Anime like Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuioku-hen

Juubee Ninpuuchou

Also known as Ninja Scroll.

Studio: Movic , Sentai Filmworks , Animate Film
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy , Horror , Romance

Jubei Kibagami has always been the master dealer of death, but in rescuing a ninja woman from a monster he sets loose a chain of events that puts death in his own veins and sends them on a nightmarish odyssey through a surreal and devil infested ancient Japan. How do demonic possessions, an annihilated village and a man Jubei thought safely buried in his past all connect? If Jubei can't piece the blood-soaked clues together, his only consolation will be that he won't live to regret it for very long! Prepare your mind and steel your gut for the insanely gore-packed orgy of violence that still stands alone and unchallenged as the ultimate anime action feature.



Tags: Ninja , Historical , Gore , Swordplay , Heterosexual , Travel , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Rural , Politics , Nudity , Tragedy , Ships , Unrequited Love , LGBTQ+ Themes

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan (2023)

Also known as Rurouni Kenshin (2023).

Studio: LIDENFILMS , Aniplex , Shueisha , Fuji TV , Dentsu , Animax Broadcast Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Romance

Re-adaptation of the main manga series.

One hundred and forty years ago in Kyoto, with the coming of the American "Black Ships," there arose a warrior who, felling men with his bloodstained blade, gained the name Hitokiri, manslayer! His killer blade helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu era and slashed open the progressive age known as Meiji. Then he vanished, and with the flow of years, became legend.



Tags: Swordplay , Historical , Samurai , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Shounen , Found Family , Assassins , Age Gap , Heterosexual , Rural , Travel , Drugs

Dororo

Also known as Dororo.

Studio: MAPPA , Twin Engine , Tezuka Productions , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Supernatural

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.

Tags: Demons , Revenge , Disability , Swordplay , Tragedy , Samurai , Estranged Family , Youkai , Anti-Hero , Orphan , War , Male Protagonist , Curses , Historical , Rural , Travel , Urban Fantasy , Gore , Episodic , Philosophy , Crossdressing , Female Protagonist , Body Horror , Tomboy , Kuudere , Shounen , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Ghost , Cannibalism , Heterosexual , Prostitution , Nun

Stranger: Mukou Hadan

Also known as Sword of the Stranger.

Studio: bones , Bandai Visual , Shouchiku , Sony Music Entertainment , Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures , Bandai Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure

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?



Tags: Swordplay , Fugitive , Historical , Samurai , Rural , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Language Barrier , Gore , Primarily Adult Cast , Archery , Animals , Travel , Drugs , Snowscape , Assassins , Martial Arts , Tragedy , Guns , Suicide

VINLAND SAGA SEASON 2

Also known as Vinland Saga Season 2.

Studio: Twin Engine , MAPPA , Dentsu , Kodansha
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama

The second season of Vinland Saga.

After his father's death and the destruction of his village at the hands of English raiders, Einar wishes for a peaceful life with his family on their newly rebuilt farms. However, fate has other plans: his village is invaded once again. Einar watches helplessly as the marauding Danes burn his lands and slaughter his family. The invaders capture Einar and take him back to Denmark as a slave.

Einar clings to his mother's final words to survive. He is purchased by Ketil, a kind slave owner and landlord who promises that Einar can regain his freedom in return for working in the fields. Soon, Einar encounters his new partner in farm cultivation—Thorfinn, a dejected and melancholic slave. As Einar and Thorfinn work together toward their freedom, they are haunted by both sins of the past and the ploys of the present. Yet they carry on, grasping for a glimmer of hope, redemption, and peace in a world that is nothing but unjust and unforgiving.



Tags: Rehabilitation , Seinen , Slavery , Vikings , Tragedy , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Historical , Coming of Age , War , Agriculture , Primarily Adult Cast , Foreign , Rural , Primarily Male Cast , Time Skip , Religion , Medieval , Swordplay , Gore , Politics , Heterosexual , Lost Civilization , Mythology , Travel , Wrestling , Pregnancy , Yandere , Rotoscoping

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Seisou-hen

Also known as Samurai X: Reflection.

Studio: Studio DEEN , SME Visual Works
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Known throughout all Japan as the Hitokiri Battousai, Rurouni Kenshin is now a lost soul cursed to seek atonement for his bloody past. Even the peace that now exists as a result of Kenshin's sword brings him no solace, driving him to wander far from those he loves. His wife, Kaoru, steadfastly awaits his return as she mourns his absence. Will Kenshin come home before she dies of grief?



Tags: Swordplay , Shounen , Historical , Samurai , Tragedy , Heterosexual

Katanagatari

Also known as Katanagatari.

Studio: Aniplex , Lantis , Kodansha , Movic , Fuji TV , WHITE FOX , NIS America Inc.
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Romance

Yasuri Shichika, seventh successor of the Kyotouryuu (bladeless) sword art, lives on an isolated island with his older sister, Nanami.

One day Shichika is visited by a woman named Togame, who requests his aid in her quest to find and collect the final twelve swords forged by the legendary master swordsmith, Shikizaki Kiki. Shichika and Togame begin their odyssey by leaving the island he called home for over 20 years. They will face twelve individuals who possess and protect Shikizaki's legendary swords.

Join Shichika and Togame on an exciting, epic adventure that defies reality as they discover the true potential of the Kyoutoryuu sword style!



Tags: Swordplay , Martial Arts , Tragedy , Historical , Samurai , Revenge , Travel , Philosophy , Gore , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Ninja , Female Protagonist , Politics , Anachronism , Meta , Episodic , Coming of Age , Primarily Adult Cast , Rural , Tsundere , Time Manipulation , Body Horror , Slapstick , Guns , Body Swapping , Shapeshifting , Nudity , Shrine Maiden , Desert , Ghost , Urban , Robots

Shigurui

Also known as Shigurui: Death Frenzy.

Studio: MADHOUSE , WOWOW , Geneon Entertainment , Akita Shoten , Funimation
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological

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.



Tags: Samurai , Gore , Swordplay , Tragedy , Body Horror , Historical , Nudity , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Cannibalism

JIN-ROH

Also known as Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.

Studio: Production I.G , Bandai Entertainment , Discotek
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological , Romance , Thriller

In a very different Tokyo from the one we know today, the totalitarian government rules with an iron fist. But a group called "the Sect" is staging demonstrations and challenging the government's martial law. Constable Fuse of the Capital Police's Special Unit is on a mission to stop a Sect demonstration when he encounters a girl in the sewers under Tokyo.

When he fails to shoot as ordered, he is put on trial, questioned, and "re-conditioned" as a soldier. But the dead girl haunts him, both in his dreams and in the face of her sister, whom Fuse has befriended. But Fuse has made himself a target for some very powerful men... And as the world comes crashing down around him, Fuse is continually challenged to decide what is real and what is right.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on August 6, 1999.

Tags: Conspiracy , Tragedy , Philosophy , Police , Espionage , Military , Terrorism , Dystopian , Noir , Politics , Fairy Tale , Seinen , Fugitive , Guns , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Gore , Nudity , Body Horror

Samurai Champloo

Also known as Samurai Champloo.

Studio: Manglobe , Fuji TV
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy

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.



Tags: Travel , Swordplay , Samurai , Rural , Historical , Orphan , Martial Arts , Anachronism , Episodic , Assassins , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Anti-Hero , Prostitution , Kuudere , Tanned Skin , Politics , Drugs , Yakuza , Ninja , Religion , Heterosexual , Crossdressing , Nudity , Language Barrier , Zombie , Noir , Baseball , LGBTQ+ Themes , Indigenous Cultures