HBO Max’s ‘Song of the Samurai’ Is the Perfect Action Epic for ‘Shōgun’ Fans | Review

The jidaigeki genre is an untouchable cornerstone of Japanese entertainment, having produced some of history's most timeless, majestic, and influential achievements across virtually every medium. While admiration and acclaim for Japan's period dramas haven't necessarily faded, they've nevertheless enjoyed a recent resurgence in international popularity. In 2024, FX's 17th-century drama Shōgun became an award-winning worldwide phenomenon, while Netflix renewed two samurai-related programs, Blue Eye Samurai and Last Samurai Standing, for theirsecond seasons. Coincidentally, the last few years have also seen a peak in live-action manga adaptations; Yu Yu Hakusho, Alice in Borderland, and One Piece havegarnered that dream combination of excellent critical reviews and enthusiastic fan reaction.

Enter Song of the Samurai, a live-action television series based on Umemura Shinya's (Record of Ragnarök) manga Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem. Running for 13 years and selling over three million copies, Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem fictionalizes Japan's late Edo period through the eyes of the historical Shinsengumi, an elite warrior force assigned to protect shōgunate officials during a time of immense sociopolitical unrest. Based on the two episodes provided for review (out of eight total), series writer Masaaki Sakai and director Kazutaka Watanabe have realized the fall of the last shōgunate — a dynasty initiated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ruler who inspired Shōgun's Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) — with spectacular style and heart.

What Is 'Song of the Samurai' About?

On a snowy night in 1912, the elderly Nagakura Shinpachi (Emoto Akira), a former Shinsengumi captain, begins telling the group's story to Ichikawa Makoto (Nukumi Meru), a woman seeking the truth about their near-mythical Vice-Commander. Where Song of the Samurai is concerned, the Shinsengumi's legacy begins in 1859, a year that finds the shōgunate's feudal power crumbling beyond repair. Deadly clashes are unfolding between the factions who support the dissolution of Japan's isolationist policy — a decision that held from the early 1600s until the 1850s, when foreign governments and militaries exerted extreme pressure — and those opposed to the ideology.

Against the backdrop of this growing turmoil, an amateur fighter named Hijikata Toshizo (Yamada Yuki) arrives at the Shieikan dōjō in Edo and challenges its members to prove their worth. Each one scoffs at his audacity (and all are based on real-life figures): Shinpachi's younger self (Uesugi Shuhei), the affable prodigy Okita Soji (Hosoda Kanata), the benevolent yet hot-tempered Todo Heisuke (Miyazaki Shuto), the wise-cracking Saito Hajime (Fujiwara Kisetsu), the sternly analytical Yamanami Keisuke (Nakamura Aoi), the moral-driven Abiru Eisaburo (Sugino Yosuke), the food-loving and small talk-hating Harada Sanosuke (Yanagi Shuntaro), and Kondo Isami (Suzuki Nobuyuki), the dōjō's master and his students' soft-hearted surrogate father.

As for Toshizo, he's acquired a reputation as a local nuisance but a skilled combatant. Once he faces off against Isami, the latter becomes, to put it nicely, another story. Toshizo's clever triumphs turn into flailing instability compared to Isami's steady-as-a-mountain composure. Like many youthful protagonists driven by their impatient and restless inner fire, Toshizo has a lot to learn about the true bushidō code in both fighting agility and philosophical mentality; without them, his aspirations of becoming Japan's strongest warrior remain futile dreams. Still, an impressed Isami notes his potential and agrees to officially train the 24-year-old. As the found-family of aspiring samurai matures into names that will reverberate throughout history, they first strive to join the shōgunate's illustrious military academy — acceptance within their ranks is a high honor, the training and social elevation life-changing, and the pay generous enough to improve the Shieikan dōjō's conditions — before another crucial opportunity appears.

'Song of the Samurai's Visuals, Cast, and Action Set the Stage for Greatness

Although Song of the Samurai favors the action side slightly more than political intrigue (at least for now), the historical setting's complex turbulence fundamentally determines the upcoming conflicts. While the show's themes strike recognizable notes — the morals of samurai honor and what constitutes dishonor, the ensemble's loyalty to one another as a found family and their fealty to the shōgun, giving and earning respect, the difficulties of class advancement within tightly regulated feudal confines, how Toshizo's arduous experiences shape the manner of man he wants and chooses to become — they're executed with a mixture of easy, light humor and intense sincerity. The main characters charm their way into each other's hearts and the audience's with speed-run efficiency thanks to a stellar cast who rapidly prove themselves adept with Song of the Samurai's tonal shifts between dry comedy, somber earnestness, and tragic conviction.

The series is also, frankly, a joy to watch from a visual perspective. Expansively composed wide shots highlight the art direction's scale, texture, and immersive details — Edo's markets and bridges, the dōjō's exteriors and interiors, landscapes of natural greenery and waterfalls. Cherry blossom flowers shower down and spin through the air like rain or the opening scene's falling snow. The camera operates in tandem with action director Sonomura Kensuke's simultaneously graceful and brutal, sweat-dripping choreography, swinging in time with sweeping swords and the performers' bodies to emphasize fluid movements or abruptly halted motion.

Song of the Samurai arrives with a strong pedigree. Aside from having HBO Max as its international distributor, the series marks a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) television network, the U-NEXT streaming service, and THE SEVEN studio — the latter having produced both the live-action Alice in Borderland and Yu Yu Hakusho adaptations. Although one can't make a final verdict just yet, its auspicious start indicates high promise. While an ideal match for Shōgun or Last Samurai Standing fans, it's easy to see how Song of the Samurai could fire off full speed ahead into a breathless epic capable of effortlessly standing on its own two feet.

Song of the Samurai premieres May 9 on HBO Max.

Release Date March 26, 2026

Directors Kazutaka Watanabe

Writers Shinya Umemura, Masaaki Sakai

Cast

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  Yukito Yamada

  Hijikata Toshizo

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  Nobuyuki Suzuki

  Kondo Isamu

Pros & Cons

• Familiar themes are approached with easy humor and intense sincerity.
• The ensemble characters are instantly endearing, and the excellent cast balances comedy and tragedy.
• The series' beautiful visuals are detailed and purposeful.