Onimusha Returns, As A Netflix Anime With Takashi Miike

Netflix has revealed a surprise project that will bring together Netflix users, PlayStation 2 gamers, and cinema buffs, in today’s Tudum Japan event.

Capcom’s Onimusha is getting its own Netflix anime, with no less than Takashi Miike as Chief Director. Animation will be handled by Sublimation studio.

Onimusha was a series of action video games that started in 1997 with Onimusha Warlords for the PlayStation 2. While the franchise switched around protagonists and characters, the games all revolved around a fantasy Japan where a skilled swordsman fought human and supernatural enemies in the Sengoku period of feudal Japan. The franchise would have four main games, a tactical strategy spinoff, a browser game, and a remaster of the original game last January 2019 for Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

If you don’t remember or were not around for this game originally, that would not be surprising. While it was conceived of as a feudal Japan incarnation of Resident Evil, and its first two games were among Capcom’s most successful titles, the following two games suffered considerably less sales, and it was a franchise Capcom simply did not see fit to reexplore.

Jumping forward to today, the anime will revive a surprising convention found from the video games. The original Onimusha Warlords innovated by taking voice performance and the likeness of international star Takeshi Kaneshiro, to play its lead character, Samanosuke Akechi. Capcom subsequently cast Yusaku Matsuda to play Jubei Yagyu in Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny, and French star Jean Reno to play Jacques Blanc in Onimusha 3: Demon Siege.

For the Onimusha anime, Sublimation will recreate the likeness of acclaimed Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, to play Musashi Miyamoto. Mifune was a signature actor of Akira Kurosawa’s, starring in 16 of his films including Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo. It’s an exceedingly ambitious project, but one not out of line for the kind of roles and movies Mifune played in his life.

Now you may ask, who is Takashi Miike? Among the most prolific and controversial Japanese directors, Miike is best known for his physically and psychologically violent films. Among the low budget projects that made his name are the Dead or Alive trilogy, Ichi The Killer, Gozu, and the notorious Audition.

However, Miike has also proven his talent making mainstream children’s movies like Ninja Kids and The Great Yokai War, as well as other video game, manga, and anime related projects, like Ace Attorney and Like A Dragon.

Sublimation is a studio of renown, with credits on franchises like Ghost in the Shell Arise, Evangelion 3.0, Love Live, Psycho-Pass, and Dragon’s Dogma. Sublimation’s Shinya Sugai, who was director for the Dragon’s Dogma anime, will be its series director.

Netflix did not provide a projected release date, but it will definitely be worth the wait.

Source: Siliconera