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Bandai Namco Entertainment is facing criticism from Japanese players after the long-awaited anniversary announcement for its Tales of series turned out to be different from what many had hoped for.
The Tales of series celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, and at the end of February, Bandai Namco teased a big announcement tied to the milestone. After weeks of countdown posts building up the hype, the reveal finally came on April 3 and the reaction in Japan has been largely negative.
何度も言うが、期待値の煽り方が下手過ぎる……
イラストの描き下ろし自体は凄くありがたいんですよ
でも、このテイルズの状況であの煽り方されると何かアニメが来るんじゃないかと期待してたファンは多く居たでしょうねテイルズ自体が下火過ぎてファンの憤りがかなり凄い事になってるのがなぁ… https://t.co/CmbwWJVImz
— シキハ@空の軌跡the 1stクリア (@_sikiha) April 3, 2026
The announcement itself is a collaboration between two well-known anime studios, ufotable and Production I.G. Together, they will be creating 188 original illustrations covering every mainline entry in the Tales series. The artwork will feature character designs by animators Akira Matsushima and Noriyuki Matsutake, with the first set of illustrations focusing on Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Xillia. Alongside this, Bandai Namco also announced a live concert celebrating the Tales of Zestiria anime, scheduled for May 17.
The problem, according to many fans, isn’t the content of the announcement itself but the gap between how it was marketed and what it turned out to be. The Tales series hasn’t had a new mainline game in five years, and the player base has been vocal about wanting to see the franchise move forward. With two animation studios involved and a major anniversary countdown, a large portion of fans were expecting at minimum a new anime adaptation, if not a new game announcement.
This also isn’t the first time Bandai Namco has faced this kind of backlash. When the Tales of Xillia remaster was announced in August last year, fans had a similar reaction, feeling the pre-announcement campaign was too big for what ended up being a remaster.
