They are brave, noble, and controversial.
Stories about samurai were told in Japan long before cinema. Historical dramas were popular on the Kabuki stage, with samurai as the main characters.
When cinema arrived, characters with katanas took over the screens, giving the world the masterpieces of Akira Kurosawa and Takeshi Kitano. And animation could not help but be tempted by such controversial and legendary characters.
1. Samurai 7, 2004
A small village is constantly plagued by cyborg criminals. They take all the rice, leaving the farmers to starve. Before the new harvest, the farmers decide that this cannot go on any longer and that it is time to fight back against the villains.
The elder sends the peasant Rikichi and the water priestess Kirara into town to find samurai willing to risk their lives for food. Little Komachi joins them.
The first to agree to help the suffering is a young boy named Okamoto. He dreams of becoming a samurai and is full of idealistic illusions, but Kirara and Rikichi do not need him, but a real warrior.
2. Hell's Paradise, 2023-...
Sentenced to death, the unrivaled killer Gabimaru cannot die: neither steel nor fire can kill him. Finally, he receives an interesting offer – to go to the beautiful and terrible island in the company of other criminals.
The one of the ten condemned men who finds the legendary elixir of immortality and brings it to the shogun will be pardoned. The task is difficult: so far, only one person has returned from the island alive.
He had no time to tell anyone about it, because within 24 hours, he turned into a flower bed. In short, no one knows what dangers the "volunteers" and their executioner overseers will face.
3. House of Five Leaves, 2010
The end of the Edo period, the decline of samurai glory. A humble ronin Akitsu loses his job as a bodyguard and is left without work. He is targeted by a calculating criminal nicknamed Yaichi, whose Five Leaves gang makes a living by kidnapping people for ransom.
Akitsu does not want to get involved in such unworthy affairs, but the cunning bandit gradually draws him into the company's affairs. The ronin is very fond of his new friends, and since he is always hungry, they feed him for free. As a result, he is unaware that he is becoming an accomplice in kidnappings.
4. Sword of the Stranger, 2007
Eight-year-old orphan Kotaro and his faithful dog wander through Sengoku-era Japan. Their goal is to reach the Mangaku Temple, where they will find shelter. The boy desperately needs it because the Chinese are hunting for him.
The runaway boy meets a wandering ronin with no name and hires him to help him get to the temple. It is a good choice, as the vagabond turns out to be an excellent fighter. He can handle most situations without even drawing his sword from its scabbard.
5. Dororo, 2019
The ruler Daigo Kagemitsu is dismayed that his subjects are suffering from drought and crop failure. However, his concern is not for the people, but for his own authority.
For the sake of political success, Kagemitsu enters into an alliance with demons, sacrificing his own newborn son in the process. The demons take almost all of his body parts and even his skin.
After miraculously surviving and growing up, he wanders the world fighting evil spirits, and one day the vagabond Dororo joins his journey. The boy is fascinated by a strange nameless hero in a mask, who cannot speak, hear or see, but fights very skillfully.