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Total Film
Total Film
Entertainment
Bradley Russell

Sekiro: No Defeat trailer is everything I could possibly want from a Sekiro anime

The new trailer for Sekiro: No Defeat is here, and the anime adaptation looks to be a picture-perfect recreation of FromSoftware's Sengoku-era classic.

The Sekiro: No Defeat trailer, which you can see above, closely follows the plot of 2019's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, as a one-armed shinobi fights against forces warped by ambition and power.

Of course, it wouldn't be Sekiro without dazzling combat and brutal set-pieces.

Already, we can spy protagonist Wolf taking on Genichiro Ashina at the top of Ashina Castle (infamously, a tough-as-nails roadblock boss fight for gamers who likely gave up on Sekiro at the halfway point), and a handful of other epic encounters from the game.

To maintain the authenticity, Sekiro: No Defeat is bringing back the vast majority of its voice cast from Shadows Die Twice.

The latter half of the trailer only speaks to that quality, too, as it appears to be fleshing out the lore that many will have missed out on thanks to the various parry-induced headaches on their journey. Or, in my case, dying countless times at the giant hands of the Guardian Ape.

All told, it appears to be exactly what I want from a Sekiro anime: faithful, but taking some creative liberties with FromSoftware's lore, especially as they all-too-often get obscured by the in-game action. The fluidity and movement, too, neatly capture the fearsome kinetic energy that made Sekiro such a hit upon release – and, for my money, one of the greatest games of the past decade.

In a statement, director Kenichi Kutsuna only upped my excitement for the project. He said, "In adapting the overwhelmingly beautiful Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice into an anime, I have poured every ounce of my 'beauty' into creating this work. Whether you’re a longtime fan of the game or experiencing the world of 'Sekiro' for the first time through this anime, we’re confident this work will leave you with something to take home. Please look forward to it."

Sekiro: No Defeat is currently slated for a theatrical release in Japan, though it will be streaming on Crunchyroll in other territories.

For more, check out the other new anime coming in 2026, plus our picks for the best anime movies you should be watching right now.

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