Roujin Z is heading into its 35th release year with a 4K remaster that opens at Theatre Shinjuku and Theatre Umeda on December 18 for one week, then expands nationwide in spring 2027. The film's credited creator has meanwhile set up a feature animation studio, Oval Gear.
Tokyo Theatres will run a 4K remaster of Roujin Z for one week from December 18 at Theatre Shinjuku and Theatre Umeda, followed by a nationwide release in spring 2027. The screening is the third special project tied to the exhibitor's 80th anniversary. The timing puts the reissue against the 35th anniversary of the film, which opened on September 14, 1991.
Credits for the original film are unchanged in the coverage: Katsuhiro Otomo wrote, scripted, and designed the mecha; Hisashi Eguchi handled character designs; Hiroyuki Kitakubo directed. Those roles are the frame around the reissue, while Otomo separately sits at the center of a larger production story.
In May, Otomo founded an animation studio called Oval Gear, which will focus on feature-length work. Its first project is in production, and the company is hiring animators and production staff. No title or release window for that first film has been shared. Otomo's directing credits include Akira, Memories, Steamboy, and Roujin Z. The studio news and the remaster run on separate tracks: one is a new production base, the other a reissue of an existing film. Neither story links the two, and neither states whether Otomo is involved in the remaster beyond the original credits.
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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.
Director and manga artist Katsuhiro Ōtomo has founded a new animation studio called Oval Gear. The studio will focus on feature-length work. Its first project is already in production. The company is hiring animators and production staff as it builds out its team. Ōtomo is best known for the 1988 film Akira, which he directed and wrote based on his own manga. His other directing credits include the anthology Memories, the steampunk feature Steamboy, and the science-fiction story Roujin Z. He also contributed to Perfect Blue, the psychological thriller directed by the late Satoshi Kon. The formation of Oval Gear marks a return to feature animation for Ōtomo, whose last full-length directorial work was Steamboy in 2004. The studio name and its immediate hiring push suggest a permanent production base rather than a one-off project team. No release window or title for the first film has been shared.