Katsuhiro Otomo has launched a new Tokyo-based animation studio, Oval Gear, which is already producing its first feature film. Tokyo Theatres will screen a 4K remaster of Roujin Z, written, scripted and mechanical-designed by Otomo, for one week from December 18, with a nationwide release in spring 2027.
Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of Akira, opened a new Tokyo animation studio called Oval Gear in May 2026. The studio is already producing its first feature film. The launch is the first official word on Otomo's feature animation projects since the 2019 reveal of the sci-fi film Orbital Era, and Orbital Era may now be in production at Oval Gear. That is the full extent of what has been confirmed about the studio and the film: a name, a city, a first feature in production, and a link to a project announced in 2019.
Separately, a 4K remaster of Roujin Z, a 1991 film written, scripted and mechanical-designed by Otomo, is set for a theatrical run in Japan. Tokyo Theatres will screen it for one week at Theatre Shinjuku and Theatre Umeda from December 18, followed by a nationwide release in spring 2027. The screening is the third special project for the chain's 80th anniversary and is paired with the 35th anniversary of the film's release. The film has character designs by Hisashi Eguchi and direction by Hiroyuki Kitakubo, and it opened in theaters on September 14, 1991.
The two stories cover different periods of Otomo's work and do not overlap in personnel or production. One is a new studio and a feature in progress; the other is a revival of a 1991 title. Coverage treats the Oval Gear launch as the main news and the Roujin Z screening as a repertory event. Neither story states what the Oval Gear feature is, when it will be released, or whether it is Orbital Era.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every fact links the story it came from.
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Tokyo Theatres will screen a 4K remaster of Roujin Z for one week at Theatre Shinjuku and Theatre Umeda from December 18, with a nationwide release in spring 2027. The film was written, scripted, and mechanical-designed by Katsuhiro Otomo, with character designs by Hisashi Eguchi and direction by Hiroyuki Kitakubo, and opened in theaters on September 14, 1991.
Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of Akira, launched a new Tokyo-based animation studio called Oval Gear. The studio is already producing its first feature film. The announcement is the first official word on Otomo's projects since the 2019 reveal of the sci-fi film Orbital Era, which may now be in production at Oval Gear.