Where to Watch Song of the Samurai - Chapter: Youthful Days in Edo in New Zealand

Few shows earn near-universal praise, but Song of the Samurai - Chapter: Youthful Days in Edo has, and right now it's all available in Australia on HBO Max and HBO Max Amazon Channel, and in the US on HBO Max Amazon Channel and YouTube TV. Yuki Yamada leads a cast that brings something genuine to every episode.

The set pieces are impressive, but it's the story underneath them that gives Song of the Samurai - Chapter: Youthful Days in Edo its staying power. A live-action adaptation that translates this deep legacy to the screen. Set in Kyoto at the end of the Edo period, the story depicts the intense and passionate lives of the Shinsengumi - the iconic samurai force that defended Kyoto in the final years of Japan's shogunate - through spectacular action and a bold interpretation based on historical facts. The story follows street brawler Toshizo Hijikata (Yuki Yamada), who finds a new kind of family in Isami Kondo and Soji Okita. Yuki Yamada and Nobuyuki Suzuki lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It aired in 2026.

Action fans who want craft and story alongside the spectacle will find Song of the Samurai - Chapter: Youthful Days in Edo exactly that — the same energy as The Return of the Psammead with its own distinct identity.