Akira director Katsuhiro Otomo confirms a sequel anime series and new film

It’s the news Akira fans have been waiting three decades for – a sequel to the seminal anime feature is in the works. The director of the original film and creator of the manga it was based on, Katsuhiro Otomo, made the announcement at this week’s Anime Expo in Los Angeles, telling audiences he is working on a follow-up series to be made by Bandai Namco’s Sunrise animation studio.

Otomo also revealed he is writing, designing and directing his third anime feature film, titled Orbital Era, to follow Akira (1988) and Steamboy(2004). A very bare-bones teaser for the film was released on 4 July, which you can watch below. A dedicated website provides more info, explaining: “The plot takes place in the near future on a space colony under construction,” and that, “it’s an action-adventure story of some boys in this peculiar environment and society who keep living their lives while they’re being tossed about by fate.”

Mankind’s future “will be depicted through a perspective of those boys,” it concludes.