In November 2021, an exciting new addition was announced for the Tales of Festival 2022. Given the popularity of Bandai Namco’s Tales of Arise, Japan is taking things in a common direction–to the stage.
Stage adaptations of video games and anime series are commonplace, with Nier getting nine different live-action shows and a number of Persona titles being adapted for the stage in recent years. A new rendition of the Tales of the Stage stage plays, Tales of Arise Online Theater, has been announced. The performance will be streamed online via Asobi Stage on March 26-27, 2022, and will tell the story of Tales of Arise from the viewpoints of various characters prior to the events of the game.
This means that fans will get some bonus never-before-seen lore, as the official website also notes that the performance will take place during a major story segment in the second area of the game.
Although it has not been explicitly announced, the website notes that the online theater is planned for a “worldwide release.”
Ahead of the performance later this month, Bandai Namco has shared the Tales of Arise Online Theater theme song performed by Kankaku Piero, who also provided the opening song Hibana for the game. The music video for ‘Monochrome Sentimental Believer’ includes several key moments from the game, so beware of spoilers if you haven’t finished it quite yet.
Check out the theme song and impressive music video below:
The cast features Kyoya Honda as Alphen, former idol Haruna Iikubo as Shionne, Rino Wauchi as Rinwell, Shunya Oohira as Law, fashion model Hikaru Yokota as Kisara, Tetsuya Iwanaga as Dohalim, and Kaito Hori as Vholran. The performance will take place at Bandai Namco Entertainment Japan’s newly opened MIRAIKEN studio, which is located at their head office.
Tales of Arise was released on September 9, 2021, and is available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.