The Best Action Anime For Ninja Kamui Fans

Anime is such an endlessly versatile storytelling medium because of its ability to tackle any subject matter imaginable, from magical girls, to competitive sports, to high-stakes combat. There’s an anime series out there for everyone, but action series — particularly those that adhere to the shonen and seinen demographics — make up some of the medium’s most popular series. Ninja Kamui is one of 2024’s most exciting new series, and it’s quickly made a name for itself as an Adult Swim original production. Ninja Kamui tells a brutal story of revenge where retired ninja assassin, Joe Higan, faces an unimaginable tragedy that sets him on a path of vengeance that pits him against his former employer. NinjaKamui tells a gripping story that has shades of both JohnWick and A History of Violence.

Ninja Kamui is dense in emotion and tension, but it’s also filled with blood-soaked battles that cultivate a staggering body count as Higan gets closer to his goal. Directed by Sunghoo Park of JujutsuKaisen fame, Ninja Kamui features beautiful action choreography that’s a testament to Park’s craft and proves that the series is far more than empty violence. Ninja Kamui is very early into its run, but there are still some comparable anime series for those who are eager for an action fix between the anime’s weekly airings.

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10 Shigurui: Death Frenzy Celebrates Classical Combat Between Two Swordfighters Who Are At The End Of Their Ropes

Shigurui: Death Frenzy is a graphic seinen action series that produced 15 volumes across seven years, but its anime counterpart distills this chaos down to a single season of 12 episodes. Shigurui pulls from real history and takes place during a pivotal period in 1600s Japan when staged tournaments transitioned from wooden swords to real steel. Shigurui narrows down its drama to two uniquely disadvantaged swordsmen: Gennosuke Fujiki who has one arm, and Seigen Irako who is blind.

Gennosuke and Seigen courageously compete in Tokugawa Tadanaga’s proceedings, all while Shigurui slowly fills in the details that have led them to this competition. Shigurui ambitiously matches Ninja Kamui‘s raw carnage and brutality, albeit in a story that’s set hundreds of years in the past.

9 Kengan Ashura Combines Gladiatorial Combat With High-Stakes Bureaucracy

Kengan Ashura

A timid old man is summoned by his chairman to become the manager of Tokita Ohma, a highly skilled gladiator who only cares about fighting and winning in the Kengan matches.

Release Date

July 31, 2019

Cast

Erika Harlacher , Kaiji Tang , Keith Silverstein , Yumi Uchiyama , Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Seasons

2

Creator

Yabako Sandrovich and Daromeon

Anime is full of creative riffs on combat and tournaments, which comes to a violent head in Kengan Ashura, a violent anime where affluent business owners hire gladiators to fight in unarmed Kengan matches as a way to complete their business transactions and corporate takeovers. Low-level salarymen are forced to fight for their lives and hopefully pull themselves out of their low stations in life as they get the opportunity to acquire unimaginable wealth and business acumen. The Kengan Annihilation Tournament becomes a hub for Japan’s hottest CEOs.

Ohma Tokita, a Kengan fighter who’s progressively risen through the ranks of this sick sport, reveals that he has a dark secret about his true intentions in this tournament. Kengan Ashura taps into the same level of lawlessness that consumes Ninja Kamui‘s ruthless assassins, even if these two action-packed death match series are built upon contrasting foundations. Thirty-six episodes of Kengan Ashura have currently premiered, but the 12-episode second half of season two is set to hit Netflix in 2024.

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8 Chainsaw Man Slices & Dices Its Way Through Devils & Darkness

Chainsaw Man

Following a betrayal, a young man left for dead is reborn as a powerful devil-human hybrid after merging with his pet devil and is soon enlisted into an organization dedicated to hunting devils. When his father died, Denji was stuck with a huge debt and no way to pay it back.

Release Date

October 11, 2022

Cast

Kikunosuke Toya , Ryan Colt Levy , Tomori Kusunoki , Suzie Yeung

Seasons

1

Studio

MAPPA

Creator

Tatsuki Fujimoto

Main Characters

Denji, Makima, Pochita, Power, Himeno, Kishibe

Number of Episodes

12

Network

Crunchyroll

Chainsaw Man is one of Weekly Shonen Jump‘s “Dark Trio,” alongside Jujutsu Kaisen and Hell’s Paradise, that mix action-centric shonen antics with more mature and morbid themes and storytelling. Chainsaw Man is set in a heightened world where mankind’s greatest fears and threats are manifested as macabre monsters known as Devils. Denji, a sad orphan teenager who’s given up on a normal life, enters an unlikely contract to become the Chainsaw Devil. Denji, despite his part-time Devil status, finds a sense of community in the Public Safety Devil Hunters, a group of skilled individuals who protect society from Devil-driven destruction. Chainsaw Man effortlessly balances human relationships with creepy combat that typically results in endless entrails and viscera on display.

Chainsaw Man is an anime that plays by its own rules and anything feels possible, just like in Ninja Kamui, where a deeper lore gradually reveals itself. Denji and Higan are very different individuals, yet there’s still a lot of crossover between these two conflicted characters. An upcoming feature film, Chainsaw Man: The Movie -Reze Arc, is also set to translate the anime’s trademark chaos into a cinematic event that’s not to be missed. Chainsaw Man is also animated by MAPPA, which means that, if nothing else, it’s dense in deliriously gorgeous visuals that prove that vicious violence can still qualify as high art.

7 The God Of High School Celebrates International Combat Fundamentals

The God of High School

A tournament takes place to determine the best fighter among all high school students in Korea.

Release Date

July 1, 2020

Cast

Robbie Daymond , Tara Sands

Seasons

1 Season

Creator

Yongje Park

Producer

Joseph Chou

Production Company

Mappa

Many anime are adaptations of Japan’s most popular manga, but Crunchyroll has made a solid push for stellar adaptations of groundbreaking South Korean manhwa and webtoons, such as Tower of God, SoloLeveling, and The God of High School. The latter feels most in line with Ninja Kamui, especially since they both share Sunghoo Park as their director and bombard audiences with comparable levels of chaotic combat. God of High School focuses on a martial arts competition to find the strongest high school student in South Korea, but these proceedings feature diverse martial arts styles that range from Taekwondo to Muay Thai to Judo, all while a sinister secret looms over the tournament and its coveted grand prize.

The God ofHigh School‘s priority and greatest selling point is constant and kinetic action. Each episode is full of exciting matches between the eclectic competitors. However, much like in Ninja Kamui, there’s a real heart to this series and audiences will fall in love with Jin Mori, his fellow fighters, and their compelling motivations. With only one season currently completed, The God ofHigh School is an easy watch that naturally caters to a brutal binge session. Those who need to know what happens to Jin Mori next can at least indulge in The God of High School‘s lengthy manhwa source material.

Samurai Champloo

Fuu, a waitress who works in a teahouse, rescues two master swordsmen, Mugen and Jin, from their execution to help her find the “samurai who smells of sunflowers.”

Release Date

January 11, 2005

Seasons

1 Season

Characters By

Kazuya Nakai, Ginpei Sato, Ayako Kawasumi

Creator

Manglobe, Masaru Gotsubo

Production Company

Barnum Studio, Flying Dog, Fuji Television Network

Shinichiro Watanabe is a true anime auteur who’s responsible for revered series like Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy, and Carole & Tuesday. Watanabe’s Samurai Champloo is his ode to historical samurai action-adventures just like how Cowboy Bebop is his deconstruction of sci-fi space operas. Fuu is an unassuming tea waitress who befriends Mugen and Jin, an outlaw and a ronin, on her search to locate a samurai who smells of sunflowers.

Samurai Champloo is dense in swordplay, action, and death, but it displays a solemn, reflective point of view that helps its characters come to terms with life’s inevitable end. There’s also a modern infusion of hip-hop into Samurai Champloo‘s classical setting, which results in an anachronistic samurai adventure that’s unlike anything else. It’s an enlightening samurai remix just like how Ninja Kamui does the same with ninja stereotypes.

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5 Vinland Saga Delivers Vicious Viking Bliss That Stands Alone In The Violent Genre

Vinland Saga

Thorfinn pursues a journey with his father’s killer in order to take revenge and end his life in a duel as an honorable warrior and pay his father an homage.

Release Date

July 8, 2019

Cast

Aleks Le , Mike Haimoto , Yûto Uemura , Alejandro Saab

Seasons

2 Seasons

Studio

Wit Studio, Studio MAPPA

Creator

Makoto Yukimura

Production Company

Wit Studio, Mappa

Number of Episodes

48 Episodes

The majority of action anime are set in Japan and revolve around ninja and samurai, which immediately helps Vinland Saga stand out through its 1013 AD England setting and its focus on cruel Viking life. Anyone who’s seen and enjoyed Robert Eggers’ The Northman will gravitate towards Thorfinn’s bloody tale of revenge.

What’s so compelling and therapeutic about Thorfinn’s character arc is that he evolves from a violent, vengeful teen into a figure of pacifism who’s ashamed of all the blood that he’s spilled. Thorfinn’s murderous skills and the inner turmoil that it brings forward in him are quite comparable to Joe Higan’s moral quandaries in Ninja Kamui. Both series often get reduced to their grisly action sequences, but they’d be nothing without the vulnerable beating hearts of their main characters.

4 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Is Full Of Action-Packed Shonen Spectacles

Demon Slayer

When Tanjiro Kamado returns home to find his family was attacked and killed by demons, he discovers his younger sister Nezuko was the only survivor. As Nezuko slowly becomes a demon, Tanjiro sets out to find a cure for her and become a demon slayer so he can avenge his family.

Release Date

April 6, 2019

Cast

Natsuki Hanae , Zach Aguilar , Abby Trott , Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

Seasons

3

Studio

ufotable

Creator

Koyoharu Gotouge

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is one of the decade’s biggest shonen success stories, and it’s set staggering new box office records for not only anime feature films but Japanese cinema as a whole. DemonSlayer follows Tanjiro Kamado, a burgeoning Demon Slayer who experiences the horrors of these creatures first-hand when he loses his parents and witnesses his sister, Nezuko, become a demon herself. Tanjiro is determined to not only eliminate these monsters but discover a cure for his sister and restore what’s left of his family. Each Demon Slayer season is bigger than the last and features more formidable foes for the entire Demon Slayer Corps to conquer.

Demon Slayer‘s fourth season brings this conflict to a head as an all-out war breaks out between Muzan Kibutsuji’s strongest demons and the very best Demon Slayers, with Nezuko at the center of it all. Ufotable translates these grueling battles into sublime visual sequences that elevate the action-centric shonen series to incredible heights. Demon Slayer‘s creative creatures and combat make it easy to see why it’s become such a hit. Anyone who is enraptured in Higan’s cathartic quest in Ninja Kamui will find plenty to appreciate in Demon Slayer‘s conflict and characters.

3 Rurouni Kenshin Is A Signature Samurai Staple Of Action Anime

Rurouni Kenshin

The adventures of a young wandering swordsman who stumbles upon a struggling martial arts school in Meiji era Japan.

Release Date

January 10, 1996

Studio

Gallop and Studio Deen

Main Cast

Mayo Suzukare, Miki Fujitani, Richard Cansino and Dorothy Elias-Fahn

Any action anime discussion would be incomplete without Rurouni Kenshin, a Meiji Era swords and sorrow epic that’s as bloody as it is beautiful. Kenshin Himura is a traveling samurai who’s on the long road to redemption, not unlike Ninja Kamui‘s Higan. Kenshin does his best to help the hopeless, but his past frequently catches up to haunt him and the people that he’s reluctantly let into his life. RurouniKenshin ricochets between standalone and serialized stories. It also indulges in a mix of standard swordplay as well as heightened and over-the-top villains that are more supernatural, like Makoto Shishio, which also meshes with Ninja Kamui‘s agenda.

The original Rurouni Kenshin has successfully lasted the test of time, but its 2023 modern reboot and even its live-action feature films are also extremely satisfying and capture the magic of old-fashioned hack-and-slashing samurai action. It’s fair to say that there would be no Ninja Kamui — as well as countless other ninja and samurai series — without Rurouni Kenshin and the bloody trail that it blazed for action anime.

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2 Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku Strands Sword-Swinging Assassin’s On An Island Full Of Monsters

Hell’s Paradise

In the Edo period of Japan, a select group of convicts awaiting execution are offered the chance to be pardoned and freed the Shogunate of Japan if they go to investigate an island recently discovered southwest of the Ryukyu Kingdom. the convicts are accompanied by elite guards to ensure they won’t escape.

Release Date

April 1, 2023

Cast

Chiaki Kobayashi , Yumiri Hanamori , Alejandro Saab , Rie Takahashi

Seasons

1

Number of Episodes

12

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku is the most recent of Weekly Shonen Jump‘s “Dark Trio” titles to receive an anime adaptation, which has also been helmed by the visually remarkable MAPPA. Hell’s Paradise mixes samurai action archetypes with a radical reimagining that feels like Ninja Kamui meets LOST and Kong: Skull Island. Gabimaru the Hollow is a sword-wielding assassin who finds himself sentenced to death, only for his execution to be deferred to a highly unusual punishment. Gabimaru, along with other special death row cases, gets banished to a mysterious island that contains an immortality elixir as well as terrifying demons that defy reality. Hell’s Paradise delivers satisfying team-building and character development amid horrific battles against unholy creatures.

Hell’s Paradise keeps its secrets close to its chest, but it’s always for the best, as opposed to withholding storytelling that comes across as manipulative. Gabimaru is also driven forward by his pure, eternal love for his wife, whom he considers to be the greatest treasure of them all. It’s hard not to draw parallels between Gabimaru’s philosophy and that of Ninja Kamui‘s Higan. Hell’s Paradise holds its own against Ninja Kamui, pound for pound, and is one of its closest matches in terms of style and tone. Hell’s Paradise recently confirmed that a second season is underway, which makes it the perfect time to check it out before it returns for more monster rampages.

Ninja Scroll

A vagabond swordsman is aided by a kunoichi and a spy in battling a demonic clan of killers – led by a ghost from his past – who are bent on overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Director

Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Release Date

June 5, 1993

Cast

Koichi Yamadera , Emi Shinohara , Takeshi Aono

Writers

Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Runtime

1 Hour 34 Minutes

Production Company

Victor Company of Japan (JVC), Toho Company, Movic, Madhouse, Animate Film

Madhouse’s Ninja Scroll is a must-watch anime for anyone interested in the action genre and can stomach ultra-violent combat and storytelling. Set in feudal Japan, Kibagami Jubei is a swordsman mercenary who systematically mows his way through the Eight Devils of Kimon, a special team of deadly ninja who all have supernatural abilities in addition to precision sword skills. It’s easy to recognize a lot of Jubei in Ninja Kamui‘s Joe Higan. Their actions, agendas, and perspectives overlap, and it’d be a genuine surprise if Sunghoo Park wasn’t inspired by the totemic feature film.

Not only does Ninja Scroll feel like a precursor to Ninja Kamui, but it was also a major influence on the Wachowskis during their production of the original Matrix. The 1993 Ninja Scroll feature film is an iconic anime that set a high benchmark for action storytelling. That being said, 2003’s 13-episode sequel series, Ninja Scroll: The Series, is a satisfying follow-up that’s still animated by Madhouse and successfully translates the movie’s brutality to a broader, episodic narrative.