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Akira's Katsuhiro Otomo Draws New Kibun wa mō Sensō 1-Shot After 38 Years

This year's eighth issue of Futabasha's Manga Action magazine revealed on Tuesday that Katsuhiro Ōtomo and Toshihiko Yahagi will publish a one-shot manga sequel to their Kibun wa mō Sensō (The Mood is Already That of War) manga after 38 years. The "Kibun wa mō Sensō 3 (Datta kamo Shirenai)" (The Mood is Already That of War 3 (Or it May Have Been)) one-shot will debut in the magazine's next issue on April 16. The current issue published a "digest version" of the original Kibun wa mō Sensō manga.

The original manga is a collection of 13 short stories that center on a fictional war that erupts in the border between China and the Soviet Union. Two Japanese men nicknamed Hachimaki and Megane, as well as a Chinese man known as Bōi sign up for the volunteer service and experience the war firsthand.

Otomo and Yahagi published the stories in Manga Action from 1980 to 1981, with Otomo drawing the art and Yahagi writing the story. Futabasha compiled the short manga into one volume in 1982.

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 Memories omnibus, 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.

Otomo revealed in 2012 that he was preparing his first long series since Akira. The manga was supposed to debut that fall in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine, but it was delayed, and Otomo said that the target audience may be older than Weekly Shonen Sunday's. He said again in an interview last November that he is working on a new manga which he described as "a full-length work."

Sources: Comic Natalie, The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web