Onimusha is back – in anime form. A new adaptation of Capcom’s classic demon-slaying series is in the works. Netflix announced the project at its Tudum Japan livestream event on Sunday. The project – the first anime series adaptation of Onimusha since its release in 2001 – will be directed by Takashi Miike.
You can see the reveal at about the 50-minute mark in the stream archive.
Netflix also uploaded some screenshots via the Netflix Anime Twitter account.
The Onimusha anime involves Takashi Miike, who will act as Chief Director. Miike achieved international notoriety for stylized, hyper-violent films like Ichi the Killer and 13 Assassins. He also directed projects like adaptations of Blade of the Immortal, Ace Attorney, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and The Mole Song. Joining Miike as Series Director will be Shinya Sugai, Director of the Dragon’s Dogma anime. Sublimation studio is animating the series. It also produced the Dragon’s Dogma anime, Shikizakura, and provided CG graphics for projects like One Piece Film Gold, Psycho-Pass, and Space Battleship Yamato 2202.
The anime adaptation of Onimusha seems unlikely to be directly connected the games. Its protagonist is Musashi Miyamoto, legendary swordsman. This version of Musashi is based on the appearance of the late Toshiro Mifune, star of Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo. This is in keeping with the series’ practice of basing its protagonists on real-life actors. Onimusha: Warlords‘ protagonist Samanosuke Akechi was based on Takeshi Kaneshiro. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny protagonist Jubei Yagyu was based on Yusaku Matsuda. Onimusha 3 saw Samanosuke’s return, and added Jacques Blanc, based on French actor Jean Reno.
The Onimusha Anime is in production, but does not yet have a release window. It’ll stream on Netflix.
