{"id":52643,"date":"2025-10-03T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=52643"},"modified":"2025-10-02T18:19:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:19:56","slug":"capcoms-decision-to-make-onimusha-way-of-the-swords-protagonist-musashi-miyamoto-was-actually-in-consideration-of-global-audiences-devs-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/capcoms-decision-to-make-onimusha-way-of-the-swords-protagonist-musashi-miyamoto-was-actually-in-consideration-of-global-audiences-devs-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Capcom\u2019s decision to make Onimusha: Way of the Sword\u2019s protagonist Musashi Miyamoto was actually in consideration of global audiences, devs say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>After a 20-year-long hiatus, <strong>Onimusha: Way of The Sword<\/strong> will be the first new mainline entry in Capcom\u2019s iconic action series since 2006\u2019s Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. With a release scheduled for 2026, the upcoming game will follow the story of legendary samurai Musashi Miyamoto, exploring a dark-fantasy-inspired Edo period Japan. In a joint media interview attended by AUTOMATON, director Satoru Nihei and producer Akihito Kadowaki talked about why they decided to base Onimusha\u2019s new protagonist on the real-life Musashi Miyamoto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Onimusha: Way of the Sword - 4th Trailer: Musashi&#039;s Story | PS5 Games\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IDjdrNEz8tQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo be completely honest, at the beginning of development, we didn\u2019t plan to have Musashi Miyamoto as the protagonist. The main character was supposed to be a \u2018nameless samurai.\u2019 However, since we were aiming to expand to the global market, we wanted to make the most appealing parts of the game easier to convey. After consulting with Nihei, I came to the decision to borrow the name of the legendary Musashi Miyamoto,\u201d Kadowaki explained.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems like the shift from an unknown warrior to one of the most well-known samurai in history perfectly fit Capcom\u2019s idea to make the new Onimusha <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/onimusha-way-of-the-sword-will-launch-without-differences-between-regions-we-want-everyone-to-have-the-same-experience-director-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201ca game that everybody on the globe can enjoy\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251002-526430001.jpg\" alt=\"Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Musashi Miyamoto\" class=\"wp-image-52645\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251002-526430001.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251002-526430001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251002-526430001-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe recognize him as an extremely popular figure. He appears as a character in numerous eminent works of fiction, and The Book of Five Rings, which he wrote, has been translated and is being read overseas,\u201d Kadowaki explained. Anyone with even a little interest in Japanese culture and history has heard of the name Musashi Miyamoto at least once, and the devs at Capcom hoped that having the legendary samurai as the protagonist could make the title more approachable for new players outside Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a related note, after settling for Miyamoto as the main character, Nihei turned to Japanese classical cinema in order to find an actor whose appearance would match the legendary samurai\u2019s demeanor \u2013 and eventually settled for late actor Toshiro Mifune, an international star best known for his roles in many critically acclaimed Kurosawa films. From there, it took <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/capcom-spent-2-years-trying-to-get-permission-to-use-toshiro-mifunes-likeness-in-onimusha-way-of-the-sword\/\">Capcom 2 whole years just to get permission to use Mifune\u2019s likeness as Miyamoto<\/a>, but according to Nihei and Kadowaki, it was definitely worth the wait.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Onimusha: Way of the Sword is scheduled to release in 2026 for PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2638890\/Onimusha_Way_of_the_Sword\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>), PS5, and Xbox Series X\u2758S.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/onimusha-way-of-the-sword-is-not-a-soulslike-and-not-open-world-director-says-instead-it-expands-on-what-the-series-is-known-for\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Onimusha: Way of the Sword is \u201cnot a soulslike and not open-world,\u201d director says. Instead, it expands on what the series is known for<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/onimushas-almost-20-year-hiatus-was-caused-by-a-lack-of-resources-as-capcom-stretched-out-its-assets-across-multiple-ips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Onimusha\u2019s almost 20-year hiatus was caused by a lack of resources as Capcom stretched out its assets across multiple IPs\u00a0<br><\/strong><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/onimusha-way-of-the-sword-is-not-a-soulslike-and-not-open-world-director-says-instead-it-expands-on-what-the-series-is-known-for\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><br><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an interview with AUTOMATON, Onimusha: Way of the Sword&#8217;s producer reveals why Musashi Miyamoto was chosen as the new game&#8217;s protagonist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":52644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-52643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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