Rintaro released his first film in over a decade, a 24-minute animated short reviving a lost 1933 project, and a pop-up event for STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT features merchandise including plushies of his character Rintaro Okabe.
Rintaro, the director of Metropolis and Galaxy Express 999, released a 24-minute animated short in June 2026, his first film in over a decade. The short is based on a lost 1933 project by pioneering filmmaker Sadao Yamanaka and is free to watch online. It uses silent-film intertitles, benshi-style narration, and character designs by Katsuhiro Otomo and Yoshinori Kanemori to reconstruct what Yamanaka's vanished work might have looked like.
In July 2026, MAGES. announced a pop-up event for STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT, a game remake that features Rintaro Okabe, a character named after the director. The event, called "STEINS;GATE Final Mission," will be held August 29 and 30 at Bellesalle Akihabara in Tokyo. It marks the first official merchandise sales since the game's launch on August 20. The merchandise includes plushies of Rintaro Okabe and Kurisu Makise, among other items.
The two stories show Rintaro active in both his own filmmaking and as the namesake for a character in a major franchise relaunch. The short revives a piece of lost Japanese cinema, while the pop-up event ties merchandise directly to the remake's release, suggesting the director's name remains a touchstone for the Steins;Gate series.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself
sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every
fact links the story it came from.
Jul 3
MAGES. announced on July 3 that it will hold the official pop-up event "STEINS;GATE Final Mission" for the newly released game "STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT" on August 29 and 30 at Bellesalle Akihabara in Tokyo. The event marks the first official merchandise sales since the game's launch on August 20. Admission is free, but advance reservations are required for certain time slots to manage congestion. The merchandise lineup includes acrylic stands, tapestries, pin badges, a metal Upa figure, an Upa room light, and plushies of Rintaro Okabe and Kurisu Makise. Two original lab coats modeled after Okabe and Makise will be sold for 20,000 yen each. A 2.7-meter-tall artificial satellite display will also be on exhibit. Advance online orders for venue pickup open from July 6 to July 12.
Jun 3
Rintaro, director of Metropolis and Galaxy Express 999, has released his first film in over a decade: a 24-minute animated short based on a lost 1933 project by pioneering filmmaker Sadao Yamanaka. The short is free to watch online and uses silent-film intertitles, benshi-style narration, and character designs by Katsuhiro Otomo and Yoshinori Kanemori to imagine what Yamanaka's vanished work might have looked like.