Reports from Japan indicate that the next anime feature film from Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo is set for a fall release in 2003.  Otomo began work on this project, which is now called Steam Boy, in 1995.  It appears from afar that Otomo may be presenting his take on the popular 'steampunk' retro science fiction genre since his new anime is set in Victorian England and features an inventor/hero who receives a mysterious metal ball containing a new form of energy capable of powering an entire nation.  The lush Victorian interiors and the elegance of the era's mechanical design should allow Otomo to create some dazzling visual backgrounds and machines for his film.

Steam Boy's long gestation period is due in large part to financing, which has been made more difficult by slow economic growth in Japan and problems in the financial sector.  The film includes 1850 different shots and will require180,000 animation cels and reportedly cost 2 billion yen (just over $16 million at current exchange rates).