Onimusha

Netflix's "Onimusha" brilliantly melds lovecraftian horror with jaw-dropping samurai action, through a marvellously bloody journey which follows an aging samurai whose on a quest to put an end to the demon scourge that plagues Japan. Whilst grappling with his physical decline, legendary samurai Musashi Miyamoto must harness the power of dark forces to combat the evil wreaking havoc against the backdrop of the Sengoku period. Under the guidance of supervising director Takashi Miike, known for audacious and bloody work, the series goes above and beyond in delivering brutal violence, but in beautiful fashion. What sets "Onimusha" apart is its exceptional animation, seamlessly blending 2D and 3D, creating a visual masterpiece that shatters preconceptions and elevates the series to a calibre of the highest level. It offers a gripping and multi-dimensional experience, particularly for those who appreciate the beauty and ferocity of samurai stories and animated horror, "Onimusha" stands as a triumphant must-watch, and another top notch animated game adaptation to add to Netflix's rapidly growing collection.

I am beyond surprised that Capcom actually gave Onimusha to a team that cares about the source material that they are adapting. This, in my opinion, is an amazing adaptation with superbly choreographed fight scenes and plenty of likable character moments.

The only shred of hope I had for this adaptation came from the fact that Takashi Miike was at the helm of the production as director and he is most likely the reason why action scenes look as amazing as they do. I think on its own, the show is still good, but as an adaptation of Onimusha, it is great.

Animation: To start it off I don't think a lot of people will be fond of the CGI. I had no problem with it because the hand-drawn backgrounds looked amazing and so did all of the fights. There are so many genuinely epic shots and camera angles used here, both in and out of action sequences.

Also, the art style is just super on point, there are some areas where the color grading straight made me feel like I was watching a video of one of the games, especially when it comes to the backgrounds. If they were given a bigger budget I am sure the animation quality would've been 10/10, but it is still great imo.

Story: The story is fairly basic, it just follows Musashi and his companions while they go on an adventure and face various foes along the way. I think many people would rather love to see an adaptation focusing on Samanosuke or Jubei, but what we have here is genuinely good and can be treated as its own "game" because it perfectly fits into the Onimusha franchise.

Character: As I briefly mentioned earlier, the anime focuses on Musashi traveling with a bunch of other characters as they go on an adventure. All of these characters get a lot of time to shine and akin to most of the games all of these are very memorable; I would argue that the show even has some of the best characters in the series.

Conclusion: Amazing action sequences, really likable characters, respect for the source material, & stellar choreography all make this an easy 8/10 for me and as a Capcom adaptation this is like a 9/10 lol, because they never give their IPs to people who care. I hope that this means we might be getting another Onimusha game sometimes in the future.

I was really looking forward to watching this Anime and I am so happy I was not disappointed... I would even go so far as to say blown away by how good it was.

The artwork was amazing; even if CGI was used, it somehow added to the wonderful style, rather than take anything away; which we all know is not easy to do!

Charactures were well created, powerful, or loveable and cheery, or of course, loathsome depending on how you should feel about them.

Voices and music were fantastic... did not skip a single line of credits.

Story was a bit short, meaning I want MORE! But what was there was well paced and exciting. I could totally see myself easily delving into several more seasons and see some of the charactures grow a little more than they did.

Basically a wonderful stand alone with minor similarities to another mind blowing Korean series, Kingdom; but with its own soul and personality.

I definitely recommend this series, with a total score of 8.8.

I have played hundreds of single player games but never touched the Onimusha games. So i can't compare this adaptation on how faithful it is to the Capcom games. So coming unfamiliar to the lore and story i am generally pleasantly surprised about how good the anime turned out with just a few minor flaws.

Overall i liked this show way more than Castlevania Nocturne which i watched recently too. And the reasons are many. This show had extremely well written dialogues, the pacing was right and the protagonist was very intriguing and grounded. The art style was also fine to me. Nothing spectacular but i didn't have a problem with it at all. It felt unique on its own. It was like watching different sets of paintings. Like it was hand drawn art style and animation. Different doesn't mean bad. The rest of the characters besides Musashi were also quite good, with each one having different personality, motive and skills. The fantasy elements in the show was also done in a way that it didn't feel bloated and it balanced the realistic action fights very well. The action felt 90% on point with only in a few occasions becoming over the top. But i also have to point out some flaws too.

First flaw for me was that the villains were not interesting. The reason is that half of them either didn't have clear motives and backstories for them to care about, or their characters were simply very straightforward and one dimensional. Second flaw for me was that the show didn't took the time to explain some of the lore and mythical elements such as the gauntlet's origins, who made it and when, how Musashi knows about it to begin with and wanted it so badly that he fought countless men risking his life to obtain it and how the monks gave it so easily based on how valuable it was. I would also have liked to see the history and the conflict from flashbacks of the gods of this universe (Oni Vs Genma) and what each one represents with their different powers. A backstory through flashbacks of Musashi when he was young fighting through duels and wars, his training and upbringing and how he became the best swordsman would have been cool to see too, even if it was for a couple of minutes. This would be such a cool idea for a prequel series without having to rely on fantasy elements and the show would work just as good or better in my opinion because Musashi was a very well written character with a great voice actor.

Overall i am satisfied with the show, because it had most of the things i asked for. Great action, art style, voice acting, writing and pacing all amazing with only flaws being the villains and the very little explanation of the fantasy elements, powers and gods of this world. Feudal Japan is such a cool concept to adapt into live action, anime or games that i really hope the trend continues. I look forward to the Shogun live action Remake TV show, Ghost of Tsusima movie but most above all i look forward for the Sekiro anime adaptation that was announced just a couple of months ago. It is very similar in concept to Onimusha . If it has that kind of passion like these creators showed in this show with just higher production values it can easily be one of the greatest animes of all time. The Fromsoftware game that won Game of the year 2019 is still considered one of the greatest action games of all time and one of my favorite games.

Another alternate history anime that came out in late 2023. Unlike "Blue Eye Samurai", however, "Onimusha" is not as well-polished though it is still entertaining but limited in its very Japanese-style of storytelling, such as too much exposition.

The Good: I do like this version of MIyamoto Musashi in anime. He's flawed, but he's got skill and determination, and he's smart and honorable (in his own way), which makes him the best samurai for his time - and in all of Japanese history and even fantasy versions.

The Bad: It's not a bad anime, but it falls far short of being excellent due to some major technical issues that cannot be overlooked. Chiefly, the story and plot are a bit disjointed and nonsensical, characters are not that well developed, and the dialogue not all that great either. And then there's an annoying kid.

Overall, it's a serviceable anime and a lot better than most that are out there. But compared to the very best ones, such as "Blue Eye Samurai" its flaws become very evident. Still worth a watch.