Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rocky starts out as a club fighter who later gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. It also stars Talia Shire as Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill, and Carl Weathers as the champion, Apollo Creed. The film, made on a budget of just over $1 million and shot in 28 days, was a sleeper hit; it earned $225 million in global box office receipts becoming the highest grossing film of 1976 and went on to win three Oscars, including Best Picture. The film received many positive reviews and turned Stallone into a major star. It spawned five sequels: Rocky II, III, IV, V and Rocky Balboa, all written by and starring Stallone, who also directed all sequels except for Rocky V (which was directed again by Avildsen).

Samurai Deeper Kyo (サムライ ディーパー キョウ, Samurai Dīpā Kyō) is a manga series written and illustrated by Akimine Kamijyo. Set during the Edo period of Japan's history, Samurai Deeper Kyo follows Demon Eyes Kyo (鬼目の狂, Oni Me no Kyō), a feared samurai seeking to regain his body after his soul is sealed inside the body of his rival, Mibu Kyoshiro. Kyo is joined in his search by the bounty-hunter Shiina Yuya, the heir to the Tokugawa shogunate Benitora; and Sanada Yukimura, a known rival of the Tokugawa. Samurai Deeper Kyo was serialized from October 15, 1999 to May 10, 2006 in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, and collected over 38 volumes. The manga was adapted into an animated television series in 2002. The Studio Deen production aired on TV Tokyo from July 2, 2002 until December 23, 2002, for a total of 26 episodes. Both the manga and anime have been licensed in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The manga was acquired by Tokyopop in 2002. However, by 2009, Kodansha allowed its licensing contracts to expire, preventing Tokyopop from continuing the English version of the series. Samurai Deeper Kyo was shortly thereafter picked up by Del Rey Manga, who have completed the series by releasing volumes 35 and 36 in a single volume and volumes 37 and 38 in a single volume. The anime series was acquired by Media Blasters under its AnimeWorks label in 2003. briefly aired on Encore network channels in the United States.

Samurai Jack is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network. The series follows time-displaced samurai warrior "Jack" (voiced by Phil LaMarr) in his singular quest to find a method of traveling back in time and defeating the tyrannical demonic wizard Aku (voiced by Mako Iwamatsu). Episode plots range from dark and epic to lighthearted and comic, but often contain little dialogue. Stories instead rely on the series' highly detailed, outline-free, masking-based animation, as well as its cinematic style and pacing. Many battle scenes in the series are reminiscent of samurai films, and since Jack's robot enemies bleed out oil or electricity and his monster and alien foes bleed out slime or goo, the action of these films can be exhibited while avoiding censorship for blood and violence. Samurai Jack premiered on August 10, 2001, on Cartoon Network and has since garnered high critical acclaim. It won four Primetime Emmy Awards, six Annie Awards, an OIAF Award, and received eight additional nominations. Cultural influences on the series range from the 1970s TV series Kung Fu to the works of director Akira Kurosawa. The series ran for four seasons, totaling 52 episodes, and the series ended on September 25, 2004. All four seasons have since been released on DVD by Warner Home Video. Reruns had frequently been aired on Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang, until the series moved to Adult Swim's Toonami block for reruns on February 1, 2014. In 2014, WatchMojo.com ranked Samurai Jack as the third best cartoon that got cancelled.