Top 20 Samurai manga you should read right now. [2026 List]

20. MookHyang - Dark Lady

As the master of the School of Unholy Arts and as the undefeated Unmasked Demon, MookHyang unfortunately falls to a strange fantasy world by the magic of his enemies (School of Blood Arts). In the new world of elf, sorcerer, knight, and dragon, MookHyang’s adventure of finding a way back to his old world (Murim) unfolds.

Mookhyang: Dark Lady is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: Muk-Hyang: Dark Lady, Mukhyang Dakeureidi

19. Vagabond

In 16th century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive.

After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto.

Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself.

Vagabond has finished publishing and it has 327 Chapters. It is also Known as: バガボンド, Vagabond

18. Drifters

Shimazu Toyohisa, whilst involved at the Battle of Sekigahara, manages to mortally wound Ii Naomasa, but is critically wounded in the process. As he walks from the field broken and bleeding, Toyohisa finds himself transported to a corridor of doors, where a bespectacled man at a desk waits for him. This man, Murasaki, sends Toyohisa into the nearest door where he wakes up in another world. There, Toyohisa meets other great warriors like him who have been transported as well, to be part of a group known as "Drifters".

is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: ドリフターズ, Drifters

17. Jigoku Raku

Gabimaru the Hollow is one of the most vicious assassins ever to come out of the ninja village of Iwagakure. He’s ruthlessly efficient, but a betrayal results in him being handed a death sentence. He has only one hope—in order to earn his freedom, he must travel to a long-hidden island and recover an elixir that will make the shogun immortal. Failure is not an option. On this island, heaven and hell are just a hair’s breadth away.

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku has finished publishing and it has 127 Chapters. It is also Known as: 地獄楽, Jigokuraku, Paradition, Heavenhell, Jigoku Raku (KAKU Yuuji)

16. Gintama

The samurai didn't stand a chance. First, the aliens invaded Japan. Next, they took all the jobs. And then they confiscated everyone's swords. So what does a hotheaded former samurai like Sakata "Gin" Gintoki do to make ends meet? Take any odd job that comes his way, even if it means losing his dignity.



Included one-shots:
Volume 1: Dandelion
Volume 2: Shirokuro
Volume 24: 13
Volume 38: Bankara-san ga Tooru
Volume 41: Special Lesson.

Gin Tama has finished publishing and it has 709 Chapters. It is also Known as: 銀魂, Dandelion, Shiro Kuro, Black and White, Shirokuro, 13, Thirteen, Bankara-san ga Tooru, Here Comes Mr. Uncivilised, Silver Soul

15. Gamaran: Shura

It's been two years since the infamous Unabara Tournament, but things aren't over for Iori Sengoku—in fact, he's received a summons from the Tokugawa Shogunate. He's to join in battle against the Shogunate's top martial artists to determine the strongest of the lot. Not only that, he's accompanied by the sword-crazy Ran Ichinose.

Gamaran: Shura has finished publishing and it has 311 Chapters. It is also Known as: 我間乱―修羅―, Gamaran: Shura

14. Isekai Samurai

The time is the Warring States period. The strongest samurai in history wanders the land, in search of a good place to die — until suddenly she is transported to another world!?

An invincible samurai cuts her way through another world!!! An isekai samurai fantasy spun by Keigo Saito, in his brilliant, overwhelming style!

Samurai in Another World is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: 異世界サムライ, Isekai Samurai

13. Deadpool: Samurai

Marvel raids Shonen Jump + ?! The irresponsible hero "Deadpool," an extreme outlier even amongst American comic heroes, is finally serialized !!!! A super collaboration manga that involves both the Avengers and Shonen Jump characters!

Anyway, Deadpool lands in Tokyo with a bang! What could possibly go wrong when Iron Man invites Deadpool join the Avengers' new Samurai Squad? After all, Deadpool is just in it for the money…and the trip to Japan. This is fine, right?



Note: Includes 2 extra chapters.

Deadpool: Samurai has finished publishing and it has 17 Chapters. It is also Known as: デッドプール: SAMURAI, Deadpool: Samurai

12. Rurouni Kenshin: Tokuhitsuban

This version will be a remake of the original that revisits the encounters of ‘Himura Kenshin‘ with ‘Kamiya Kaoru‘ and ‘Myojin Yahiko‘.

Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration has finished publishing and it has 10 Chapters. It is also Known as: るるろうに剣心 -特筆版-, Rurouni Kenshin: Kinema-ban, Rurouni Kenshin Act Zero

11. Tenkaichi: Nihon Saikyou Bugeisha Ketteisen

Battle tournament manga set in the Sengoku Era.

The year is 1600. Ten years have passed since Oda Nobunaga unified Japan. When Nobunaga realized that he was dying, he announced that he would hand over the country to the one who produced the strongest warriors. The warlords, whose dreams of unifying the country had been dashed, set up their own strongest warriors and set their sights on becoming the ruler of Japan

Tenkaichi: Battle to Decide Japan's Strongest Martial Artist is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: テンカイチ 日本最強武芸者決定戦, テンカイチ -日本最強武芸者決定戦-, 天下第一日本最强武士选拔赛

10. Yuki no Touge, Tsurugi no Mai

Yuki no Touge:
In the end of the Sengoku period, the great daimyo family of Satake is driven away from Hitachi-no-kuni to Dewa-no-kuni after the Sekigahara battle. They plan to build a new castle there, but the head of the family, Yoshinobu Satake, listens more to the young vassals' advice than that of the experienced chief vassals'. The experienced vassals oppose and start to plan something to defend their place...
Tsurugi no Mai:
It's Sengoku period. Haruna, a daughter of a farmer family, gets herself raped and her family killed by hooligan warriors in the chaos of war. Using the funds she got of the Go stones stolen from the warriors, she joins the dojo of the famous Nobutsuna Kamiizumi to learn kenjutsu in order to get revenge on the warriors. There, she meets Kamiizumi's apprentice Kagekane Hikita, who starts to teach her the art of the sword with the shinai that Kamiizumi has just invented...
(Translated and edited from the Japanese Wikipedia)

Yuki no Touge, Tsurugi no Mai has finished publishing and it has 9 Chapters. It is also Known as: 雪の峠・剣の舞, Yuki no Touge, Ken no Mai, Snowy Ridge, Dance of the Blade

9. Dororo to Hyakkimaru-den

During Japan’s tumultuous Sengoku period, one man sells his son to a pack of devils in exchange for the power to rule. Forty-eight devils take forty-eight pieces of young Hyakkimaru, and the boy is left for dead. But through the assistance of a sage and a series of inventive prosthetics, Hyakkimaru survives. Together with the young thief Dororo, the now-grown Hyakkimaru embarks upon a quest to slay all the demons and retrieve the stolen pieces of his body. This classic story from Osamu Tezuka, the father of modern manga, is now reimagined in this gorgeous new adaptation by Satoshi Shiki.

The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru has finished publishing and it has 82 Chapters. It is also Known as: どろろと百鬼丸伝, Bio of Dororo x Hyakkimaru, Сказание о Дороро и Хяккимару, 多羅羅與百鬼丸傳, 多罗罗与百鬼丸传

8. Gantz:E

A peasant named Hanbei asks a girl named O-haru for her hand in marriage, but O-haru confesses that she is already thinking of another man named Masakichi from a neighboring village. When Hanbei seeks out Masakichi, he finds that Masakichi possesses a sword and the skills to use it, despite being a peasant.

Gantz:E is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: GANTZ:E, Gantz:Edo

7. Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Hokkaido-hen

Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: るろうに剣心－明治剣客浪漫譚・北海道編－, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Hokkaido-hen

6. Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

The story of Rurouni Kenshin takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. It tells the story of a peaceful wanderer named Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the assassin Hitokiri Battōsai. After participating during the Bakumatsu war, Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. When arriving in Tokyo, he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who was in the middle of a fight with a murderer who claims to be the Hitokiri Battōsai from her swordmanship school. Kenshin decides to help her and defeats the fake Battōsai. After discovering that Kenshin is the real Battōsai, she offers him a place stay at her dojo as she notes Kenshin is a gentle person instead. Kenshin accepts and begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of enemies, new and old. (Wikipedia)
Also includes the one-shot: Crescent Moon Over A Country At War (Vol.6)

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story has finished publishing and it has 259 Chapters. It is also Known as: るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

5. Blade & Bastard

Deep in the unexplored reaches of the dungeon, a corpse is discovered—one that shouldn’t exist. After Iarumas is resurrected, his memories of life before death are gone, and he spends his days delving into the dungeon to retrieve the bodies of dead adventurers. Can they be revived as well? Or will God reduce them to piles of ash on the altar? Either way, Iarumas collects his finder’s fee. And though his skills earn him some grudging respect, he’s also scorned for this cold, utilitarian attitude. The living keep their distance—Iarumas consorts primarily with the dead. That is, until he meets Garbage, a feral young swordswoman who’s the sole survivor of a massacred party. With Garbage by his side, Iarumas ventures deeper, scouring the dungeon for clues to his past, avoiding monsters, traps, and the inevitability of a permanent ashen demise.

Blade & Bastard is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: ブレイド＆バスタード, Blade & Bastard

4. Yaiba

The light-hearted manga is about an adventuring samurai named Yaiba Kurogane (鉄 刃, Kurogane Yaiba?) who knows how to be a samurai, and little else. Yaiba lives with his father, Kenjurou, in the forest. One day, while Yaiba was eating, a troop of gorillas came to attack. Yaiba and his father escaped and hid inside a box, but they didn't know that the box was full of pineapples and was going to be transported into the city. In the city, Yaiba finds out that he is a legendary warrior and has to fight the evil of a demonic looking high-school student named Takeshi.
Yaiba adapted as an anime series that ran over 50 episodes, and encompassed the adventures Yaiba had in the first few runs of the manga. The show begins with Yaiba training to become a samurai in the jungle with his father and his two animal friends, Kagetora and Shonosuke. At a pivotal point, Yaiba's father announces that he is ready to return to Japan, and instructs him to find his old friend and rival, who just happens to be Sayaka's father.
The people that Yaiba meets along his journey to become a true samurai encourage him, train him, or inspire him to greatness, though at heart he is still a child, and his incredible skill with a sword is matched only by his kindness towards his friends. Though, he tends to leap before he looks, and his thick-headedness tends to turn potential allies into enemies, though his friends soon clobber him, and salvage the situation. This unlikely group embarks on a host of incredible adventures where they meet legendary figures from Japanese history, and finally overcome impossible odds, and put everything on the line, to save the entire planet from a threat not of this world. It's a story of love, friendship, hard work, and never giving up.

Yaiba has finished publishing and it has 255 Chapters. It is also Known as: Kenyuu Densetsu Yaiba

3. Vagabond: Saigo no Manga-ten

Telling the later life of Vagabond's Musashi Miyamoto, it was depicted through 140 hand-drawn drawings with ink and brush. It was released at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo in May 2008, and since then it has been displayed at three other venues, Kumamoto City Museum, Suntory Museum in Osaka, and Sendai Mediatheque, with new paintings and productions.

Note: The comic was compiled in two books: "Inoueno: Mikazuki-hen" (いのうえの 三日月篇) and "Inoueno: Mangetsu-hen" (いのうえの 満月篇).

Vagabond: Saigo no Manga-ten has finished publishing and it has 2 Chapters. It is also Known as: バガボンド 最後のマンガ展, Vagabond: The Last Manga Exhibition, いのうえの 三日月篇, いのうえの 満月篇

2. Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi

Yusei Matsui, creator of Assassination Classroom and Neuro: Supernatural Detective, is back! Set in feudal Japan in between the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, our hero Hojo Takatoki is a boy on the run that history all but forgot! When the Kamakura shogunate is overthrown by Ashikaga Takauji, Takatoki's family and standing are visciously taken away from him, and he must flee to the far reaches of the land to survive and seek out his revenge!

The Elusive Samurai has finished publishing and it has 238 Chapters. It is also Known as: 逃げ上手の若君, Héroe fugitivo, Nige Jōzu no Wakagimi, Nigejouzu no Wakagimi, Nigejozu no Wakagimi, The Young Lord Who Is Skilled at Escaping

1. Afro Samurai

In the bleak world of the swordsman, it is said that he who becomes the Number 1 samurai shall rule the world. And only Number 2 is allowed to challenge Number 1. Afro Samurai has assumed the mantle of Number 2, seeking vengeance against Number1, a gunman who killed his father years ago. But assassins lurk at every corner, seeking to rob Afro Samurai of the title of Number 2. Can Afro survive long enough to exact his revenge?

Afro Samurai has finished publishing and it has 10 Chapters. It is also Known as: アフロサムライ, Afro Samurai