Stranger Things Animated Cutscene from the Video Game Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales
For a while now, The Duffer Brothers teased that we would be further venturing into the Upside Down with a spinoff of some description before or after the conclusion of the flagship series. We’ve now learned that one of the spin-offs is set to be an anime series called Stranger Things Tokyo.
The spin-off series, we hear, has been in development for quite some time, with early rumblings about the project coming out in early 2021.
Details are still slim on the new project, but we do have a brief logline of what to expect:
“An encounter with the Upside Down evolves into a grand adventure for video game-loving twin brothers living on the outskirts of 1980s Tokyo.”
We’re hearing the series is planned to be around 6 hours long and is labeled as “the first” Stranger Things spinoff.
The Duffer Brothers confirmed a spin-off of some description earlier in the year when they re-upped their Netflix deal earlier in 2022.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Matt Duffer said the spin-off would be “1,000% different” from the original and added it’d be a “story that connects to the Stranger Things world, but it really is more about how we’re telling that story.”
The Duffer Brothers
Stranger Things has already made its way into other formats with two main Stranger Things games and Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales which recently was moved over to Netflix Games exclusively.
Why Stranger Things Will Venture into Anime
Some of Netflix’s biggest franchises (or attempts at franchises) have seen spin-offs in multiple formats over the years. The blueprint has been mostly pioneered by The Witcher, which we’ve now seen as an anime spin-off, a live-action spin-off, and more.
Other examples of other Netflix IPs to get or set to be converted into anime/animated spinoffs include Bright (Bright: Samurai Soul), Altered Carbon (Altered Carbon: Resleeved), and Army of the Dead.
The mothership Stranger Things series is returning for a fifth and final season which isn’t expected to hit until 2024, with filming thought to get underway in May 2023.
As mentioned, The Duffer Brothers are working with Netflix under an overall deal. Other projects they have on beyond Stranger Things include The Talisman and the Death Note live-action adaptation of the anime series.
We’ll keep you posted when we hear more about anything related to Stranger Things Tokyo.
Please note the image used in this article is from the mobile Stranger Things video game and not representative of the anime project.
Netflix Synopsis: "When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl."
