Starting on January 1st, the anime series Tales of the Abyss is coming to YouTube, courtesy of Bandai Namco. The release is the company’s way of celebrating the first anniversary of the company's YouTube channel.

The first episode of Tales of the Abyss is already available on YouTube, while the second episode will be released in January, with the following episodes expected to be released on a weekly schedule. The dub for each episode will be in Japanese, but there will also be an option for English subtitles.

The anime is based on the highly popular action-RPG game franchise, Tales, but follows the story of the series’ eighth installment, Tales of the Abyss. The anime tells the story of Luke fon Fabre, a swordsman who is targeted by a military-religious group called Order of Lorelei, who thinks he is part of an ancient prophecy. The series follows Luke and his friends as he seeks to uncover the truth and solve the mystery of the prophecy.

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The Tales of the Abyss anime first premiered in Japan in 2008 and contained a total of 26 episodes, ending in 2009. Most voice actors from the popular game franchise of the same name returned to voice their characters for the anime. On the flip side, the Tales game franchise has been a long-standing successful series since 1995, its latest release being Tales of Luminaria in 2021. Each installment in the series serves as a stand-alone entry, but the games are linked to one another through different aspects, such as gameplay and fantastical settings.

Aside from the YouTube announcement, Bandai Namco also revealed that a 25th anniversary collection of Tales’ opening themes will be released on Blu-ray. So, technically there are two celebrations for the series’ fans to look forward to. Tales of the Abyss comes to YouTube starting January 1.