Official Fantasia synopsis from program notes written by Rupert Bottenberg:
The Divine Heir of the sacred land of Ashina has been kidnapped for malevolent purposes. His sworn protector, the stoic shinobi Sekiro, must rescue the child—the fate of all Ashina depends on it. Adapting SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE, the award-winning video game released by FromSoftware in 2019, the highly anticipated anime adventure SEKIRO: NO DEFEAT sees the war-torn Japan of the Sengoku period further fractured by conspiracy, betrayal, and bloody boss battles to beggar belief.
Review
Genre film aficionados, the Japanese anime combining supernatural elements and shinobi swordplay that you have been hoping for has arrived in the form of director Kenichi Kutsuna’s Sekiro: No Defeat (Japan, 2026). Having never played the video game that is the original source for this anime, I can only view this feature as a stand-alone film. The animation is gorgeous, the storytelling is both classic and timeless, and the Japanese voice actors deliver brilliantly.
Give me hand-drawn animation every time — and Sekiro: No Defeat does just that, and beautifully. Kutsuna, and cowriters Takuya Sato, Kei Suezawa, and Shunsuke Fukui have crafted a thoroughly engaging work that embraces the Japanese storytelling tradition of the warrior who acts out of honor and adds original spins to that element.
Wolf (voice actor: Daisuke Namikawa) is unyielding in his allegiance to protect youthful Lord Kuro (voice actor: Miyuki Satou) from the evil, deadly plans of clan leader Genichiro (voice actor: Kenjiro Tsuda). This is only the beginning of the intrigue and dramatic heft that Sekiro: No Defeat holds. Although not hard horror, there is a strong supernatural element and plenty of bloodshed.
If you are an animation devotee, Japanese action film fan, or a cinephile who appreciates a good occult tale, you owe it to yourself to put Sekiro: No Defeat on your need-to-see list.
Sekiro: No Defeat screens as part of Fantasia 2026, which runs July 16–August 2 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
