武井宏之原作の同名の人気コミックのTV化。サムライの霊を操るシャーマンの少年の活躍を描くオカルティックアクションで、同時期に発売されたカードゲームもヒットした。ちょっと臆病だが、ごくごく普通の少年、小山田まん太は、夜の墓場で幽霊と親しく話す奇妙な少年・麻倉葉と出会う。その翌日、葉はまん太のクラスに転入してきた。彼は、あの世とこの世を結ぶ者――シャーマンなのだという。600年前のサムライ、阿弥陀丸と出会った葉は、世界を浄化するシャーマンキングの資質を目覚めさせていく。
On a starry night, middle-schooler Manta meets Yoh Asakura, a young shaman who has the ability to talk to spirits, and also has the ability to let them possess him to use their powers. Yoh has a heavy duty on his shoulders: he must become the Shaman King by winning the Shaman Fight, a tournament between shamans that happens only once every 500 years. Joined by his spirit medium fiancée Anna Kyōyama, his personal samurai spirit Amidamaru, and his other friends, Yoh must also face a larger evil: Hao, a powerful man who aims to create a new world with only shamans by becoming the Shaman King himself.