Sekiro: No Defeat Review: Two Hours of a Story That’s Missing Half Its Tale

Sekiro: No Defeat is a two-hour anime film that tries to compress a sprawling action game into a single sitting, and it mostly fails. The Verge has reviewed the theatrical version, which premiered at Fantasia Film Festival and recently released in Japanese cinemas, and the verdict is harsh: the movie is a muddled mess that rushes through its story while leaving out essential details.

The film adapts the 2019 game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which sent a one-armed samurai named Wolf across ancient Japan to protect the young heir Kuro from a plot to raise an undead army. The game blended fast swordplay with a tightly constructed story about loyalty and immortality. The anime adaptation keeps the same bones but strips away much of what made the original work.

Visual Style

The film’s strongest asset is its visual style. The Verge describes the animation as painterly and abstract, drawing on ukiyo-e and sumi-e art traditions. These styles were used by Japanese artists to capture moments and recall memories of the past, giving the film a washed-out appearance that feels like a legend passed down through generations.

That ambition is real. The movie is not a faithful recreation of the game’s gritty battles; it is a distinct take on the world, and it shows.

Three Paths

The Verge frames the film’s approach within a broader set of options for adapting games to anime. A game-to-anime adaptation can follow one of three paths:

1. Recapture the interactive experience — like Takashi Miike’s Ace Attorney adaptation.
2. Tell a new story in an established universe — like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
3. Reshape and enhance the existing story — the path taken by Sekiro: No Defeat.

Sekiro: No Defeat chose the third path. It alters the story for viewing rather than active participation, which means cutting away the parts that only worked in a game.

Missing Backstory

The biggest problem is backstory. In the game, the bond between Wolf and Kuro gets room to breathe between battles. The film, by contrast, compresses a game that lasts many times longer into a two-hour runtime. That compression means the movie can only touch on a few perspectives, and the scenes that would tie everything together are left out.

The Verge notes that the film spends significant time with Wolf and Kuro, but these moments feel like vignettes without the connective tissue that would make them cohere. Action takes a backseat, and when it appears, it lacks impact.

Battles That Pass Too Quickly

When battles do happen, they are over too quickly. The Verge observes that fights rarely last more than a minute, and they seldom feel like a threat before the enemies are sliced down. The animation can be impressive technically, but it lacks gravitas.

This is a particular problem because the game’s action was one of its strengths. The film’s version feels rushed and diluted, losing the sense of weight that defined the original’s sword clashes.

Confusion for New Viewers

If you are not familiar with the game, much of the story beyond Wolf and Kuro’s relationship will feel confusing. The Verge writes that the film’s compressed narrative leaves out backstory for the antagonists, so each enemy feels less established and just as easily defeated as the last.

For viewers who know the game, the issue is worse. The film presents an inferior rather than alternative version of a story they already love. It is especially disappointing given the potential to pay homage to Japanese samurai cinema and anime.

The Limited Series

The version The Verge reviewed is the theatrical film. But the global release on Crunchyroll later this year will not be this film. It will be a limited series, which will inevitably change the pacing of the story.

It is impossible to say whether the series will address the missing backstory and inconsistent pacing. The series should have more time to breathe, so it may include the explanations that tie everything together. We will not know for certain until the series releases on the service at a later date.

Representative Work

The film is considered representative of the team’s work on adapting Sekiro to anime. As a film, it feels like it is missing half a story, with a result that is unlikely to please anyone.

The Rare High Moments

The Verge acknowledges that there are rare moments when everything comes together. But those moments merely remind viewers of what could have been, rather than delivering something truly satisfying.

What Fans Should Expect

The theatrical film is a mixed bag, and it is unlikely to win over fans of the game. The series, however, offers a second chance. With more episodes to work with, it may be able to fix the pacing and backstory problems that plague the film.

The anime adaptation of Sekiro was always going to be a challenge. Compressing a game into a single film is difficult, and the theatrical version shows some of the problems that come with it. It is a muddled mess that fails to capture the soul of the original.

For now, the two-hour version is a disappointment. The painterly visuals are striking, but the story is hollow. Fans of the game will likely want to wait for the series to see if the creators can redeem the adaptation.

See the video the story is built around at Kotaku.

Anime · FromSoftware · game adaptation · movie review · Sekiro