Akira, Vol. 1

The 6 Akira graphic novels all tell one big really good story. It has very good plot, action, humor, art, characters and mystery. It makes you want to find out what's going on more and more as you go. I don't want to knock the movie at all because I enjoy watching it but in my opinion the graphic novels convey a completely different story and are so much better and thorough in every way. My only complaint with these particular books is that it is not in it's original Japanese right to left reading format and most scenes are a mirror image of what it was intended. Everyone is left handed in it which even as a left handed person I have to say is highly unrealistic. Now finding a right to left format Akira in English would be quite the collector's item which I don't think exists(maybe I don't know for sure). But it doesn't take away from the experience and if you enjoyed the Akira movie, I highly suggest reading these 6 books.

The entire AKIRA series of books is not to be missed by any fans of Akira or anime / manga in general.If you like the movie but are unsure whether to commit to buying the manga, hesitate no longer. it is 10 times better than the movie. Unlike with the movie, there is time for love, beauty, hope, sadness...I do believe, as many before me, that Akira is the best manga ever made. And I personally believe it will never be bested. It's scope and attention to detail is unparalled in my experience. I have re-read this series at least 3 times since I bought it, and it never fails to move me to tears, to shamelessly fall in love with Kei, and to be sad when I finish it. I used to work in a library and learned how to cover books. (It is a sticky transparent flexable plastic that protects the cover from spills, dogears, and strengthens the spine.) The Akira series is one of the favored few in my personal library to be covered. I want to enjoy it for years to come, and for my many nephews and nieces to be able to do the same when they get old enough.

Akira is one of the finest comics I've had the pleasure of reading. The art is beautiful and manages to efficiently convey both motion and personality. The writing gives depth to everyone from the bit players to the leads. And the leads! Kaneda is a real piece of work. Loudmouthed, violent, and almost nihilistic at times, he's far from a conventional hero. (At one point a girl reveals to him that she's pregnant, with the strong implication he's the father. He blows her off and never gives it another moment's thought.) At the same time, he's committed to his friends, and in a pinch he's the person you most want at your back. And EVERYONE is similarly complex. No-one is purely good, or purely evil. They're just people, pursuing their own agendas in their own ways. The only thing I regret is that the version widely available for sale isn't the colorized Epic reprints. Normally, colorized stuff is an abomination, but here it's gorgeous. Shame it isn't widely available, but if you didn't know it existed, you wouldn't miss it. Get this.

NOTE: This description probably contains spoilers! (This review covers the first two volumes) Young, tough, motorcycle-riding gang ruffians stumble onto a bizarre government experiment in postapocalytic Tokyo in this classic manga series from Katsuhiro Otomo. The government sequesters and essentially holds captive a few hyper-aged children with a variety of bizarre powers, keeping one of them in deep hibernation, lest another apocalypse be unleashed upon the beleaguered populace of Tokyo. Badness ensues when one of the motorcycle-riding ruffians acquires one of the unique powers the government is doing its level best to control, and his powers, of course, eclipse any that have before been observed. Our new super-powered ruffian proceeds to remove Akira, the super-weapon kept in deep hibernation, from his prison, and then a game of grab-Akira-and-run occurs with the government, the ruffian, and antigovernment forces (which, being antigovernment, are of course the good guys). The art in this book is astonishing and all completely hand-drawn, and, my art friends tell me, contains some of the best manga page spreads in existence. I confess that some of the high-action scenes (many of which being double-page spreads) such as motorcycle chases and explosions were difficult for me to "decipher," but they were extraordinary nonetheless. I'd classify this as a pretty standard postapocalyptic story, with your standard government bad guys and antigovernment good guys - but that's where "standard" stops. The "weapons" in this story are people. The character development is remarkable. It's a lot to take in while reading, if you look closely at the art, which is merited. Volumes end with cliffhangers. I will continue with this series for sure. One note: in the English version of this manga, it's printed English style, that is, front-to-back, (or left-to-right) rather than the standard manga which reads back-to-front/right-to-left. It takes some getting used to.

I originally started reading Akira in the Epic/Marvel books in color in the early 90's but I never read it all the way because they never reprinted the last volume. Now, after all these years, I can actually own these milestone books and finish reading them. No collection would be complete without them! The Akira manga is an influential work of fiction and one of the precursors of the Cyberpunk genre. Akira's influence (both manga and film) can still be felt throughout manga, comics and movies. One of the things I like the most about Akira is that the movie and the manga are not just versions of one another, but complementary works that enrich each other. In Akira #1 we meet the main characters but we only scratch the surface of the story and who is Akira. This 360 page book is filled with action and suspense. Neo Tokyo, 38 years after world-war III, is a city with complex problems, not the least of which is the numerous biker gangs. Meet Kaneda and Testuo. These two friends will soon be engulfed in a gigantic plot mixing politics, futuristic weaponry and a mysterious foce known only as Akira. Characters in Akira seem real beacuse of their flaws. Kaneda is brave but also a slacker. Kei is more level-headed but belongs to an extremist group. Despite its seemingly steep price, it's worth every penny.

If you are a fan of the animated movie and have not read the manga, do yourself a favor and get these books. This manga series is phenomenal. The characters are much more fleshed out in the books. The number one reason these books are worth it, Akira is actually in the books, unlike the anime. Plus Tetsuo has an incredible story arc in these. Slowly evolving in both character and abilities. Then, ofcourse, he goes nuts. A very fascinating read in a cyberpunk-like world.

I've been a fan of the Akira anime for years. It's got an awesome story and is one of the most intricately detailed animated films I have ever seen. For an aspiring artist like myself, it only makes sense that it would become one of my favorite films of all time. Despite being a huge fan of it for all those years, though, I never got around to picking up the manga. Finally I buckled down and picked up the first volume. I absolutely loved it. What made it fun was seeing the anime first and being able to see how similar it was to the manga but how things got changed around for obvious pacing reasons. The manga also made more sense of some things. Despite the pill being very iconic in the film's imagery, the only time drugs are even really involved are during one brief scene at the bar. Instead, they become a huge focus of the manga and it works really well, adding in this air of mystery as to where it can go from here. I only picked up the first volume since I didn't know how I'd feel about it being such a fan of the anime but I was absolutely sucked in and I can't wait to pick up the remaining volumes, especially since I know the story branches off in a totally different direction in the manga.

After falling in love with the classic 1988 film adaptation, I decided to gather some context and read the source material. I was, of course, blown away. I've never been a great consumer of comics or manga, only the absolute classics have gotten my attention, but the fantastic artwork and narrative flow of Otomo's masterpiece was enthralling. Being a manga, and not an especially wordy one, I tore through this whole 300+ page volume in under an hour, then turned around and immediately ordered the other volumes. The ideas and themes Otomo tackles in this series are famously complex and thought provoking, but they never become overpowering or discouraging due to the thorough depiction of a wonderful setting. The world these characters live in is vibrant and every bit as interesting as its cyberpunk/sci-fi mashup of a plot. I won't say or do anything to spoil the experience for the uninitiated. All I can do is sing Akira's praises in the hope more people take the time to understand one of the greatest works of fiction of the 20th century.