Books samurai Seven SFF Samurai Stories Sword-wielding samurai vs. monsters, time travel, magic, and more! By Lorna Wallace | Published on May 21, 2026 The Last Contract of Isako cover art by Thomas Walker Comment 0 Share New Share The Last Contract of Isako cover art by Thomas Walker I’ve loved stories filled with samurai and martial arts since I was a little kid. Understandably, my parents weren’t keen on putting a katana into my hands, but they did sign me up for karate classes, which fueled my love even further. I don’t really recall encountering sci-fi or fantasy elements in any of the samurai movies I watched when I was growing up, but in recent years I’ve been seeking such stories out wherever I can find them. Given that Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) is one of the most influential films ever made, I thought it would be fun to also take inspiration from the best by choosing seven examples for this list. The samurai books, movies, and TV shows below run the gamut of SF, fantasy, and horror, with some works drawing on real-world history to some degree and others focusing far more on speculative elements, from magic and monsters to time travel and distant planets. Into the Badlands (2015 – 2019) The AMC series Into the Badlands is set in a post-apocalyptic world that has limited technology and is ruled by barons—each with their own army, people, and key resources (such as opium and oil). Sunny (Daniel Wu) leads the army of the most powerful baron and is widely regarded as one of the most skilled fighters in the Badlands, being an expert in both martial arts and sword fighting. But both his loyalty and his skills are put to the test when a rebellious teenage boy with strange powers (Aramis Knight) steps into his life. I enjoyed the high-stakes plot and character drama of Into the Badlands, but the fight scenes were the real highlight for me, with Daniel Wu’s skills in particular stealing the show. Sure, he isn’t the only character we see deftly wielding a blade, but it’s his scenes that stick most vividly in my mind. The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang (2019) The Matsuda family live on a mountain on the edge of the Kaigenese Empire and—along with a few other warrior families—are trusted to keep the Empire safe from its enemies with their exceptional sword-wielding skills and ice-bending abilities. The book follows two members of this family: 14-year-old Mamoru and his mother Misaki. Mamoru has been training to be a warrior since he was big enough to hold a blade, but his worldview is challenged to the point of shattering by the arrival of an outsider. As for Misaki, she married into the Matsuda family and has a little more knowledge about the wider world, but she’s been forced to hide her samurai past. The combat scenes in The Sword of Kaigen bristle with frenetic energy and the impressive action is given extra punch thanks to the emotional arcs of the characters who are swinging the swords. Both Mamoru and Misaki go on transformative personal journeys over the course of the story, which digs into the horrifying ramifications of war on both a personal and public scale. The book is a war epic and a family drama all in one, with each of those threads enhancing the other. Blue Eye Samurai (2023 – ) I’d recommend going into Blue Eye Samurai with as little information as possible (that it was an adult animated samurai series was enough to convince me to check it out!), but I’ll explain the basic premise for those who might need a bit more convincing. The story is set in an alternate version of 17th-century Japan and follows Mizu (Maya Erskine)—a half-white, half-Japanese samurai—as she pursues bloody revenge while disguised as a man. I came for the stunningly animated sword fights—the moves are slick, the gore is brutal, and the backgrounds are beautiful—but I stayed for Mizu. She’s an incredibly compelling character to follow, consumed by rage and self-hatred and yet somehow still maintaining a core of kindness and morality. Only one season of the show is currently out, but a second season is in the works. The first episode is also freely available to watch on YouTube, but you’ll need to head to Netflix to watch the other seven episodes. A Samurai in Time (2024) Kosaka Shinzaemon (Makiya Yamaguchi) is an Edo-era samurai who is about to fight another samurai when a lightning bolt hits his raised blade. He wakes up confused on an unfamiliar street where people are acting strangely and eventually comes to understand that he’s on a movie set in the 21st century. Left with no way to get back to his original time period, he decides to put his samurai skills to use by working as stuntman in jidaigeki (Japanese period drama) shows and movies. A Samurai in Time is light on the technical aspects of the time travel (basically, don’t expect to get an explanation) because that isn’t really the point of the movie. Instead, the focus is on fish-out-of-water Shinzaemon and his floundering attempts to carve out a place for himself in this unfamiliar world. The film is a little comical, extremely endearing, and essentially a love letter to the jidaigeki genre. Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) Set within the world of the Predator franchise, Killer of Killers is an animated anthology film told in four parts. The second section, titled “The Sword,” is set in 17th-century Japan and follows a pair of brothers—one a samurai and the other a ninja—who are forced to battle a Predator. Kenji and Kiyoshi (both voiced by Louis Ozawa Changchien, who fans of the franchise will recognize from 2010’s Predators) were close when they were young, but they’ve been estranged for 20 years after a bloody betrayal led to Kenji living in exile. Their feud is reignited with the death of their samurai lord father, but their unhappy reunion is interrupted by a Predator. Aside from a few words at the beginning and end, there’s no dialogue throughout most of “The Sword.” This stylistic choice puts the focus on the stunning action sequences, which see Kenji and Kiyoshi using all of their skills and shrewdness while fighting the Predator. But the lack of dialogue doesn’t mean there’s a lack of characterization—the conflicted emotions of both brothers come through razor sharp via their facial expressions and reactions. Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (2026) There are two timelines and two main characters in Japanese Gothic, but they’re both anchored by the same house. The story starts in 2026, with college student Lee running away to his dad’s secluded house in Japan after possibly killing his roommate (he can’t quite remember what happened). The second timeline follows Sen, a young samurai who’s being trained brutally by her father and who lives in the same house, but in 1877. Sen and Lee find themselves slipping into each other’s timelines and although things get off to a rocky start, they eventually form a bond. This time-bending horror novel starts out fairly slowly, but it steadily builds to an explosive ending. From start to finish it’s both chillingly atmospheric and heartwrenchingly tragic. The horror comes less from spooky things going bump in the night and more from the awful situations that both Sen and Lee find themselves in. The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (2026) The Last Contract of Isako is set on a distant planet that has long since lost contact with Earth. Although resources are stretched thin (aside from for the richest and most powerful, of course), there’s hope for the future—either through terraforming the planet or by reconnecting with Earth. Titular character Isako has made her living on this world as a longknives-woman—a role which has seen her protect and advise various powerful people. But she’s in her 50s now and the physical demands of her life have taken a toll on her body, so she’s aware that retirement (which on this world means leaving the protection of the airshield and dying out in the frozen wasteland) is in her near-future. But then she’s roped into one last contract that turns out to be far more complicated than expected… The majority of the book is concerned with corporate espionage, which means that Isako’s longknife doesn’t do quite as much slicing and dicing as I’d like, but the fight scenes that are included are fantastic. Plus, the mystery that Isako finds herself unraveling is intriguing in its own right, and raises many fascinating questions about honor, loyalty, and identity. I’ve already got Samurai Jack high on my to-be-watched list, but I’d love to know if there are any other SFF samurai stories missing from this list that I need to read or watch. The comments are open below for any recommendations! The post Seven SFF Samurai Stories appeared first on Reactor.