Ahead of the game’s release date on March 20th, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is unveiling two new animated shorts exclusively on Crunchyroll News. The animations by Sato Creative transport viewers to a vivid world based in feudal Japan, showcasing principal characters, Yasuke — a samurai based in historical legend — and Naoe, a stealthy and agile shinobi. The shorts give a brief look into the characters’ origin stories as the scene is set for a tale of vengeance, renewed purpose and shared destiny in the backdrop of the Iga Province.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows marks more than 17 years of the long-standing Assassin’s Creed franchise. The game promises to give both Yasuke and Naoe equal narrative stake in the game, as well as allow the player the ability to swap between the contrasting play styles of both protagonists.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Naoe Animated Short
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Yasuke Animated Short
Creative Director Jérôme Perrillat Collomb, shared some of his inspirations and influences while working on the project:
I grew up in a generation deeply influenced by Japanese games, anime and movies. For these short films, my most direct inspirations were directors Kawajiri Yoshiaki and Kurosawa Akira. Our goal was to create a cinematic visual style with striking compositions and bold shadows on the characters. I wanted to bring a sense of elegance and refinement to the imagery, emphasizing atmosphere and contrast.
Research is essential when working on a project like this, and it’s something I genuinely enjoy. While creating these films, I spent a lot of time watching sword-training videos as well as classic samurai and ninja films to ensure authenticity in movement and atmosphere.
Creating an animated film requires an immense amount of drawings — it’s a huge undertaking! I hope players will appreciate the attention to detail and the care we put into making these films visually compelling. At one point, I chose to work in animation over video games, so having the opportunity to merge these two old passions again was truly exciting. It felt like coming full circle in a way!
Axelle Munier, the project’s Production Director shared this:
With Jérôme as the director, his cinematic and anime influences naturally shaped the project. He drew inspiration from films like Yojimbo to craft its visual and narrative style. Our creative approach was to bring a true cinematic feel to the animation, moving away from traditional comic-style visuals to create striking, iconic scenes.
From the moment the project was introduced, we were excited. The opportunity to honor Japanese culture while bringing a bold artistic vision felt like a thrilling challenge. When Naoe takes out the guards in the corridor, that’s kind of our way of tackling work – quick and efficient, but with less ninja skills and more coffee! 😀
Working on animation is always a unique experience. We aimed to push the craft to the highest level and create something that resonates emotionally. I hope players and viewers feel fully immersed in this world and connect with the character that speaks to them the most.
Ubisoft’s Creative Designer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Jonathan Dumont, reflects on his work with the game:
The work done for AC Shadows has been influenced by countless, Anime, books and movies such as Kagemusha, 13 Assassins, Zatoichi, the Ballad of Narayama, Sekigahara, the studio Ghibli collection, Berserk, One Piece, Ninja Scroll and more.
While the story of AC Shadows covers a theme of Vengence, it pairs it with the duality of compassion, the importance of community and honoring your word and elders. Which often introduces contradictions or complexity. The creative direction was to navigate nuances of a world at war, to get different perspectives on events, characters, motivations and to not treat it as a black & white canvas.
What I love about the Assassin’s Creed series is that it offers a gateway to learning while entertaining players. We aim at making credible worlds that transports players in time through our work of fiction. Making AC Shadows was a tremendous learning experience in trying to create a world and story that immerses players in Azuchi Momoyama Japan. Every day we learned something new. It’s quite a humbling experience and we hope players will be able to feel the care and effort we put into bringing this amazing setting to life as journey with Naoe and Yasuke.
