The Best Jidaigeki Anime, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Jidaigeki anime features ninjas, samurai, court politics, and feudal landowners, evolving over the years.
• House of Five Leaves and Samurai Champloo offer unique and underrated perspectives on samurai storytelling.
• Hell’s Paradise and Blue Eye Samurai provide fresh takes on the supernatural and historical revenge genres in animation.

Fiction can never be as strange as reality, and the rich history of the last few centuries has a lot of strange stories that need to be told. Jidaigeki is a subgenre within the genre of historical fiction that focuses on Japan’s history before the 1800s.

Traditionally, Jidaigeki adhered to a specific set of rules, including forms of makeup, plotlines, and other dramatic conventions. However, the definition has broadened over the years to become more inclusive of modern iterations within the genre. The shows categorized as Jidaigeki anime typically feature some form of ninjas or samurai, court politics, and feudal landowners with a penchant for villainy.

8 House of Five Leaves

A Struggle With Oneself

• Genre: Drama, Historical, Crime
• Release Date: April 15, 2010
• Episodes: 12

A show that got almost no recognition when it aired, House of Five Leaves is a criminally underrated show in the samurai niche that has picked up some steam over the years. The show is about a samurai with a docile manner who is not taken seriously by most people.

The show takes a departure from the normally fast-paced, action-packed samurai stories and shows a more muted and nuanced aspect of the glorious samurai of the East. The art style, the music composition, and the story beats all follow the same logic and merge harmoniously to create a great viewing experience.

7 Hell’s Paradise

Bloom Beautifully Under Heaven’s Watch

• Genre: Supernatural, Ninja, Shonen
• Release Date: April 01, 2023
• Episodes: 13

Set in the Edo period, where warring lords were the norm and mystical ninjas worked as mercenaries, Hell’s Paradise follows the story of Gabimaru, a ninja of great renown who could not be killed by anyone. Sent to a mysterious island to find the key to immortality alongside other criminals, Gabimaru uses his supernatural powers and powerful body to carve a bloody path to victory.

The story of Hell’s Paradise is incredibly interesting in and of itself, but the beautiful animation and the interesting setting add even more flavor to the pot. It has supernatural elements, incredible fight scenes, detailed lore, and a good amount of world-building for viewers to enjoy.

6 Princess Mononoke

Ghibli Art Strikes Again

• Genre: Fantasy, Action, Supernatural
• Release Date: July 12, 1997
• Runtime: 133 minutes

There is a good reason that Ghibli is known the world over for its incredible animation and heart-wrenching stories. From Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro to Princess Mononoke and Princess Kaguya, there isn’t a title in their catalog that Ghibli wouldn’t be happy to parade as their best.

Princess Mononoke follows the story of a girl raised by supernatural wolves, and that of a village boy searching for a cure for an evolving disease that threatens to eat him alive. The story is beautiful, haunting, memorable, and still relevant to this day.

5 Dororo

Learn and Grow Together

• Genre: Drama, Dark Fantasy, Historical
• Release Date: January 07, 2019
• Episodes: 24

A story about growing as a person and understanding the struggles of life, Dororo follows the life of a cursed child who is born without internal organs, limbs, or even a face. Thrown away at birth, the child, named Hyakkimaru, is taken in by a kind old man with a knack for medicine who gives him prostheses that help Hyakkimaru live his day-to-day life.

The story is about how Hyakkimaru goes across the land hunting demons, recovering some of his senses in the process, and regaining the humanity that he lost at birth. The show is set in the Sengoku period and features a lot of graphic scenes, violence, and contains mature themes.

4 Kingdom

China’s War Games

• Genre: War, Drama, Historical
• Release Date: June 04, 2012
• Episodes: 142 (5 Season)

A story about warfare, revenge, struggle, and a whole lot of epic battles, Kingdom is the kind of action anime that doesn’t stop giving. Based on a manga by the same name, the show follows the ambitions of a young slave who dreams of uniting China as a heavenly general, a dream that he has to realize much faster than he could have anticipated.

The setting of the anime is the warring states era of China. The gritty and realistic fights, epic historical setting, and inspiring characters make Kingdom worth a watch.

3 Afro Samurai

A Union of Genres

• Genre: Hip Hop, Action, Seinen
• Release Date: January 04, 2007
• Episodes: 05

A hip-hop-inspired show with incredible talent behind it, Afro Samurai blends the future and past of Japan, creating a unique setting that has the best of both worlds, giving it a kind of steampunk vibe that’s hard to dislike.

The dub of the anime features Samuel Jackson as the main character, making it one of the few anime whose dub is a must-watch regardless of your viewing preference. Additionally, the soundtrack is produced by RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, who brings the wonders of hip-hop to the land in the Far East.

2 Blue Eye Samurai

Revenge Comes in Many Flavors

• Genre: Historical, Revenge, Drama
• Release Date: November 03, 2023
• Episodes: 08

A Western product with a distinct anime influence, Blue Eye Samurai follows the journey of a young girl of mixed heritage who learns the way of the blade in order to get revenge for the pain and suffering her father had caused her family.

Blue Eye Samurai is set in the Edo period when Japan was closed off from the rest of the world except for some special trade routes. It brings a fresh artistic flavor to the field of animation and has a wonderfully compelling story that makes it hard to stop once someone starts watching the show.

1 Samurai Champloo

Jazzy and Snazzy

• Genre: Historical, Action, Samurai
• Release Date: May 20, 2004
• Episodes: 26

An oldie but a goldie, Samurai Champloo is a show about a couple of goofballs who travel the roads of Japan with no particular goals in mind, and the shenanigans that they get up to on their journey. The animation of this show is absolutely incredible, and the story isn’t anything to scoff at either.

The tone of the story shifts from episode to episode, from very serious to fun and easy-going, but everything remains a part of a cohesive unit at the very end. The unique personalities of the three main cast members, and the historical setting of Edo period Japan make this an incredibly fun watch.