* Image is for illustrative purposes only.SEKIRO: Shadows Die Twice
A Sengoku-era action game released by FromSoftware in 2019. Centered on two iconic blades—Kusabimaru, companion to the protagonist Sekiro, and Mortal Blade, which holds the narrative's key—it weaves a richly detailed world of shinobi and samurai. The game reproduces Japanese sword combat with remarkable precision as core gameplay, inspiring worldwide gaming enthusiasts to discover authentic swordsmanship and Japanese blade culture.
Description
Overview of the Work
SEKIRO: Shadows Die Twice (hereafter, Sekiro) is an action-adventure game released by FromSoftware, known for the Dark Souls series, in March 2019. It won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2019. Its setting is a dark fantasy world that reinterprets late Sengoku-period Japan. The protagonist is a shinobi named Sekiro, who guards a young lord with immortal blood, and he fights using prosthetic shinobi tools on his arm and two swords.
Realism of Swordsmanship
The greatest feature of Sekiro is its combat system, which faithfully recreates Japanese sword fighting to the limits of modern game technology. Where conventional action games aim to whittle down an enemy's hit points with a blade, Sekiro's combat is built on breaking the opponent's posture, or core stance. This is an idea that resonates with real swordsmanship and martial arts, where one creates an opening by throwing off the opponent's balance. The blocking and counterattacks with the blade, called "deflection" (hajiki), correspond to the concepts of "parrying" and "striking back" in real swordsmanship. Through this, players naturally come to experience the essence of one-on-one maneuvering with a sword.
Kusabimaru and Mortal Blade
Two swords play a central role in Sekiro: Kusabimaru and Mortal Blade. Kusabimaru is Sekiro's primary weapon, depicted as a battle-honed blade sharpened for a shinobi. Its uchigatana form, with a balance of blade length, curvature, and thickness that maximizes combat practicality, brilliantly embodies the rationality of real battle swords of the Edo period. Mortal Blade is a special sword tied to the core of the story. Its premise of cutting through the power of immortality deeply resonates with the Japanese tradition of sword faith, in which the spiritual power of swords dedicated to gods and buddhas is revered. In Japanese sword culture, swords have long been objects of worship, not mere weapons, but beings in which divine spirits dwell. Mortal Blade can be said to brilliantly embody that tradition within the context of a modern game.
Sengoku Worldview and Swordsmanship Schools
The world of Sekiro is based on the atmosphere of late Sengoku Japan, and at its center is the image of the "ideal swordsman" embodied by Isshin Ashina, the Sword Saint, the strongest samurai. The "Ashina style" (Ashina-ryū) used by Genichirō Ashina is a fictional school, but its technique names and sword-fighting depictions show a strong influence from real swordsmanship schools: Niten Ichi-ryū, Shinkage-ryū, and Jigen-ryū. The diversity of Japanese swordsmanship, with each school having its own stances, techniques, and principles of the blade, is skillfully used in the game's technical presentation. Through the game as a medium, players can experience fragments of the philosophies of these real sword schools.
Global Impact
Sekiro's worldwide success dramatically raised the interest of overseas gamers in Japanese swords and swordsmanship. On social media, countless posts appeared comparing Sekiro gameplay with real iaidō and kendō videos.
Real Swords Featured
Uchigatana and Shinobigatana
Swords used by Sengoku-period shinobi are said to have often been shorter and lighter than the uchigatana of ordinary samurai, with a structure that prioritized mobility. Shorter blades were suited to combat in narrow interiors and among trees, and the "shinobi blade" concept embodied by Kusabimaru in Sekiro overlaps with this image of shinobi swords.
Jigen-ryū
A swordsmanship school transmitted mainly in Satsuma domain. Its founder was Tōgō Chūi. Its training involves striking tree trunks (tategi-uchi) with bokuto made of yusu wood, and its sword principle stakes everything on a single initial strike from the tonbo stance. It is said to need no second blow, and it places great emphasis on the destructive power of the first strike. In Sekiro's depiction of Genichirō Ashina's techniques, elements reminiscent of Jigen-ryū's forceful, direct strikes can be seen.
Mortal Blade and Swords Dedicated to Gods and Buddhas
From ancient times, Japan had a custom of dedicating special swords to shrines and temples. Dedicated swords were believed to house divine spirits, and it was widely shared that their power would ward off evil and serve a protective function. Many dedicated swords are still preserved at Kasuga Taisha, Ise Jingū, Atsuta Jingū, and elsewhere, and some are designated National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties. The special spiritual power of Sekiro's Mortal Blade can be interpreted as an adaptation of this tradition of protective and prayer-related swords into modern fantasy.
Shinkage-ryū
A representative swordsmanship school of Japan, founded by Kamiizumi Nobutsuna and established in the Sengoku period. It is known for its philosophy of katsujinken (the life-giving sword), which values subduing an opponent rather than killing them. The Yagyū family served the Tokugawa shogunate and spread the school, which became the leading martial art of the Edo period. The character of Isshin Ashina, the Sword Saint in Sekiro, reflects the Shinkage-ryū ideal of mastering the sword's technique and reaching a spiritual peak. He is depicted not merely as a figure of high combat power but as one who has achieved spiritual completion as a swordsman.
See authentic Japanese swords
See authentic Japanese swordsThis page is intended to introduce Japanese sword culture and is not affiliated with any of the works mentioned.