The news that FromSoftware's acclaimed video game, "Elden Ring," would be getting a live-action adaptation (written and directed by Alex Garland, who's a big fan) was kind of a huge surprise. But perhaps an even bigger surprise is that the development studio's older classic, "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice," will have its own adaptation, too. The scale is much smaller for this one, though: developed by the American streaming platform Crunchyroll — which specializes in delivering Japanese anime TV shows
and movies to audiences in various countries — "Sekiro: No Defeat" will be an anime TV series releasing next year.
Based on the fast-paced, brutally difficult yet extremely rewarding action game, the show will tell the story of a shinobi warrior trying to save his kidnapped lord, Goku, in the Sengoku period of 16th-century Japan. With the announcement, we already got the first official trailer that will surely be familiar to other Sekiro-heads like myself. In it, we get to see our pony-tailed ninja clash with Genichiro on that breathtakingly beautiful and iconic susuki grass field where all of us died the first time, soon after starting the game.
Kuro and Gyoubu briefly turn up, too, along with some of the most memorable locations we players roamed around endlessly during our several playthroughs. However, based on this one-minute first look, it's hard to tell whether the anime will even get close to live up to the game's excellence.
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Sekiro: No Defeat Will Have A Challenge On Its Hands To Capture Its Source Material's Magic
I'm not going to lie, as someone who put more than 180 hours through several playthroughs into "Sekiro," this first trailer looks far from impressive. While the animation style aligns more or less with the game, it lacks that inherent beauty and attention to detail that FromSoftware's Hidetaka Miyazaki managed to capture so painstakingly. On the plus side, the story seems to be pretty loyal to the source material, in addition to Daisuke Namikawa, Miyuki Sato, and Kenjiro Tsuda reprising their roles as Wolf, Kuro/The Divine Heir, and Genichiro Ashina. The relentless, dynamic, and gruelling action (based around a tight deflection mechanic in the game), with at times over-the-top gore, is also a question mark based on what we see in the video — although those few moments showing the battle with Gyoubu perhaps promise an accurately vicious and bloody violence that can match the game's intensity.
As far as other known details go, the anime will be held by first-time director Kenichi Kutsuna and written by Takuya Sato, a prolific and well-versed screenwriter in animation. Although there's no exact release date or a precise number of how many episodes we'll get, according to Crunchyroll's announcement, the series is slated to premiere in 2026. Kutsuna also addressed how he and his team will approach the material:
"We are taking on the monumental task of animating the breathtakingly beautiful "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice." In doing so, we are pouring every ounce of our artistic vision and passion for beauty into its production. The final product is being crafted to be a truly memorable experience, one that will leave a lasting impression on both dedicated fans of the game and those who are discovering the world of Sekiro for the very first time. Please look forward to it."
Well, here's hoping that those words will ring true in the final product, and we'll get a loyal and awesome adaptation of one of the best video games FromSoftware ever made.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
