Onimusha: Way of the Sword was announced at the Game Awards 2024 as a brand-new mainline entry in Capcom’s Onimusha series. While there’s still a bit more than a year until its release in 2026, director Satoru Nihei and producer Akihito Kadowaki suggest that the game has been in production since 2020 (if not even earlier), explaining that it took them 2 whole years just to get permission to use Toshiro Mifune’s likeness as Musashi Miyamoto, the main character of Onimusha: Way of the Sword.
In a recent interview with Game Watch, Kadowaki explained that they had intended to use late actor Mifune as a model for Miyamoto since the beginning of production, however, it took Capcom a very long time to reach an agreement with Mifune Productions. According to Kadowaki, it took them around two years of discussions and they were finally able to officially sign the contract sometime around 2022.
Apparently, the idea behind having Mifune as the face of the upcoming Onimusha game came from Nihei trying to visualize “what it is about samurai that makes them actually cool.” The answer he came up with was the tenacity, seeing them struggle but still keep on fighting till the end – and the only historical figure that matches his idea of a perfect samurai would be Musashi Miyamoto, one of Japan’s most renowned swordsmen. Looking for ideas of how to portray Miyamoto, Nihei turned to Japanese classical cinema. In particular, he was looking for a person that would fit the description of “a young samurai who fights roughly, covered in blood and mud,” which is when he realized Toshiro Mifune would be the perfect candidate. Not only did Mifune play the lead role in the 1954 film Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, but he was also an international star, known for his roles in critically acclaimed Akira Kurosawa movies like Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo etc.
Kadowaki noted that, contrary to previous titles in the Onimusha series, their main goal was not to have Mifune as the “star” of the game, it’s just that they found his appearance and demeanor fitting for the character – which is why they didn’t put much thought into creating actions that would showcase the actor himself. However, there are some bits and pieces they added that bring out the flavor of his acting. Nihei replied that they didn’t really focus on trying to make him look cool during swordfights, but rather on bringing out his personality through his acting, his mannerisms and facial expressions. First and foremost, they wanted to portray a samurai that has real human qualities, and having Mifune as the model for the main character, all the pieces naturally fit together.
“There are already many portrayals of Musashi Miyamoto’s character out there,” Kadowaki explained, listing Sengoku Basara and previous Onimusha series entries as such examples. “That is why, we were very particular about making our new protagonist Musashi into a brand-new character. And in that sense, we were absolutely determined to use Mifune’s face to portray him. With how much we were particular about the details, we are confident that he turned out to be an exceptionally great series protagonist.” Onimusha: Way of the Sword is set to release in 2026 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam).
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