Movies like The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering- (2018)
The best movies like The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering- (2018) are Taboo (1999), Rurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends (2014) and Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021). If The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering- hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHarakiri (1962)8.5/10 from 1,325 votes
- NewestThe Rose of Versailles (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseTaboo (1999)Also in Japanese
Taboo (1999)
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends (2014)
Shishio sets sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the government. In order to stop him, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)
Before he was a protector, Kenshin was a fearsome assassin known as Battosai. But when he meets gentle Tomoe Yukishiro, a beautiful young woman who carries a huge burden in her heart, his life will change forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012)
In 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, the ex-assassin Kenshin Himura traverses Japan with an inverted sword, to defend the needy without killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)
In 1879, Kenshin and his allies face their strongest enemy yet: his former brother-in-law Enishi Yukishiro and his minions, who've vowed their revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno (2014)
Kenshin has settled into his new life with Kaoru and his other friends when he is approached with a request from the Meiji government. Makoto Shishio, a former assassin like Kenshin, was betrayed, set on fire and left for dead. He survived, and is now in Kyoto, plotting with his gathered warriors to overthrow the new government. Against Kaoru's wishes, Kenshin reluctantly agrees to go to Kyoto and help keep his country from falling back into civil war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sword of Doom (1966)
Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSekigahara (2017)
The background to and depiction of a watershed battle in Japanese history, at Sekigahara in 1600, when Tokugawa Ieyasu's Army of the East defeated the Army of the West of Ishida Mitsunari. The story includes the intrigues and shifting loyalties of the various retainers, family members, and samurai.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSamurai Rebellion (1967)
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped by the lord. Her husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to rescue her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWhen the Last Sword Is Drawn (2003)
Kanichiro Yoshimura is a samurai and family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the low pay he receives from his small-town clan. He is forced by his love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKubi (2023)
Lord Oda Nobunaga plans to control Japan where rival warlords battle by waging war against several clans. His vassal Araki Murashige stages a rebellion and promptly disappears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove and Honor (2006)
A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChûshingura (1962)
After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this47 Ronin (2013)
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarakiri (1962)
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRan (1985)
Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNisekoi: False Love (2018)
Raku Ichijo (Kento Nakajima) is an only son and a high school student. His father is the leader of yakuza group Shuei-gumi. Raku Ichijo doesn't like to fight and he studies hard. His dream is to become a public official. One day, he passes the entrance gate at his high school and is kicked inadvertently by Chitoge Kirisaki (Ayami Nakajo). She is a new transfer student at the school. Chitoge Kirisaki is the only daughter of a rival gang leader. To keep the peace between the rival gangs led by their fathers, Raku Ichijo and Chitoge Kirisaki decide to act as boyfriend and girlfriend. --asianwiki
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this13 Assassins (2010)
A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hidden Blade (2004)
Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his dearest friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Rose of Versailles (2025)
In an age of revolution, Marie Antoinette and her protector Oscar François de Jarjayes face tough choices as women growing into their distinct roles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering-?
The closest matches to The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering- are Taboo (1999), Rurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends (2014) and Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering-?
Start with Taboo (1999), the closest match to The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering-.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering-?
Harakiri (1962), rated 8.5/10 by 1,325 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering-?
The Rose of Versailles (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering-?
Yes: Taboo (1999), Rurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends (2014) and Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021).
How are movies similar to The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering- chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Spirit of the Samurai -Chronicles of Shinsengumi Wandering-, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.