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Capcom’s video game franchise Onimusha is heading to Netflix in a brand-new anime directed by iconic director Takashi Miike. The series will premiere globally on Netflix on November 2. The Onimusha game series centers around historical Japanese stories mixed with supernatural elements.
Created and designed by video game legend Yoshiki Okamoto, Onimusha was originally intended as a Resident Evil-style offshoot but eventually found its own narrative. Check out the bloody and bladed trailer below.
The main protagonist changes with every Onimusha title, but his motives and aesthetics are usually the same: He is always a skilled swordsman who embarks on a set mission that involves slaying demons and fearsome enemies during the waning years of the Sengoku period of feudal Japan. In each game, the protagonist has the ability to absorb Genma souls from defeated enemies. With each kill, those souls help restore your health, infuse power in weapons and armor, and provide power for the elemental attacks of special weapons.
In Netflix’s adaptation, he is Miyamoto Musashi–modeled after the late Japanese screen icon Toshiro Mifune–and is set against the much later Edo Period. He’s voiced by famed Japanese voice actor Akio Otsuka, whose credits include the Ghost in the Shell series, as well as the acclaimed Tokyo Godfathers. Otsuka also provided the voice of the main villain, Nobunaga Oda, in the first three games in the series.
The Onimusha series has sold a total of 8.6 million units worldwide, making it Capcom’s ninth best-selling franchise, behind Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising, Marvel vs. Capcom, and Ace Attorney.
