There are some things that just wouldn’t appear on your bingo card under any circumstances, and Netflix hiring one of the gnarliest mavericks in the whole of cinema to oversee an anime-inspired video game adaptation with a supernatural samurai flavor is definitely one of them.
And yet, here we are, with the streaming service having dropped the first trailer for Onimusha, boasting Takashi Miike acting as supervising director. A figure every bit as polarizing as he is controversial, the filmmaker’s back catalogue covers almost every genre under the sun, ranging from acclaimed epics and family comedies to some of the most disturbing things ever committed to celluloid.
Adapted from the long-running Capcom console series of the same name, the focus of Netflix’s Onimusha is Miyamoto Musashi, a character modeled after Japanese legend and George Lucas’ first choice for Obi-Wan Kenobi, Toshiro Mifune. Setting off on a covert mission to eradicate demons as one does, the series will use cutting-edge 3D models against hand-drawn backgrounds for a unique and immersive viewing experience.
Whether or not you’re a fan of Miike, anime, or the video game franchise itself, it’s hard to deny that it doesn’t look anything less than spectacular, which was probably to be expected given the unexpected sum of its parts – and that even extends to a theme song from Eurovision Song Contest winners Måneskin, no less.
Onimiusha‘s first trailer also confirms a release date of Nov. 2, where you can guarantee fans and the curious alike will be sure to check it out in their numbers.