Hideo Kojima is one of the greatest video game designers ever, but he always has his sights set beyond consoles. Less than two years after announcing an A24-produced film adaptation of his 2020 game Death Stranding, Kojima has revealed that the Death Stranding visual universe will also include an anime.
Speaking with Vogue Japan (thanks VGC), Kojima said that video games are just one storytelling medium through which he wants to channel his creativity. The man known as one of the most succinct movie buffs, with his one sentence film reviews of everything from the terrible Madame Web to the sensational Sinners, is ready to transform his beloved game in ways only film and animation can do. The way he explains it, the upcoming Death Stranding adaptations will be more inspired by the game, rather than a faithful retelling.
“When it comes to film adaptations of games,” Kojima told Vogue (via machine translation), “there have been recent [shows] like The Last of Us that keep the plot of the original intact, and films like The Super Mario Bros. Movie that are more like a service to game fans. Each of these works has its own merits, but as a film lover, I want to pursue the expressive potential of cinema.”
It’s at this point in the interview that Kojima makes the first mention of this anime project. “I am aiming to make Death Stranding in a way that can only be done as a film, and that will win awards at the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. In fact, we are also currently working on an anime adaptation.”
This isn’t the first time Kojima has brought one his video game properties into the world of anime. Zone of the Enders: Dolores, I was an anime series released from the world of his gorgeous multi-console third-person shooter Zone of the Enders back in 2001. An anime prequel film, Zone of the Enders: 2167 Idolo, was released six months prior.
No release date or timeline has been announced. Still, it’s exhilarating to know that one of the most innovative visual storytellers of our time is continuing to expand his creative horizons.