20 Best Anime TV Series Of All Time

8. Samurai Champloo

If you're looking for some of the most fluid and stylish animated sword fighting in the history of anime, then look no further than Shinichiro Watanabe's classic series Samurai Champloo.

Following the adventures of wandering swordsmen Jin and Fuu, and the young girl whom they accompany on her quest to discover a samurai "who smells of sunflowers", Samurai Champloo's fusion of martial arts action, traditional Japanese codes of honour and a wonderful hip hop soundtrack makes this a true classic.

As is often the case with the truly exceptional anime series, the only downside to Samurai Champloo is that it only ran for a single season - as we'll see later, this is a problem shared by other great series directed by Watanabe.