Inner Genichiro |
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| Location | Ashina Reservoir Ashina Castle |
| Status Abnormalities | Shock |
| Useful Tools | Shinobi Firecracker Loaded Axe |
| Reward | Sakura Dance Memory: Inner Genichiro |
Inner Genichiro (心中の弦一郎, Shinjū no Genichiro) is a Boss in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. This Complete Inner Genichiro Boss Guide gives you strategies on how to beat Genichiro easily, as well as tips, tricks and lore notes. This boss is a much stronger variation of Genichiro Ashina (葦名弦一郎, Ashina Genichirou) and is added to the Sekiro Free Update, Patch 1.05. This boss can only be encountered in the new feature, Gauntlets of Strength.
Bosses like Genichiro are special, dangerous Enemies that feature a special display on-screen when defeated, such as "Immortality Severed" or "Shinobi Execution". You will need to perform multiple Deathblows on them in order to defeat them, and filling their Posture Gauge is the only way to accomplish this. However, decreasing their health will make it so their Posture Gauge depletes more slowly, assisting you in accomplishing this feat.
Inner Genichiro General Information
Inner Genichiro is similar to the regular Genichiro but is stronger in several aspects:
- Bigger health and posture pools
- Some new moves:
- 3 circular swipes in mid-air that damage through blocks unless deflected
- A quick follow-up dash and sword strike after firing his bow (Similar to Sekiro's skill Chasing Slice)
- In Phase 2 he will perform a Lightning Reversal on your Lighting Reversal
- A somewhat more aggressive AI: for example, at a distance Inner Genichiro will always punish attempts to heal with a bow attack
Inner Genichiro Location
Where to find Inner Genichiro in Sekiro?
Inner Genichiro is the boss you'll encounter in the following Gauntlets:
Inner Genichiro Rewards
What do you get from defeating Inner Genichiro in Sekiro?
Completing the Gauntlet of Strength: Divine Heir rewards the following:
Inner Genichiro Boss Guide Strategies
Sekiro Inner Genichiro Video Strategies
Sekiro Inner Genichiro Strategy Writeup
For Phase 1, 2 Health Bar: Close the distance between you two and be ready to block as he may start the fight with a bow attack into a slash. For most of Genichiro normal attacks players can alternate from deflect and attacking. When Genichiro uses his flurry of slashes it be best to just deflect to build up his posture gauge. At times Genichiro may leap in the air, stab the ground and follow up a perilous attack: thrust(1 or 2 health bars left) or sweep (only when 1 health bar left). Dodge away when he leaps to gain some distance from him to better guess which perilous attack he will follow up with.
If he comes running towards you and fires an arrow, sidestep and immediately attack. This will interrupt his sword attack and deal health damage. This is one of most reliable ways to chip his health early on.
For Phase 1, 1 Health Bar: Uses similar moves as Phase 1 but chains them differently. Jump attack will now be followed by either slash or thrust (only thrusts during 2 health bar). After the first deathblow players inflict on Genichiro they will gain a moment to quickly attack him. Dash attacks works to chip away some health while Loaded Axe and Ichimonji/Ichimonji Double can inflict posture damage setting up a slight advantage. He will more aggressive with his bow usage so stay close to him at all times. It is recommended to use shinobi firecrackers into regular attack/ichimonji double during this phase to quickly whittle his health and build posture damage.
If you use healing items, he will use a charged bow attack, sidestep immediately after healing.
Phase 2: Genichiro will start the fight with a leaping thrust attack that can be countered. When Genichiro runs into a spinning slash he has I-frames during this animation so you won't be able to stagger him out of this attack. He will follow up with his flurry of slashes so be ready to deflect. If you are hit with his thrust attack be careful as he may shoot you if you roll away or he will attempt to grab you if you roll towards him. When he holds his katana with 2 hands and crouches he will jump and slash with lightning. Jump after you see the warning, and press attack before you land if you get hit by lightning (this will send it back to him dealing tremendous damage and stunning him), however in the Inner Genichiro fight, he will perform a Lightning Reversal on your reversal so you will need to perform it twice. Once you have taken 20% of his health away you can alternate slashes and Shinobi Firecracker. Start with Firecracker, dash R1, R1, firecracker. Using this you can reduce his health 50% or lower and quickly deflect his attacks to posture break him and defeat him.
In this phase, if you use healing items, he will perform a perilous leaping thrust, which will hit you. Be sure to use healing items only when he's already locked into an attacking animation and you are at a safe distance.
If you defeat the boss you will see the writing "SHINOBI EXECUTION" upon the screen.
Strategy 2:
In phase 1 health bar 1 & 2:
The Nightjar Slash Reversal can be used to slowly chip away at his health by using the combat art to close distance slash & slice a second time while moving back to safety. In phase 1 he frequently when cornered against a wall, he will jump up and move into his pierce attach & allow a Mikiri Counter. In phase 2 he often uses a sweep instead so jumping back & using another Nightjar Slash is a safer option.
In phase 2, use an Ako's Sugar at the start & immediately use a Mikiri Counter on his pierce attack. At this point, stepping back & using a health item will trigger his long distance pierce which can also be reliably countered with a Mikiri Counter to quickly fill the posture bar & end the fight. Also, keep an eye & use another Ako's Sugar if needed.
Dark Hand Glitch:
Backing up and taking a swig from your healing gourd will invariably trigger his charged bow attack. If you activate suzakus lotus umbrella as the arrow is already moving, youll deflect the attack. But more baffling is the fact that your prosthetic hand will be enveloped in smoke, hence the name.
Better still, it seems you can stack the effect by cancelling his arrow attacks several times.
There are two known ways of losing this smoke:
- By dying twice
- By using the lilac umbrella attack
Sekiro Inner Genichiro Attacks & Counters
| Attack | Counter |
| Phase 1 | |
| Single & Multi Bow Attack | Occasionally, Genichiro will jump into mid-air and shoot you with his arrows. Can be blocked. |
| Grab Attack | When you get too close to Genichiro and he is not preparing for another attack, he may grab you and cause a lot of damage. |
| Floating Passage | Genichiro's onslaught of slashes is best deflected. |
| Bow attack + Sword slash | Sidestep or block the arrow and immediately attack. It will interrupt his sword attack and deal health damage. |
| Sword attack + Kick | Can block or sidestep. Sidestepping is recommended as the kick can stagger you and Genichiro can follow this combo with a charged bow hit dealing tremendous damage. |
| Phase 2 (Way of Tomoe) | |
| Leaping slam | Block or sidestep and attack immediately after. He is vulnerable after he slams his sword. |
| Electric slash | After the warning, jump in the air. If you are hit by the attack, press attack before you land to deflect electricity back. Does heavy health damage and stuns Genichiro. |
| Electric slam | After the warning, jump in the air. If you are hit by the attack, press attack before you land to deflect electricity back. Does heavy health damage and stuns Genichiro. |
Inner Genichiro Lore
- According to the item Remnant: Genichiro: though born to a peasant family (presumably) during the rebellion led by Isshin of Ashina, Genichiro would end up being adopted into the Ashina clan after the death of his peasant mother. As a member of the clan, he would grow to become one of its greatest swordsmen and most respected leaders, but also seemingly became obsessed with pursuing "heretical arts" in order to save both his country and his mother as time went on.
- Genichiro is the only known pupil of the mysterious Tomoe, a master swordswoman belonging to a clan of the same name. Though whom and what she is largely remains a mystery, the following information is available:
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- If you give Isshin the item Unrefined Sake, he divulges that Tomoe was the one who taught Genichiro both the way of the sword and how to harness lightning--a technique she named, and is widely known as: "The Lightning of Tomoe."
- The item Fragrant Flower Note mentions that: "relatives of the Tomoe once gathered the Fountainhead Fragrance, and arrived at the palace," implying that Tomoe is the name of a clan, and not necessarily the name of one single person.
- The item Page's Diary explains that a Lady Tomoe--who could either be Genichiro's mentor, or someone else from the clan--was both a part of Lord Takeru's court, and that she knew of the Mortal Blade and its supernatural properties. (The diary explains how, after seeing Lord Takeru attempt to cut himself only for the wound to heal, Tomoe says: "Without it, your blood cannot be spilled.")
- The skill Spiral Cloud Passage mentions how Tomoe (most likely the same Tomoe who is Genichiro's mentor) developed the technique by studying the "large eddy of distant cloud forming near the headwaters [of] the Fountainhead Spiral," located in the Fountainhead Palace. (The young master referenced in the rest of the text for the skill could possibly also be Genichiro, as dialogue from Emma suggest that Genichiro spent quite some time training near the Fountainhead Spiral.)
- Similarly, the young master referenced here could also possibly be Takeru, the previous Divine Heir, as Tomoe was said to be Takeru's servant and received the power of Resurrection much like Sekiro did from Kuro. From the Purification Ending, we also know that Tomoe cared deeply about Takeru, which is more fitting to the term: "meant everything for her,".
- The fighting style used by many of the "Mist-" enemies in the Fountainhead Palace, particularly that of the Archers and Swordsmen, directly parallels the attacks and combos used by Genichiro in both of his forms. This suggests (until official names for enemies are known) two things about Genichiro's mentor that might be true: 1) That Tomoe, and by extension the enemies of the Fountainhead Palace, are all members of the same clan (either the Okami or the Tomoe); or, 2) That Tomoe, and the Tomoe "Clan" referenced above, are a clan distinct from the Okami clan.
- At the moment, either view is possible based on our lack of information—while the enemies in the "Mist-" enemies of the Palace all use movesets and wear armor similar to Genichiro, their leader is also named Okami Leader Shizu. At the same time, items that mention either the Tomoe or Okami clan also seem to present both clans are distinct from one another, leading to confusion if Tomoe is just one person, multiple people sharing the same name, a clan in and of itself, or some other kind of Fromsoft lore shenanigans.
- If you give Isshin the item Unrefined Sake, he divulges that Tomoe was the one who taught Genichiro both the way of the sword and how to harness lightning--a technique she named, and is widely known as: "The Lightning of Tomoe."
Inner Genichiro Notes & Trivia
- Voiced by Ray Chase (English), Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese)
- Ray Chase is also known for voicing Artorius Collbrande from the videogame Tales of Berseria; Eve from the videogame Nier: Automata; Puri-Puri Prisoner from the anime One Punch Man; and the Male Freelancer from the videogame Anthem.
- Kenjiro Tsuda is also know for voicing Seto Kaiba from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh!; Atomic Samurai from the anime One Punch Man,; Mikoto Suoh from the anime K; Nagasaki from the anime Devilman Crybaby; Bacchus and Silver Fullbuster from the anime Fairy Tail; Maxi from the videogame Soulcalibur IV; and Zeke from the videogame Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
- Ray Chase is also known for voicing Artorius Collbrande from the videogame Tales of Berseria; Eve from the videogame Nier: Automata; Puri-Puri Prisoner from the anime One Punch Man; and the Male Freelancer from the videogame Anthem.
- The first character in his given name, 弦, gen, means bowstring, while 一郎, ichirou, means first son: a name typically given to first-born sons in a family. (Ironically enough, Genichiro may not be the first born son of the Ashina, as he refers to Isshin as grandfather when speaking about him, which implies that Isshin already had a son when he first adopted Genichiro.)
- If it isn't exactly obvious due to how quickly it happens: the kunai thrown at you when you first beat Genichiro in Ashina Resevoir, which is what allows him to cut off your arm even if you beat him, belongs to one of the Tengu employed by Isshin and/or the Ashina clan.
- An Eavesdropping Opportunity found shortly after the Ashina Castle Sculptor's Idol sees two Senpou Sect Assassins ("Rats") reveal that Genichiro is working with the Sect in order to combat the Interior Ministry.
- When you confront Genichiro at the top of Ashina Castle, particularly eagle-eyed players may be able to spot that during the cinematic where Genichiro is speaking with Kuro, he is looking directly at where one might later find Isshin of Ashina when asked to track the old man down. (This is also where he first refers to Isshin as grandfather.)
- The long combo attack he uses against you is the Floating Passage combat art, the same one used by certain enemies found in Fountainhead Palace.
Inner Genichiro Image Gallery
AnonymousSekiro: "HAHA I reversed your lightning!"
Geni: "HAHA I reversed your lightning reversal!"
Sekiro: "HAHA I reversed your lightning reversal reversal!"
Geni: "NANI?!?!" !SHOCK!
- Anonymous
This is just a copy paste of regular Genichiro guide no info on his new moves.
- Anonymous
Why does this say genichiro is using floating passage? I believe he’s using Sakura dance, that’s why it’s a reward.
- Anonymous
A somewhat more aggressive AI: for example, at a distance Inner Genichiro will always punish attempts to heal with a bow attack
His regular version does the same though... when you heal on his 1st/2nd Phase, he will shoot you with arrow, just side step after you drink instead of deflecting.
- Anonymous
Every time I get to his second phase, I am consistently killed by Sakura dance… huge pain in my Asshina
- Anonymous
So apparently this guy is an all-out improved version created by Wolf. If so, how in the name of Ashina did he find out about Sakura Dance? Isn't it supposed to be some kind of special secret move or something? Even Isshin doesn't have it in his Combat Art Diary that he calls "Mushin". Would be funny if he literally just made it up, created lore and managed to replicate it in the real world. Man reads about Spiral Cloud Passage once and masters it while Genichiro's over here doing a flurry without the shockwaves.
- Anonymous
i am using UXM to unpack sekiro files instead of MOD MANAGER because it doesn't support Sekiro Version 1.06
the sad part is that UXM when it unpacks sekiro i get different types of issues.
for example in Gauntlets of Strength i am able to defeat Gyobou and Lady Butterfly BUT when it comes to Genichiro the place is empty. hes not there.
i tested it without UXM unpack and confirmed that it works fine with vanila Sekiro than unpacked Sekiro.
- Anonymous
Kinda surprised that the challenge version is a improvement on the boss
- Anonymous
If you're struggling with phase 3's lightning BS try aged mist feather. It auto parries it and for some reason he does not try to throw it back
- Anonymous
"dark hand glitch".... This is a feature of the frickin umbrella. You absorb hits and it starts to smoke, even when you put your umbrella away. Use an attack when under the umbrella and it'll discharge for some extra damage....
- Anonymous
Kenjiro Tsuda also voiced Jigen in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
- Anonymous
I beat him, but I never quite figured out how to parry his sakura dance perfectly. Sometimes I'd take chip damage - probably from an imperfect deflect? But you can dodge under the third part of it and either heal or stab him in the butt.
Also fun fact: You have to die once in NG+ to unlock resurrection. I went straight into the gauntlets so I had no resurrections, and died when he had a sliver of posture left. Stupidly frustrating.
- Anonymous
I died a little inside when I realized he had reversed my lightning reversal.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Easiest way to get massive posture and vitality damage against him with almost zero risk - learn the 1-2, 3 timing to parry his Sakura Dance, and once you block or deflect the last hit, immediately go into a fully charged Ichimonji: Double (hold Attack for the first hit instead of tapping it). The first Ichimonji will always connect, and he'll sometimes block the second but take posture damage anyway. Meanwhile, your posture bar will go almost to zero and you can save your spirit emblems for your firecrackers or umbrella. You'll never have to worry about disengaging to refill your posture bar this way and can keep control of the fight the entire time.
Some other commenters below have some really good tips for learning to notice/parry his Sakura Dance windup if you're having trouble with that.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Is it possible to get the Sakura Dance ability, if you just fight Inner Genichoro?
Or do you HAVE to go through the gauntlet to actually obtain it?
When I just fight him without doing the gauntlet, I can get to the 3rd Phase (lightning) with some luck.
But on the gauntlet....
- Anonymous
After being stuck on him for days, I was finally able to put together some tactics that had me winning this battle charmless with little to no healing. If you tend to use sugars often, I definitely recommend using an Ako (or Yashariku if you feel confident) at the start.
All you need are firecrackers. Mist raven is optional.
~ He always starts the fight with Sakura Dance, get the timing down for all 3 hits (1 * 2 * * 3) so you can get his posture bar filled. He will use Sakura dance more often in the final phase, learn to spot the startup and get ready to counter that ****. He will turn and duck and he won't get staggered, that's how you know he's about to Sakura Dance.
~ Be aggressive. The more you attack him, the more his posture bar will fill. He will typically counter with a single slash that can easily be deflected. If he steps back, close the gap quickly and continue attacking so he doesn't use his bow. Be on the lookout for his thrust attack.
~ He is vulnerable to charged/thrust attacks. Dodge to the side when he does his jumping overhead slash, you can get a free fully charged thrust attack on him. If you are to close to his front side he will use his thrust attack and you'll have to counter.
~ Throughout the fight he may start his floating passage combo, and firecrackers are your way out of taking any chip damage and the fight becomes shorter. Block the first 2 slashes, then dodge backwards and use firecrackers to interrupt the rest of the combo. Use chasing slice or dash forward and hit with a charged attack. In the final phase be on the lookout for Sakura Dance.
~ When trying to heal, you can almost always count on him trying to snipe you with his bow. Use this to your advantage. Give yourself some distance, don't heal if you're trapped/too close and as soon as you heal just run sideways towards him, he will be open for a running attack (or nightjar slash) You can also just stun him with firecrackers to heal.
~ When he floats in the air and spams his arrows, deflect the first 3 and dash towards him to dodge the last one. If you're close enough, hit him with a charged attack.
~ This should get you safely to the final phase (the easiest). He always starts this phase with his jumping thrust attack, Mikiri counter that or dodge backwards if you want to use another sugar.
~ When he starts up his lightning attack, you can: A) Use Mist Raven without moving to go upwards and counter it (he won't throw it back at you) or: B) Perform the lightning reversal and ready yourself to do it again, he will ALWAYS reverse it back to you once if you do it this way.
~ In final phase, he almost always goes for the jumping thrust attack when you heal, you can Mikiri counter it right out of the healing animation.
- Anonymous
Yo I came back for the new patch. And what a sick boss... I beat him after a lot of deaths, but what a challenge, charmless and with demon bell. The regular Genichiro (I almost never dies against him nowadays) is a joke compared to this new one. So cool that it reverses our reverse lightning. And his Sakura Dance is very difficult to apprehend at first and surprised me a lot! My build is based on One Mind combat art and Phoenix's Lilac Umbrella. What a fight!!!
- Anonymous
Here's a few advice after struggling for several hours against him
1. When he does his Sakura Dance (his 3 hit jump) you only need to parry the first 2. Before the third, just run underneath him and he won't be able to hit you. Also, you get a free hit on him
2. Although he can reverse your standard reverse lightning, he can't reverse it if you use it from you Mist Raven tool (I don't know why). Just remember not to move so you go straight up to reverse the lightning, otherwise, you'll just get shocked by the lightning.
3. Don't stray too far to heal as he is extremely aggressive with his bow. If you need to heal, just wait until he does his Floating Passage and stay out of range (but don't go too far so he doesn't chain into the new version) and heal.
- Anonymous
It's so obvious that sakura dance is a lightning counter skill just like mikiri is for thrust because he literally use it to reverse your lightning.
- Anonymous
What the **** do you do when he does lightning reversal back at you?
- Anonymous
dude ichimonji was made for this bastard, counters his huge posture dmg he does to you and does solid dmg. i hit him with it every chance he gave me
- Anonymous
this dude is dead ass harder than inner father and isshin combined
- Anonymous
this is so cancer it isnt even funny. Am I mad? Yes. This is like 8h and I've only beat him like 3 times, and in reflection, not the gauntlet. He can lock you into a corner and do a one shot grab attack that even mist raven doesnt work on, one that you need to dodge, yet you literally have nowhere to go. Also his posture regenerates in the time it takes you to cross the room and get to him. What human can turn at a perfect 90° angle to shoot someone with a 50+ lb bow?
- Anonymous
He loves to spam the piercing spin attack, but is open to an ichimonji once he lands and you've parried him. That will keep your posture down and his up for most of the fight. You also need to wait until the last moment to reverse the lightning on him the second time, it needs to be just as he swings it back at you.
- Anonymous
This fight is awesome except the double lightening reversal, which seems to just work whenever it feels like. I time it the same way every time and it’s just 50/50 whether or not I’m going to get hit and then one shorted while I’m stunned. Which, like 45 minutes into a gauntlet, is utter bs. Anybody know a way to not get screwed over by that?
- Anonymous
Woo boy... This version is something you can't brush aside. Took me a nice couple of tries before I devised my own strategy to win his first phase. After that I felt the second would be a breeze. Until he lighting reversed my lighting reversal and left me in an enraged awe.
- Anonymous
Inner genichiro is pretty hard but the difficulty is absolutely brutal when you go charmless on him.
- Anonymous
Glad the update gave him some love. Normal Genichiro is a pushover, but he was a bit too passive and meh compared to Isshin. Inner Version strikes the perfect balance of aggressive and graceful. Giving him his own version of Chasing Slice is awesome. It also fits in with his character of winning battles whatever the cost, even if it means learning skills samurai wouldn't normally use.
- Anonymous
Ugh. I hate his spin to win in mid air move. He tends to spams it for me.
- Anonymous
I remember once upon a time people were complaining that Genichiro was too easy. Bet they regret saying that now.
- Anonymous
All this stuff about "the" Tomoe referenced in the fragrant flower note appears to be baseless conjecture. I checked the Fragrant Flower Note page on this wiki, and the word "the" on which all of this hinges is not in the note. I haven't checked in-game, but for something this precise we'd need the Japanese text anyway, because a small thing like that could be the translation team not knowing the full context.
- Anonymous
Who ever made this forgot that he can also lighting reversal your lightning reversal
- Anonymous
Welllll... been at it for like 3 hours now and still can't even reliably get out of his 1st phase. This. Boss. Is. Bullshit.
- Anonymous
Genichiro Ashina
Grandson of the old hand sword master
Savior of Ashina
Wielder of Bow and Blade
You can eat my ass
- Anonymous
Just an FYI to everyone, you can practice him in the reflections before you finish up the gauntlet. Also he reflects the lightning counter every single time in the second phase. In the second phase, easiest thing to do is just rush him every chance you get. He will constantly try to use his bow, giving you free hits. Just make sure you're good at deflecting the unlockable attacks and you should be fine. You can even just charge under the lightning bow attack and be safe.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
the best part of grinding new genichiro is that you get to sit through two loading screens instead of one :)
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
His second phase is super predictable. He will use his bow+chasing slice then follow up with sakura dance. He repeats this combo a lot. Sometimes he will use lightning attack in the middle. Also, he CAN deflect the lightning back at you!
- Anonymous
FYI: prosthetics are a noob trap here, he WILL hit you if you dare to use them as his inner version input reads aggressively. It's some Elden Ring tier bullshit.
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