Sekiro: No Defeat anime offers lush, bloody trailer

Sekiro: No Defeat adapts FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice into an anime produced by Arch, Qzil.la and Studio Betta. A new trailer unveiled at SXSW gives a longer, more emotional look at the series, which is a Crunchyroll exclusive slated to stream sometime in 2026.

The footage emphasizes a lush, hand-drawn 2D style and leans into the game’s death-and-rebirth conceit. It also assembles a greatest-hits reel of boss confrontations recreated in animation — The Owl, Gyoubu Oniwa, Genichiro Ashina, the Corrupted Monk and the Folding Screen Monkeys — and appears willing to retain the game’s blood and violence.

Set in a fractured Japan, the story centers on Ashina. Two decades after Sword Saint Isshin Ashina reclaimed the region, a new threat arises from the Interior Ministry; Genichiro, Isshin’s grandson, turns to forbidden powers. The only hope lies in a kidnapped boy, the Divine Heir, and his silent protector, a shinobi known only as Sekiro.

Japan, Ashina

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