The previously confirmed Death Stranding anime will premiere on Disney+ in 2027, it was announced this week. Legendary game creator Hideo Kojima appeared at the Disney+ Originals Preview at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, confirming the streaming platform and release window, along with the first story details about the anime.
Set in the same world as the Death Stranding video games, Death Stranding Isolations (Working Title) will tell a completely new story about a young man and woman "as they set out on an adventure." An official synopsis was shared by Kojima Productions shortly after the presentation.
"Once, there was an explosion...," the story synopsis teases. "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 People who remain are now isolated, withdrawn, and without connections.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 story will be told through traditional, hand-drawn 2D animation with Japan's E&H Production working to bring the series to life. The series is helmed by E&H's Takayuki Sano with original character design by Ilya Kuvshinov (character designer for Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045).
Death Stranding Isolations is said to follow in the footsteps "of the original in spirit and ideas and depict the world of Death Stranding through a bold and yet subtle touch and top-class hand-drawn animation."
The story synopsis does reference Sam Bridges, the main character of the video games, although it sounds like this anime will focus on completely new characters.
"Somewhere in North America, just as Sam Bridges walks through the continent in order to save America, the someones are also trying to deal with their isolation in their own way," the synopsis continues. "An old man trying to realize salvation through ways outside of the connection advocated by Bridges. A female warrior who tries to kickstart a world of constant fighting. A boy with a grudge against Bridges. A girl who embraces loneliness."
"On the precipice of the end of humanity and the world, their fates and hopes converge, as another story of Death Stranding begins," it concludes. "And now, comes another explosion..."
Death Stranding Isolations is set to premiere exclusively on Disney+ in 2027. For those interested in the source material, the original game and its sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, are both available for PlayStation 5.
In addition to the anime, two more adaptations are currently in development. An adult animated feature film -- produced by Kojima Productions and the Los Angeles–based animation studio Line Mileage -- is being written by Aaron Guzikowski (Raised by Wolves). A separate live-action film is also in the works from A24.