As Capcom gets closer to the 2026 release of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, director Satoru Nihei and producer Akihito Kadowaki have revealed details about the decision behind using Musashi Miyamoto – as played by actor Toshiro Mifune – as the protagonist. In an interview with Automaton Media, Nihei and Kadowaki revealed that original plans didn’t include Miyamoto as the game’s protagonist.
Rather, Kadowaki said that the decision was made because Capcom wanted to target a global audience with Onimusha: Way of the Sword. To do this, the developers decided to go with one of the most famous real-world samurais in history.
“To be completely honest, at the beginning of development, we didn’t plan to have Musashi Miyamoto as the protagonist,” said Kadowaki. “The main character was supposed to be a ‘nameless samurai.’ 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.”
Kadowaki noted that, since Miyamoto was “an extremely popular figure” owing to depictions of the person through a host of different media, including movies, having him as the game’s protagonist could potentially make it more accessible for non-Japanese players.
“We 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,” Kadowaki explained.
As for going with Mifune’s depiction of Musashi Miyamoto, Nihei said that he went with classical depictions of the person throughout Japanese cinema. The team eventually settled for Mifune thanks to his appearance and overall demeanour when playing the role of Miyamoto, which matched up with what the studio wanted out of the character.
Nihei and Kadowaki had previously spoken about the trouble that was involved with getting the rights to use Mifune’s likeness for Onimusha: Way of the Sword. The duo revealed that, overall, it took Capcom two years to get Mifune’s likeness right, while also confirming that development on the game had started all the way back in at least 2020.
“There are already many portrayals of Musashi Miyamoto’s character out there,” said Kadowaki. “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.”
Mifune’s depiction of Miyamoto was confirmed to be the protagonist of Onimusha: Way of the Sword when the game got a trailer back in February. The trailer showed off a host of things from the game, including its combat system, as well as its use of the series’ traditional Japanese setting.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2026. For more details, check out a video featuring the full playthrough of the game’s demo from Gamescom 2025. Also check out the trailer from last month.
