A new character trailer and visual have been released for Sekiro: No Defeat. Featured this time is the doctor Emma (Shizuka Ito), who serves as chief physician to the Sword Saint Isshin Ashina and is also capable in combat.
Sekiro: No Defeat is an anime adaptation of the 2018 action-adventure game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice from FromSoftware. Its synopsis reads:
The time is Sengoku. 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. This is the story of a lord and his retainer — and their quest to restore balance to a nation on the edge.
The anime is directed by Kenichi Kutsuna (storyboarder and director for Magical Destroyers, Vlad Love [“Mitsugu” Version], and The Fire Hunter‘s opening animations) at Qzil.la. Other staff include scriptwriter Takuya Sato (selector infected WIXOSS director, Fate/stay night series composer), character designer Takahiro Kishida (Haikyu!!, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Golden Wind), and background art director Yuji Kaneko (Tengoku Daimakyo).
The principal cast includes Daisuke Namikawa as Sekiro (also known as Wolf), Miyuki Sato as the Divine Heir Kuro, and Kenjiro Tsuda as Genichiro Ashina. They, and Ito, are reprising their roles from the game.
When Sekiro: No Defeat was revealed in August 2025, there were accusations that AI was used in the anime’s production, due to some viewers’ perception of its visuals and Qzil.la’s interest in the controversial technology. A few days later, Qzil.la issued a statement denying the use of generative AI for the anime, which was already advertised as being “fully hand-drawn” at the time of announcement.
The studio has also seemingly made efforts to distance itself from AI publicly — its website no longer mentions AI as one of the new technologies it’s making use of, while its presentation for the 3rd Niigata International Animation Film Festival’s AI-themed forum has been scrubbed from the festival’s website. The description for the latter mentioned that Qzil.la was working on a TV “cel animation” titled The Ideal Sponger Life (Riso no Himo Seikatsu) and was using AI for around 60% of the animation.
Sekiro: No Defeat is set to begin screening in Japan for three weeks on September 4 before getting a streaming release sometime this year. Crunchyroll will exclusively stream the anime outside of Japan, China, Korea, Russia, and Belarus.
Production credits
• Director: Kenichi Kutsuna
• Scriptwriter: Takuya Sato (selector infected WIXOSS director, Fate/stay night series composer)
• Character Designer: Takahiro Kishida (Haikyu!!, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Golden Wind)
• Deputy director: Shunsuke Fukui (Magical Destroyers opening animation production cooperation, Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! Episode 2 co-director)
• Chief animation director: Kaito Moki
• Action animation director: Takashi Mukoda (Run With the Wind co-main animator)
• Background art director: Yuji Kaneko (Tengoku Daimakyo)
• Color designer: Azusa Sasaki (Lycoris Recoil)
• Compositing director: Keisuke Nozawa (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-)
• Sound director: Yasuhiro Nagura (Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc)
• Music composer: Shuta Hasunuma
• Produce: ARCH
• Animation production: Qzil.la
Source: Sekiro: No Defeat anime website
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