I was going to say that 2019's Death Stranding is a singular experience, but I guess these days that's no longer true. The game's sequel was released on PS5 earlier this year, with the inevitable PC version yet to be given a release date, while two film adaptations—one live action, one animated—are in the works. Now Hideo Kojima has announced yet another Death Stranding tie-in is being developed for Disney+, and this time it's an anime.
Death Stranding Isolations is the working title for the anime, which is due on Disney+ in 2027. Side note: every time the name is mentioned the press release puts "(Working Title)" after it, so I hope it's clear this is a working title. Hideo Kojima will act as executive producer on the series while Takayuki Sano, who has a list of anime credits longer than Kojima's Hollywood phonebook, is on directorial duties. The lovely art that accompanied the announcement is by Ilya Kuvshinov (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045).
The anime tells a distinct story within the universe, following a young man and woman on adventure and told through a "traditional, hand-drawn 2D animation style" by "some of Japan’s top animation talent at E&H production".
There's also a story synopsis with an incredible opening:
"Lonesome souls of the dead manifest in the physical world, reaching in search of the living. However, the connection they create triggers a massive explosion that eradicates anything of this world—a phenomenon referred to as the Death Stranding. These events wipe out nations as well as civilization itself. People who remain are now isolated, withdrawn, and without connections. As humanity stands at the brink a legendary porter set out to transport both cargo and wishes of its senders, reconnecting people in the hope that they might still be saved."
The synopsis goes on to make clear that this is happening somewhere else in North America while Sam Porter Bridges is trudging around, and offers up some meaningless verbiage about a story told with "a bold and yet subtle touch". After alluding to some of the characters involved the teaser ends: "And now, comes another explosion…"
I do find Hideo Kojima's relentless franchise-ing quite amusing (earlier this week I wrote about another of his schemes: a freaking Death Stranding exoskeleton), but you have to wonder just how much appetite there is for three separate adaptations of a game that features characters called Die Hardman. I think Death Stranding is an absolutely brilliant game, but it's also one that works because of the vibes rather than the (often ludicrous) story beats and overarching narrative. Perhaps both movies and the anime will turn out to be excellent. But I won't be Holding My Breathman.
