HBO Max will soon premiere a historical action-drama based on a popular Japanese manga on its platform. Following the monumental success of Hulu’s Shōgun and Netflix’s Last Samurai Standing, this could be the next big standout drama set during the age of the shogunate.
Song of the Samurai streams on HBO Max this month
Song of the Samurai will become available to stream on HBO Max on Saturday, May 9, 2026 (via WB Discovery).
The HBO Max series is a live-action adaptation of the manga Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem (original title: Chiruran: Shinsengumi Chinkonka). Shinya Umemura (Record of Ragnarok) was the manga’s creator and writer, while Eiji Hashimoto worked on the illustrations. It ran from October 25, 2010, to April 25, 2023, spanning 36 volumes. Moreover, the manga has reportedly sold over three million copies.
Song of the Samurai takes place in Kyoto near the end of the Edo period. It follows the Shinsengumi, a group of samurai, as they defend the shogunate during a time of major change. The story is told through Toshizo Hijikata, a former street fighter who joins the Shinsengumi samurai force. There, he forms a strong bond with Isami Kondo and Soji Okita amid shifting loyalties and brutal wars.
WB Discovery has also said that the series will showcase real events through larger-than-life action sequences. Since the manga has concluded, the studio has the entire source material to tell a complete story.
Masaaki Sakai is writing the screenplay for the HBO Max adaptation with Kazutaka Watanabe as the director. Meanwhile, Akira Morii, Mamoru Inoue, and Kazuya Shimomura will be the producers. The series’ cast includes Yuki Yamada, Ayano Go, and Kento Nakajima, among others.
According to the company’s blog, the show also marks a major collaboration between Tokyo Broadcasting System, streaming platform U-NEXT, and studio THE SEVEN, known for titles such as Alice in Borderland and Yu Yu Hakusho.
