Recently, Netflix finally announced the long-rumored second Witcher anime film Sirens of the Deep. It is adapted from Andrzej Sapkowski’s fan-favorite short story, A Little Sacrifice. Although they haven’t revealed a specific release date yet, it is expected to premiere sometime in late 2024.
Additionally, Netflix revealed that Doug Cockle, who voices Geralt in The Witcher games, will voice the character in the upcoming film too. Similarly, Joey Batey and Anya Chalotra will be seen returning from the live-action Witcher series to lend their voices to Jaskier and Yennefer, respectively. The new anime film will also have Christina Wren play the role of Essi Daven. Notably, the character of Essi has never before appeared in mainstream media apart from the original Witcher books.
Netflix revealed all these details during Geeked Week 2023, where they also launched an announcement teaser.
The synopsis of the anime stated that in the film Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster hunter is seen recruited to investigate a range of attacks in a seaside village. He eventually finds himself drawn into a centuries-old conflict between humans and merpeople. It further mentions that Geralt must rely on his friends to solve the mystery ahead of the hostilities between the two kingdoms escalate into all-out war.
Fans recall The Witcher show
The upcoming Sirens of the Deep anime film has reportedly been on the cards for a long time. The film was also subtly teased secretly in The Witcher Season 3 through a song also called A Little Sacrifice, sung by Ciri (Freya Allen). The song described the short story’s tale despite it not having anything to do with the main events of the show.
As soon as the movie was announced, fans were reminded of the failure of Season 3 of The Witcher Show, which was released in July this year. Fans started expressing what Netflix did with the show. A user ‘Spork Enthusiast’ wrote, “Netflix has soiled the entire franchise with their awful show.”
Netflix has officially announced a new The Witcher anime film, Sirens of the Deep, with Doug Cockle returning as the voice of Geralt. https://t.co/pH3F91yWNg pic.twitter.com/po7PsKxwhO
— IGN (@IGN) November 10, 2023
Similarly, another user named ‘AggroMatt’ wrote, “So they fuck over Henry, and now that they see their ratings for Witcher dropping after the only person keeping the show together gets fucked over, they make an anime series to hide their flop. Sounds about right.”
Several fans even expressed their concern that Netflix often ruins the plot of the anime by diverging away from the main plot of the original anime. Nonetheless, fans and critics are worried alike about how this new movie adaption will turn out, considering Netflix’s past history with the adaptations of The Witcher.