The New Ghost of Tsushima Anime Has A Huge Star Wars Connection

Ghost of Tsushima fans will be eating good over the next few years. A sequel to the samurai game is coming out, John Wick director Chad Stahelski is developing a live-action adaptation, and an anime based on the franchise is now in the works too.

PlayStation Productions is partnering with Crunchyroll, Aniplex, and Sony Music to produce Ghost of Tsushima: Legends. The anime will be based on the original Sucker Punch game and its co-op add-on, also subtitled Legends. While loosely based on Japanese folk tales, Ghost of Tsushima is more reminiscent of open-world games like Red Dead Redemption. It also reinterprets real-life events, planting players in the thick of the 13th-century Mongol invasion of Japan. The game follows Jin Sakai, a samurai warrior who forges a new fighting style — “the way of the ghost” — to protect the island of Tsushima.

Ghost of Tsushima debuted in the summer of 2020 and wasted no time cementing itself as one of the best games of its era. That it’s managed to score two adaptations in five years isn’t much of a surprise, but it’s still an exciting development for fans, especially since both the upcoming film and the anime are in such good hands.

While Stahelski develops his take on Ghost of Tsushima, Crunchyroll is assembling a dream team of its own. The studio has already found a director for its anime adaptation in Takanobu Mizuno. That name may be familiar to Star Wars fans: Mizuno directed the first installment of Star Wars: Visions, “The Duel,” with animation studio Kamikaze Douga.

Kamikaze Douga is a relatively new studio, but its reputation is growing fast. Established in 2003, it’s perhaps best known for its contribution to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Kamikaze Douga blends 3D animation with a more traditional 2D style, crafting visuals that feel classic yet surreal. The studio — and Mizuno — got a major boost with Visions, which translated Star Wars iconography to feudal Japan. Both “The Duel” and Ghost of Tsushima take cues from classic samurai films, so it’ll be interesting to see how Mizuno handles a more straightforward, historically-inspired anime.

Wherever Mizuno decides to take the property, there’s no doubt that the Ghost of Tsushima anime will look fantastic. It may be a while before we see the fruits of his labor, but at least we know the new adaptation will look stunning.