Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo's mysterious new sci-fi movie just got a massive update

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Published May 11, 2026, 1:20 PM EDT

12 years is a long time, but who's counting?

A drawn image from Akira (the manga) of a young man (Kaneda) standing in front of a large futuristic motorcycle. He’s wearing a motorcycle jacket with a pill on the back.

Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo has been keeping quiet when it comes to news about his next projects. It was announced that he'd be writing and directing a feature titled Orbital Era as far back as 2019, with Sunrise listed as the studio behind the film. As of today, however, Otomo has launched a new animation studio called Oval Gear. Does that mean more announcements are coming soon Orbital Era, or will this be a new project entirely? Inquiring minds want to know!

Either way, it's been nearly thirteen years since Otomo's last work: the opening short Hi no Youjin for the 2013 anime anthology Short Peace. Regardless, his influence on the comics and film industries is impossible to deny. As part of Japan's manga New Wave in the 1970s, he worked as a mangaka for around a decade before dropping the seminal Akira, which ran from 1982-1990. In 1988, Otomo wrote and directed the anime adaptation, which has since gone on to be one of the most influential (and lucrative) animated films of all time.

Not much is known about Otomo's next film, but Oval Gear's website banner features a cosmonaut character from Orbital Era. The site itself is mostly bare, but leads with a strong mission statement. The About page states: "This studio was established with the aim of passing on the visual expression and authorship that Katsuhiro Otomo has cultivated over many years to the next generation, and to disseminate new animation works to the world." At the top of the page, there is a tab for job openings, indicating that the studio may well be ready to practice what it preaches when it comes to ushering in a new generation of animators.

As for what exactly is on the way from Oval Gear, the site promises that it is working on a new anime (very likely to be Orbital Era) and that there is more news ahead. For now, we'll have to take their word for it, but anime fans are practically salivating at the idea of a new Otomo feature.

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