Bandai Namco Entertainment's Time Stranger trademark registration raises some questions. What's behind it?
Guest article by Patrick C. alias khromb
Bandai Namco recently caused quite a stir in the gaming community by registering the Time Stranger brand. The current status of the trademark is “Application under review” and nothing more than the trademark name is currently known.
But the trademark registration alone is already fueling speculation as to whether a new computer game is in the works.
Anyone who wants the details of the Database entry you'll find a variety of goods and services covered, allowing your imagination to run wild.
What's behind “Time Stranger”?
Fans suspect that “Time Stranger” could be a new game in the popular “Time Crisis” series.
Maybe Bandai Namco is also planning the next big remaster title. According to some rumors, after “Tales of Graces f Remastered” a remaster of “Tales of Phantasia” with the title addition “Time Stranger” could be released.
But it is also quite possible that many of these speculations turn out to be wishful thinking. But did you know that Bandai Namco has had a connection to the Time Stranger brand name in the past?
Anime or manga adaptation?
If we refer solely to the connection of the brand name “Time Stranger”, several works in the field of anime and manga could be considered as adaptations for a computer game.
In 1985, the anime film “GoShogun: The Time Stranger“, which takes the viewer on a breathtaking journey through time and space. In it, former pilot Remy Shimada hovers between life and death after a serious accident.
Subsequently, another anime film was released in 1986 called Toki no Tabibito: Time Stranger, about Agino Jiro, a refugee from the future who steals a time machine and travels through Japanese history with high school students.
The manga series “Time Stranger Kyoko” by Arina Tanemura appeared from 2000 to 2001, in which Princess Kyoko travels through time using a magical staff to save her twin sister from a comatose state.
The shared fascination of the works
Although these works tell different stories, they share some common elements. The focus is on the theme of time travel or time manipulation, where the protagonists encounter challenges from different eras. The stories combine elements of science fiction and fantasy, creating fascinating worlds in which both technology and magic play a central role.
Connection to Bandai Namco
What's also interesting is that Arina Tanemura, the creator of Time Stranger Kyoko, has already worked with Bandai Namco. She created the original character designs for the “IDOLiSH7” franchise, a mixed media project from Bandai Namco that includes a smartphone game, manga, anime and other media.
Therefore, it wouldn't be unlikely that Bandai Namco would consider an adaptation of their manga series.
While there are no concrete plans for a Time Stranger game, it wouldn't be unusual for Bandai Namco to adapt a popular manga series into a video game.
The registration of the “Time Stranger” trademark could indicate future plans in this direction, but at this point there are no official announcements about it. What do you think? Will Time Stranger be a completely new game or an adaptation of an existing work? Discuss with us!
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