Sekiro: No Defeat, the anime adaptation from director Kenichi Kutsuna and Studio Qzil.la based on FromSoftware’s 2019 game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, will be getting a theatrical edition in Japan ahead of its release on Crunchyroll.
As announced via the anime’s official social media pages, Sekiro: No Defeat’s theatrical version will screen in theatres in Japan for three weeks starting on 4 September 2026, with the film also receiving its main visual featuring “To live and die, together” as its tagline. Following this, the anime will then stream exclusively on Crunchyroll sometime later in the year, where it will be available worldwide excluding Japan, China, Korea, Russia and Belarus.
Kutsuna previously explained that Sekiro: No Defeat was developed very closely with FromSoftware, with the studio checking and approving many aspects of the anime, like its screenplay and storyboarding, to make sure it fit in the established video game lore. He also added that the goal was to “take as many elements from the underlying work of the game as possible” and that even though the anime will not deviate too much from the original source material, it will not adapt every element from the game either.
The anime will also see the return of the Japanese cast members from the game, including Daisuke Namikawa as Sekiro, Miyuki Satō as Kuro, Kenjirō Tsuda as Genichiro Ashina, and Takaya Hashi as Owl, with Takahiro Kishida (Durarara!!) designing the familiar characters in anime form.
Sekiro: No Defeat’s theatrical version will screen in Japan for three weeks starting from 4 September 2026, ahead of its worldwide release on Crunchyroll. Its synopsis reads:
Japan is fractured into many independent nations entangled in ceaseless war. At the center lies Ashina, a land of sacred earth and ancient mystery. Two decades after Sword Saint Isshin Ashina reclaimed the region in a brutal coup, a new threat emerges from within: The Interior Ministry. Desperate to protect his homeland, Isshin’s grandson Genichiro turns to forbidden powers. The only hope lies in a kidnapped boy — the Divine Heir — and his silent protector: a loyal shinobi known only as Sekiro.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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