It appears weโre 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 thatโs 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…