DEATH STRANDING ISOLATIONS Anime Teaser Trailer Previews a Terrifying New Story Set in Hideo Kojima's World
The world of Death Stranding is already kind of a nightmarish place, and the first teaser trailer for Death Stranding Isolations makes it clear that things aren't getting any better.
The upcoming anime series from Hideo Kojima's Kojima Productions is bringing the bizarre, supernatural world of the hit video game to Hulu and Disney+ in 2027, and the footage looks pretty damn intense.
While Kojima is also developing a live-action Death Stranding movie with A24, he's got two anime projects in the works. We previously got a look at the anime film Death Stranding Mosquito, and now Isolations is giving fans another story to look forward to.
The new series takes place in North America shortly after Sam, the protagonist of the original game, reconnects the continent through the Chiral Network.
Unfortunately, restoring those connections doesn't mean humanity's problems are over. The rebuilding of America brings unexpected consequences, and not everyone is interested in following the path Sam and his Bridges companions have created.
At the center of the story is a young blonde girl who has spent much of her life isolated from the outside world. After losing her mother in the catastrophic events of the Death Stranding, she's grown comfortable being alone. However, a series of encounters forces her into a world she'd rather avoid.
The official synopsis offers a better idea of what's coming:
“‘My mom became a crater.’
“The Death Stranding—a catastrophic series of explosions caused when the dead crept into our world and collided with the living.
“In the wake of this cataclysm, many were forced to live in absolute isolation—among them, a young girl. Although this lonely existence was forced upon her, she soon grows to prefer solitude, eschewing all opportunities for real human connection and allowing herself to be strung along by fate.
“The story is set in North America immediately after Sam—the protagonist of the game—reconnects the continent by means of the Chiral Network. However, as America is reborn from the ashes, the renewed connections that bind it together bring about new and unforeseen consequences.
“In this tumultuous new landscape, there are some who walk a different path to the one chosen by Sam and his Bridges comrades: a wise old man who connects people through a method that defies all reckoning; a female soldier ensnared in a cycle of war and destruction; a boy who seethes with rage at the absurdity of his life…and of course, the girl who chose to sever all ties with the outside world…Fate has other plans for her, however, and chance encounters see her launched headfirst into a world she does not recognize.”
Kojima's game follows a courier tasked with delivering supplies and reconnecting isolated communities across a devastated America. That might sound simple enough, but the journey involves dangerous terrain, rain that rapidly ages anything it touches, and terrifying ghostlike entities known as BTs.
Getting caught by these creatures can lead to a massive explosion that leaves an enormous crater behind. So when the young girl says her mother became a crater, that's a pretty horrifying indication of what she experienced.
The anime will also introduce several other characters, including an elderly man with an unusual ability to connect people, a female soldier trapped in an endless cycle of conflict, and a boy consumed by anger over his circumstances.
It's a fascinating an cool direction for the franchise, especially with the story exploring characters who have chosen to reject the very connections that Sam fought so hard to restore.
Kojima has created one of gaming's strangest and most interesting post-apocalyptic worlds, and anime feels like a great way to explore more of it. The unsettling imagery, supernatural horror, and emotional storytelling should translate nicely to animation.
Death Stranding Isolations is set to premiere on Hulu and Disney+ in 2027.
