the Tokugawa.
Amakusa Shiro, in his previous life, was seen as someone like Jesus, but when he was resurrected, he became the devil himself. Jubei is determined and must protect the world from Shiro's evil plans and restore peace and harmony to the land.
2 Berserk
The show is set in a fictional world with medieval European overtones and follows the adventures of Guts, a mercenary who fights alone. He is known as the Black Swordsman due to Guts' incredible physical strength and skill with the blade. On his travels, he is accompanied by the elf Puck, who is devoted to Guts, and later by Casca, a former mercenary captain with whom Guts develops romantic feelings.
In the Berserk series, Guts' quest for vengeance against the mercenary captain Griffith, who betrayed him and his fellow Band of the Hawk members, serves as the primary narrative arc of the series. Along the way, powerful supernatural forces, led by the monstrously formidable demons known as the God Hand, pursue him.
1 Gintama
Gintama takes place in a different version of Edo-era Japan, where an alien race called the Amanto has taken over and made it illegal for the once-brave samurai to carry swords. The plot follows Gintoki Sakata, an oddball samurai, his apprentice Shinpachi Shimura, and their alien friend Kagura as they do odd jobs to pay the rent.
As the story goes on, the three get into a number of strange situations and mishaps. Along the way, Gintoki and his friends often run into supernatural forces that threaten the city of Edo, and the samurai are forced to choose sides.