Dororo

Dororo, a young orphan thief, meets Hyakkimaru, a powerful ronin. Hyakkimaru's father, a greedy feudal lord, had made a pact with 12 demons, offering his yet-unborn son's body parts in exchange for great power. Thus, Hyakkimaru - who was born without arms, legs, eyes, ears, a nose or a mouth - was abandoned in a river as a baby. Rescued and raised by Dr. Honma, who equips him with artificial limbs and teaches him sword-fighting techniques, Hyakkimaru discovers that each time he slays a demon, a piece of his body is restored. Now, he roams the war-torn countryside in search of demons.

House of Five Leaves

Masterless samurai Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled and loyal swordsman, but his naïve, diffident nature has more than once caused him to be let go by the lords who employ him. Hungry and desperate, he agrees to become a bodyguard for Yaichi, the charismatic leader of a group calling itself “Five Leaves.” Although disturbed by the gang’s sinister activities, Masa begins to suspect that Yaichi’s motivations are not what they seem. And despite his misgivings, the deeper he’s drawn into the world of the Five Leaves, the more he finds himself fascinated by these devious, mysterious outlaws. (Source: Viz Media)

Blade of the Immortal (ONA)

New adaptation of Mugen no Juunin</i>. Damned to wander the Earth in an endless cycle of carnage and murder, the fallen samurai known as Manji seeks the chance to win back his mortality. To do so, he must first balance the deaths weighing against him by slaying 1000 evil souls, a task that would take even the greatest warriors a lifetime. Manji, however, has all the time in the world to kill, and his lonely quest leaves a trail of bloody bodies in his wake… until his path crosses with that of Rin, who has sworn vengeance against the murderers of her family and school, even though the cost will almost certainly be her own life. (Source: Sentai Filmworks)

Sword of the Stranger

What qualifies a man as good or evil? Is it the amount of political power one attains, the quality of his swordsmanship, or how well he serves his lord? With the fall of the second shogunate Japan has sunk into a state of disarray historians now call the Sengoku period, or the era of Warring States. Civil wars rage on throughout the many feudal holdings, where a man may raise his station in life simply by killing his superior. Whilst wandering this war-torn countryside a nameless ronin stumbles upon a young boy by the name of Kotarou, his dog, and the many Chinese assassins dispatched to claim the boy in some strange ritual for immortality. Seeing something of his own past within the child, the nameless swordsman chooses to act as his bodyguard, but can he truly keep Kotarou from the clutches of the Ming and their bloodthirsty blonde mercenary, Luo-Lang? (Source: Bandai Entertainment)

Samurai Champloo

Let's break it down. Mugen's a reckless sword-slinger with a style that's more b-boy than Shaolin. He's got a nasty streak that makes people want to stick a knife in his throat. Then there's Jin, a deadbeat ronin who speaks softly but carries a big blade. He runs game old-school style, but he can make your blood spray with the quickness. When these roughnecks bring the ruckus, it ain't good for anybody, especially them. Enter Fuu, the ditzy waitress who springs her new friends from a deadly jam. All she wants in return is help solving a riddle from her past. She and the boys are tracking the scent, but there's 99 ways to die between them and the sunflower samurai. (Source: Funimation)

ONIHEI

The historical novel series depicts Heizou Hasegawa, who metes justice on wrongdoers and supervises the crackdown on arsonists and robbers in Japan's Edo period (1603-1868). (Source: Anime News Network)

JORAN THE PRINCESS OF SNOW AND BLOOD

The year is 1931. Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu is 94 years old and holds absolute control over Japan. Remnants of the Meiji era’s culture can be seen around the city, but scientific technology and Japanese esoteric cosmology Onmyodo are also developing, exuding a sense of modernity. Yet lurking behind the glitz is Kuchinawa, a dissident group planning the assassination of the prince, and effectively the fall of the regime. Tasked to extinguish these dissidents is Nue, the government’s secret executioner group. Sawa Yukimura, who works for this organization, suffered from an early age at the hands of the Kuchinawa boss. Her entire family was murdered and she dedicated her life to avenging their death. (Source: Crunchyroll)Note: The show streamed the episodes on Hulu a week earlier than TV. The regular TV broadcast started on April 7, 2021.</i>

Kingdom

When low-born servant boys Piao and Xin set out to become the world’s greatest war generals, they quickly find themselves caught up in a violent struggle between two noblemen plotting to overthrow the King. After Piao is killed protecting the rightful ruler of the kingdom of Qin, Xin sets out on a campaign for revenge that leads him straight into the fire of war. Now, with a target on his back and an army of enemies standing in his way, it will be up to a boy with no name and a young king without a throne to return order to their war-torn country in this historical action-drama based on the Tezuka Award-winning manga, Kingdom. (Source: Funimation) Note: The first episode aired with a runtime of 50 minutes as opposed to the standard 25 minute runtime.</i>

Moriarty the Patriot

In the late 19th century, the British Empire nobility reigns while its working class suffers at their hands. Sympathetic to their plight, William James Moriarty wants to topple it all. Frustrated by the systemic inequity, Moriarty strategizes to fix the entire nation. Not even consulting detective Sherlock Holmes can stand in his way. It's time for crime to revolutionize the world! (Source: Funimation) Note: The first episode received an early screening on September 21st, 2020. The regular TV broadcast started on October 11th, 2020.</i>

Akame ga Kill!

In a land where corruption rules and a ruthless Prime Minister has turned the puppet Emperor's armies of soldiers, assassins and secret police against the people, only one force dares to stand against them: Night Raid, an elite team of relentless killers, each equipped with an Imperial Arm - legendary weapons with unique and incredible powers created in the distant past. Rescued from a fate worse than death by Night Raid, young Tatsumi is offered the chance to join their lethal ranks… but it's a deadly choice, as few can master an Imperial Arm and even fewer survive when two Arms go against each other in combat. The battle is on, and only the strongest will make it out alive. (Source: Sentai Filmworks)

Fate/Zero

With the promise of granting any wish, the omnipotent Holy Grail triggered three wars in the past, each too cruel and fierce to leave a victor. In spite of that, the wealthy Einzbern family is confident that the Fourth Holy Grail War will be different; namely, with a vessel of the Holy Grail now in their grasp. Solely for this reason, the much hated "Magus Killer" Kiritsugu Emiya is hired by the Einzberns, with marriage to their only daughter Irisviel as binding contract. Kiritsugu now stands at the center of a cutthroat game of survival, facing off against six other participants, each armed with an ancient familiar, and fueled by unique desires and ideals. Accompanied by his own familiar, Saber, the notorious mercenary soon finds his greatest opponent in Kirei Kotomine, a priest who seeks salvation from the emptiness within himself in pursuit of Kiritsugu. Based on the light novel written by Gen Urobuchi, Fate/Zero</i> depicts the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War—10 years prior to Fate/stay night</i>. Witness a battle royale in which no one is guaranteed to survive. (Source: MAL Rewrite) Note: The first episode aired with a runtime of ~48 minutes as opposed to the standard 24 minute long episode.</i>

Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal

In the days before the Japanese Revolution, Hiko Seiijuro, a wandering master swordsman and hermit, encounters a bandit raid on a slave wagon. Hiko kills the raiding bandits in hopes of saving as many lives as possible, but only manages to spare one life from the massacre. Hiko leaves the child, advising him to go to the nearby village and have them take care of him. A few days later, as Hiko comes back to check upon the child he saved, he is shocked to see the child had created graves, both for the slaves he befriended and the bandits who killed them. Seeing potential in the young one, Hiko takes the child under his wing, names him Kenshin, meaning "heart of sword," and teaches him about the art of swordsmanship under the Hiten Mitsuruugi Ryu. Struggling in a constant challenge with his ideal beliefs reflecting against the harshness of reality, Tsuiokuhen tells the melancholic and dark story of Himura Kenshin as one of the most feared assassins of the Japanese Revolution: the Hitokiri Battousai. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shine on! Bakumatsu Bad Boys

In the era when samurai controlled Japan... The Masked Demons annihilated all but one member of the Shinsengumi, who had worked to maintain the peace and public order in Kyoto. Seven criminals are chosen as substitutes for the deceased Shinsengumi members, and they are led by Ichibanboshi, whose parents were also killed by the Masked Demons. He becomes a substitute for Commander Isami Kondo and goes after the Masked Demons with the other substitutes to avenge his parents' deaths. Former criminals rise up to restore peace and order as their crazy story begins! Now is the time to shine the brightest! (Source: Crunchyroll)

Ghost Slayers Ayashi

All things have a name by which they are defined. Amongst the named are the many long-forgotten gods that dwell within the world brought about by the prayers, fears and desires of humanity. In the famine stricken and riot plagued city of Edo, alarming events are visited upon the populace by these otherworldly beasts. Descending from the mountain tops or rising from the earth are these old gods, the Youi. For nearly twenty-five years Yukiatsu Ryuudou has wandered the country-sides of Japan posing as a bodyguard, living the life of a gambler and thief, all the while denying his name. Through a chance encounter with a Youi and the members of the Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement, Yukiatsu is forced to face the life he's been running from and rediscover his long hidden power of Ayagami, the ability to find true names and use them as a weapon to exorcise these beasts plaguing the material world. (Source: Bandai Entertainment)

Onimusha

An anime based on CAPCOM's legendary Sengoku period game: ONIMUSHA</i>. The adaptation will have famed director Takashi Miike as the chief director of the series at animation studio Sublimation, while Shinya Sugai is directing the series. The anime will use the late prolific actor Toshiro Mifune as a model for the character Miyamoto Musashi. The beginning of the Edo Period, Musashi is no longer a young man. He departs with the legendary Oni Gauntlet to defeat the Genma. (Source: Anime News Network, Netflix, edited)

Fena: Pirate Princess

Fena Houtman is a young orphan girl that has been raised on an Island where there is no hope of becoming anything more than chattel, to be used and discarded by soldiers of the British Empire. But Fena is more than just another powerless orphan. When her mysterious past comes knocking, Fena will break the chains of her oppressors. Her goal: forge a new identity, free of bondage, and search for a place where she can truly belong and find out the true mysteries behind a keyword "Eden." It is the story of a lifetime adventure she and her crew of misfits and unlikely allies will have, in pursuit of her goals! (Source: Crunchyroll)

Hell Girl

Somewhere in the vast sea of the Internet, there's a website that can only be accessed at the stroke of midnight. Known as the Jigoku Tsushin, rumor has it that if you post a grudge there, the Jigoku Shoujo will appear and drag whoever torments you into the inferno. Very little is known about the girl - all we know for sure is that she lives with her equally enigmatic grandmother, that three magical straw dolls accompany and serve her, and that whenever a posting on the Jigoku Tsushin moves her, she becomes the Jigoku Shoujo.

Shigurui: Death Frenzy

Two damaged warriors wear the scars of a twisted and violent past. Bitter rivals for the secrets of their master's sword and the right to his daughter, these samurai inflict wounds on each other that would destroy lesser men. The final chapter of their saga unfolds within a brutal samurai tournament, a gruesome contest arranged to satisfy the bloodlust of a cruel tyrant overlord. The disfigured legends of the blade must summon the strength for one last battle - a final lesson in the artistry of violence where nothing is more beautiful than the kill. (Source: Funimation)

Samurai Gun

It is the beginning of the industrial revolution, and feudal Japan is in turmoil. The ruling Shogun are wielding their abusive powers to instill fear and dominance over their oppressed subjects. Beatings, imprisonment, rape and even murder are the adopted tactics chosen to maintain their reign. The bloodshed must end. A group of Samurai have banded together, and, with the development of new weapons and new technology, they have both the will and the hardware to stand up and fight. Ichimatsu is one of these fighters. By day, he works incognito at a local tavern, in the evenings he frequents the brothels, and by the dark of night, he doles out some big-time, gun-barrel justice. He is here to help. He is Samurai Gun. (Source: Anime News Network)

Samurai 7

In the far distant future, on a planet that might have been called "earth", there was a war between samurai who mechanized their bodies. After the long war, people enjoyed a modest peace. Facing starvation and abductions at the hands of fearsome mechanized bandits (Nobuseri), the farmers of Kanna Village make the dangerous choice to hire samurai for protection. The village's water priestess, Kirara, her younger sister, Komachi, and a heartbroken villager, Rikichi, set off to hire willing samurai with nothing to offer but rice from their meager harvests. Through dangerous encounters and a bit of luck, seven samurai of varying specialties and experience are gathered for an epic battle against the bandits and the merchants that influence them. Note: Samurai 7 is based loosely upon Kurosawa Akira's famous movie "Seven Samurai"/"Shichinin no Samurai".</.i>