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Akira's Otomo Inspires 'Short Peace' Anime Omnibus

The official website for next month's Katsuhiro Ōtomo Genga Exhibition revealed on Thursday that an omnibus project titled Short Peace will debut next year. The project is assembling "top creators at the leading edge of Japanese animation, exploring possible future avenues of expression."

The omnibus will include "Hi-no-youjin" ("Combustible," pictured right), the previously revealed anime short set in Japan's Edo period (1603-1868). Otomo is personally directing this short at the anime studio Sunrise.

Short Peace was also the title of a collection of Otomo's manga shorts that was first published in the 1970s. Otomo debuted a new color science-fiction manga short called "DJ Teck no Morning Attack" in Geijutsu Shincho magazine on Saturday. He revealed in an interview in the same magazine that he is planning his first manga in a shōnen magazine, which is also his first long manga series since Akira.

Otomo's manga inspired an earlier anime anthology film, Memories. Otomo created the stories for all three parts ("Magnetic Rose," "Stink Bomb," and "Cannon Fodder") of Memories, and he personally directed "Cannon Fodder." Kōji Morimoto (The Animatrix's "Beyond," Genius Party's "Dimension Bomb") directed "Magnetic Rose," and Tensai Okamura (Wolf's Rain, Darker than Black, Blue Exorcist) directed "Stink Bomb."

Otomo began his career as a manga creator on such works as Domu, Kibun wa mō Sensō, and his most famous title internationally, Akira. He then branched into animation by directing part of the Robot Carnival omnibus and a feature film adaptation of his own Akira story. He directed other anime projects such as the Gundam: Mission to the Rise event short and the Steamboy feature. He also collaborated on Harmagedon, Roujin Z, Spriggan, Metropolis, Freedom Project and Hipira: The Little Vampire.

[Via Catsuka]

Update: More background information added.