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Konami’s upcoming animated adaptation of Suikoden II is taking a unique approach by using the company’s game development technology to create the anime. The show, titled “Suikoden: The Anime,” will air in 2026. In a recent interview with Famitsu, key staff members shared how they’re combining gaming tech with traditional animation methods. Suikoden series producer Rui Naito explained that Konami Animation’s main advantage is using game technology for anime production.
“The motion capture room we used for this project is a part of the company’s facilities originally intended for game development,” Naito said. He added that while Konami has built up a lot of tech knowledge through making games, figuring out how to use it for anime is challenging.
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“Suikoden : The Anime”
Coming in 2026!
Second image visual released!
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿◢KONAMI presents
The anime adaptation of the RPG Suikoden (@Suikoden) is set to air in 2026!
The anime will depict the world of Suikoden II.The second image… pic.twitter.com/ePs7g41UVK
— アニメ「幻想水滸伝」公式X (@Suikoden_anime) August 5, 2025
The production team is using two main technologies from Konami Animation. The first is 3D CG for testing camera work. This lets them try out different scenes in 3D without limits on how the camera moves, making the anime world feel more immersive. After testing in 3D, they create the final version as hand-drawn animation. The second technology is motion capture previsualization. The team records real actors’ movements and uses those recordings to help plan storyboards and decide how scenes should look and play out.
Producer Ryo Hino described the anime as a “hybrid of 3D and 2D hand-drawn animation.”
To make this work, Konami hired Hideki Sugiguchi, a stuntman who has done motion capture and stunt work for games like Dragon Quest XI, Final Fantasy VII Remake, NieR: Automata, and the Yakuza series. The anime staff also gets help from Konami’s game development team. In addition, the game developers check the story and make sure all details match up correctly.
However, the team knows that many people might discover Suikoden for the first time through the anime. Because of this, they’re not making an exact copy of the game’s story. While keeping the main story elements the same, Konami wants to make an anime that’s easy for newcomers to understand and enjoy.
