Onimusha is, indeed, back, but it’s not quite the return we hoped for. We’re getting an anime series, not a new game.
Yes, this announcement has “mixed feelings” written all over it. After 2019’s remaster of Onimusha: Warlords, we had our fingers crossed that we’d be getting a new Onimusha game. Or, at the very least, that we’d see the remaining games remastered. But, no, we’re getting an anime series, not a new game.
The good news is that it’s being handled by Takashi Miike, the Japanese director (and producer/writer) responsible for Audition, 13 Assassins and more. There’s no doubting his cinematic credentials and so we have our fingers crossed that the Onimusha anime series, simply called Onimusha, will deliver on the demon-dispatching samurai antics of the original games.
Sublimation’s Shinya Sugai will also be involved and Musashi Miyamoto, who looks to be the main character, will be modeled after Toshiro Mifune. Miyamoto didn’t figure into the main Onimusha series and was instead a guest character in spin-off Onimusha: Blade Warriors.
It's your first look at ONIMUSHA, an anime based on CAPCOM's legendary game. Created by Takashi Miike and Shinya Sugai from Sublimation, with Musashi Miyamoto modeled after Toshiro Mifune #TUDUM#TUDUMjapan#ONIMUSHA#鬼武者 pic.twitter.com/oeX6FO2hWS
— Netflix Anime (@NetflixAnime) September 25, 2022
It certainly suggests that the Netflix series will tell an all-new story though. And given that Musashi Miyamoto was a real person, it may also mine Japanese history. It’s set to blend CGI characters with hand-drawn backgrounds and the few images that have been released are eye-catching enough.
However, there’s no release date as yet. There’s also a question mark over whether Netflix will release the Onimusha anime series episodically, week by week, or drop it all at once. There are rumblings that the company is leaning towards the latter. We’ll let you know if we hear more.
