SEKIRO: NO DEFEAT expands into an eight-episode TV series in January 2027
The film now in Japanese theaters is an edited cut of a TV anime that will air weekly from January with scenes the movie left out; Crunchyroll will stream it.
Audiences who caught SEKIRO: NO DEFEAT in Japanese cinemas this month saw only part of it. The official site has revealed that the anime was conceived from the start as an eight-episode television series, and that the full version will air weekly beginning in January 2027, rebuilt around the film's storyline with new episodes, scenes and cuts added. A fresh key visual accompanied the news, and Crunchyroll will stream the series, though an exact date has not been given.
Producer ARCH explained that as work progressed, the team wanted people to experience the hand-drawn visuals and sound on a big screen first, so an edited theatrical version went out ahead of the broadcast. The company apologized for not telling viewers sooner that the release was "an edited version" and that a TV series existed. The film opened on September 4 and placed ninth at the box office over its first weekend; its originally planned three-week engagement has since been extended.
The project adapts FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, released on March 22, 2019. Kenichi Kutsuna directs at Qzil.la, with KADOKAWA and ARCH also producing, Takuya Satou writing and Shuta Hasunuma composing. Daisuke Namikawa voices the shinobi Wolf, Miyuki Satou plays the Divine Heir Kuro, and Kenjiro Tsuda is Genichiro Ashina. Qzil.la's involvement had prompted questions online about AI use, which led the production to state officially that "no generative AI" is being used.
