In 1982,
Katsuhiro Otomo began work on what is now possibly the most
influential manga in the history of the industry. Akira not only played a large part in the spread of
manga/
anime from
Japan to the rest of the world, it also revolutionized the art of
manga in
Japan.
Otomo San's lifelong love of
cinema is
gracefully and
vividly present on the pages of his work. His gorgeous,
illustrations shine out at you in detail so
painstaking it boggles the mind. His
visions of the
Neo-Tokyo megapolis reach out and
engulf you with precise, thousand-stroke architechture.
Akira began as a
serial in
Young Magazine and grew into an full-sized
epic with a large group of interesting, continually
interacting characters and a direct,
engrossing storyline. The drawings are sometimes touching, sometimes
ultra-violent, but always highly detailed.
In 1988 the anime version of Akira, directed by
Otomo, was released, and has since joined the ranks of the best full-length
anime fllms ever released. The movie, however, is highly abbreviated, with a very different storyline from the original manga, although it contains many of the same
characters and
elements, which is perhaps better than releasing a simple video
summary, as many book-turned-into-movie films end up being.
In addition to the movie, a
colorized version of the
manga was released in the US by
Marvel Comics in 36 volumes.
Dark Horse Comics has also since released a 6 volume, black and white version, (roughly 400 pages each) which comes to a staggering 2160 pages of
goodness.
Main Characters:
These are the characters that continue throughout the series and play the largest parts.
Kaneda
Kei
Tetsuo Shima
Akira
Ryu
The Colonel
Takashi
Masaru
Kyoko
Lady Miyako