A new look at the feature-length anime adaptation of FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was revealed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this week, and if you’re lulled into believing that you’re looking at some bucolic coming-of-age story, à la Studio Ghibli, just wait until the decapitations begin. Sekiro: No Defeat looks to capture the martial arts violence of the 2019 video game in beautiful animation.
There’s a good reason the latest look at Sekiro: No Defeat is giving Ghibli vibes. “The most influential work that we actually took into consideration when we created this movie is the work of Mamoru Oshii, especially Patlabor 2,” Sekiro: No Defeat director Kenichi Kutsuna told Polygon in an interview at Annecy, “and then from Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke.”
Sekiro: No Defeat looks like it will faithfully retell the story of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, while including some of the game’s most memorable boss fights. In the trailer, we get a glimpse of Wolf’s battle(s) against Genichiro Ashina, and a taste of our hero taking on Gyoubu Oniwa and the Senpou Temple monks, the tough guys who bring iron knuckles to a swordfight.
Kenichi Kutsuna directs Sekiro: No Defeat for anime studio Qzil.la, alongside Shunsuke Fukui as assistant director, Takahiro Kishida as character designer, and Shuta Hasunuma as composer.
Here’s the official description for Sekiro: No Defeat, courtesy of Crunchyroll:
Japan is fractured into many independent nations entangled in ceaseless war. At the center lies Ashina, a land of sacred earth and ancient mystery. Two decades after Sword Saint Isshin Ashina reclaimed the region in a brutal coup, a new threat emerges from within: The Interior Ministry. Desperate to protect his homeland, Isshin’s grandson Genichiro turns to forbidden powers. The only hope lies in a kidnapped boy — the Divine Heir — and his silent protector: a loyal shinobi known only as Sekiro.
This is the story of a lord and his retainer — and their quest to restore balance to a nation on the edge.
Sekiro: No Defeat opens in movie theaters in Japan on Sept. 4, where it will have a three-week theatrical run. The anime will stream on Crunchyroll at an unannounced date.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is available on PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. The PC version is currently on sale for 50% off at Steam as part of the Steam Summer Sale.
Sekiro’s blood spray draws from the messy history of Japanese cinema
There’s a reason it gets so sloppy
