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Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira Gets New Anime Project & 4K Remaster of 1988 Anime Film (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
Anime News Network's coverage of Anime Expo 2019 is sponsored by Yen Press.
Manga creator and anime director Katsuhiro Ōtomo announced at his Anime Expo panel on Thursday that a new anime project of his Akira manga is in the works. Sunrise president and CEO Makoto Asanuma apologized for the short teaser presented at the panel, and while the staff is still developing the project, Asanuma said that they want to incorporate the entirety of the manga's story.
The earlier 1988 anime film will also receive a 4K remaster next spring in Japan. The 4K remaster will also receive a release in the United States.
Otomo's original science-fiction action manga is set in Neo-Tokyo, a city rebuilt after being destroyed in a mysterious explosion. The manga ran in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine from 1982 to 1990. Otomo directed his own animated film adaptation that premiered on July 16, 1988 — the same day that the story has the fictional Tokyo being destroyed.
Warner Bros. announced a live-action film adaptation of the manga in 2008, with Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) directing the film. The film will open on May 21, 2021.
Update: The 4K remaster will ship in Japan on April 24, 2020.
Source: Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Anime Expo panel
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