Katsuhiro Otomo is bringing us a new Akira anime sequel series

Katsuhiro Otomo, who created the original Akira manga, will direct a new anime series that will be a continuation of Akira.

He announced the news during a panel at the Anime Expo in Los Angeles.

Serialized as a manga from 1982 to 1990, Akira hit the big time after Otomo directed an animated feature version in 1988. A 4K remastering of the 1988 feature will also be released in Japan on April 2020.

According to THR, the new series will be produced by Bandai Namco’s Sunrise, although few other details were unveiled.

Otomo will also write and direct Orbital Era, his third anime feature (his second was Steamboy back in 2004. This new film is set “in the near future on a space colony under construction,” according to the project’s website. It will be, “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.”

The first teaser trailer for the feature was released and you can watch that below.

There will also be a Complete Works collection, curated by Otomo, chronicling his career since 1971, released by Akira publisher Kodansha.