Akira (manga)

Volume 1: Tetsuo On December 6, 1982, an apparent nuclear explosion destroys Tokyo and starts World War III. By 2019, a new city called Neo-Tokyo has been built on artificial islands in Tokyo Bay. Although Neo-Tokyo is set to host the XXXII Olympic Games, the city is gripped by anti-government terrorism and gang violence. While exploring the ruins of old Tokyo, Tetsuo Shima, a member of the bōsōzoku gang led by Shotaro Kaneda, is accidentally injured when his bike crashes after Takashi — a child Esper with wizened features — blocks his path. This incident awakens psychic powers in Tetsuo, attracting the attention of a secret government project directed by JSDF Colonel Shikishima. These increasing powers unhinge Tetsuo's mind, exacerbating his inferiority complex about Kaneda and leading him to assume leadership of the rival Clown Gang through violence. Meanwhile, Kaneda becomes involved with Kei, a member of a terrorist organization that stages anti-government attacks. Led by Ryusaku and opposition Diet leader Nezu, the terrorists get wind of the Colonel's project and a mysterious figure connected with it known as "Akira." They hope to use this leaked information and try to restrict Kaneda's movements because of his involvement with their activities. However, when Tetsuo and the Clowns begin a violent citywide turf war, Kaneda instigates a counter-attack that unites all of Neo-Tokyo's biker gangs against Tetsuo. While the Clown Gang is easily defeated, Tetsuo's psionic powers make him virtually invincible. Tetsuo kills Yamagata, Kaneda's second-in-command, and astonishingly survives after being shot by Kaneda. The Colonel arrives with the powerful drugs needed to suppress Tetsuo's violent headaches, extending Tetsuo an offer to join the project. Volume 2: Akira I After confronting the JSDF, Kaneda, Kei, and Tetsuo are taken into military custody and held in a highly secure skyscraper in Neo-Tokyo. Kei soon escapes after becoming possessed as a medium by another Esper, Kiyoko. Kei/Kiyoko briefly does battle with Tetsuo and frees Kaneda. After rapidly healing from his wounds, Tetsuo inquires about Akira and forces Doctor Onishi, a project scientist, to take him to the other espers: Takashi, Kiyoko, and Masaru. There, a violent confrontation unfolds between Tetsuo, Kaneda, Kei, and the Espers. The Doctor decides to try to let Tetsuo harness Akira — the project's test subject that destroyed Tokyo — despite Tetsuo's disturbed personality. Upon learning that Akira is being stored in a cryogenic chamber beneath Neo-Tokyo's new Olympic Stadium, Tetsuo escapes the skyscraper with the intent of releasing Akira. Tetsuo enters the secret military base at the Olympic site the following day, killing many soldiers. The Colonel comes to the base and tries to talk Tetsuo out of his plan; Kaneda and Kei enter the site through the sewers and witness the unfolding situation. Tetsuo breaks open the underground cryogenic chamber and frees Akira, who turns out to be an ordinary-looking little boy. The terror of seeing Akira causes one of the Colonel's men to declare a state of emergency that causes massive panic in Neo-Tokyo. The Colonel himself tries to use SOL, a laser satellite, to kill Tetsuo and Akira, but only succeeds in severing Tetsuo's arm. Volume 3: Akira II Tetsuo disappears in the subsequent explosion, and Kaneda and Kei come across Akira outside the base. Vaguely aware of who he is, they take him back into Neo-Tokyo. Both the Colonel's soldiers and the followers of an Esper named Lady Miyako begin scouring Neo-Tokyo in search of him. Kaneda, Kei, and a third terrorist, Chiyoko, attempt to find refuge with Akira on Nezu's yacht. However, Nezu betrays them and kidnaps Akira for his use, attempting to have them killed. They survive the attempt and manage to snatch Akira from Nezu's mansion. The Colonel, desperate to find Akira and fed up with the government's tepid response to the crisis, mounts a coup d'état and puts the city under martial law. The Colonel's men join Lady Miyako's acolytes and Nezu's private army in chasing Kaneda, Kei, Chiyoko, and Akira through the city. The pursuit ends at a canal, with Kaneda's group surrounded by the Colonel's troops. As Akira is being taken into the Colonel's custody, Nezu attempts to shoot Akira rather than have him be put into government hands; he is immediately fired upon and killed by the Colonel's men. However, Nezu's shot misses Akira and hits Takashi in the head, killing him instantly. The trauma of Takashi's death causes Akira to trigger a second psychic explosion that destroys Neo-Tokyo. Kei, Ryu, Chiyoko, the Colonel, and the other two Espers survive the catastrophe; Kaneda, however, disappears as the blast surrounds him. After the city's destruction, Tetsuo reappears and meets Akira. Volume 4: Kei I Sometime later, an American reconnaissance team led by Lieutenant George Yamada covertly arrives in the ruined Neo-Tokyo. Yamada learns that the city has been divided into two factions: the cult of Lady Miyako, which provides food and medicine for the destitute refugees, and the Great Tokyo Empire, a group of zealots led by Tetsuo with Akira as a figurehead; both worshiped as deities for performing "miracles." The Empire constantly harasses Lady Miyako's group and kills any intruders with Tetsuo's psychic shock troops. Kiyoko and Masaru become targets for the Empire's fanatical soldiers: Kei, Chiyoko, the Colonel, and Kai, a former member of Kaneda's gang, ally themselves with Lady Miyako to protect them. Yamada eventually becomes affiliated with Ryu and updates him on how the world has reacted to the events in Neo-Tokyo; they later learn that an American naval fleet lingers nearby. Tetsuo becomes heavily dependent on government-issued pills to quell his headaches. Seeking answers, he visits Lady Miyako at her temple and is given a comprehensive history of the government project that unleashed Akira. Miyako advises Tetsuo to quit the pills to become more powerful; Tetsuo begins a withdrawal. Meanwhile, Tetsuo's aide, the Captain, stages an unsuccessful Empire assault on Miyako's temple. After the Colonel uses SOL to attack the Empire's army, a mysterious event opens a rift in the sky, dumping Kaneda and massive debris from Akira's second explosion. Volume 5: Kei II Kaneda is reunited with Kei and joins Kai and Joker, the former Clown leader, in planning an assault on the Great Tokyo Empire. Meanwhile, an international team of scientists meets up on an American aircraft carrier to study the recent psychic events in Neo-Tokyo, forming Project Juvenile A. Ryu has a falling out with Yamada after learning that he plans to use biological weapons to assassinate Tetsuo and Akira; Yamada later meets up with his arriving commando team. Akira and Tetsuo hold a rally at the Olympic Stadium to demonstrate their powers to the Empire, culminating with Tetsuo tearing a massive hole in the Moon's surface and encircling it with a ring of debris. Following the rally, Tetsuo's power begins to contort his physical body, causing it to absorb surrounding objects; he later learns that his abuse of his powers has caused them to expand beyond the confines of his body, giving him the ability to transmute inert matter into flesh and integrate it into his physical form. Tetsuo makes a series of visits on board the aircraft carrier to attack the scientists and do battle with American fighter jets. Eventually, Tetsuo takes over the ship and launches a nuclear weapon over the ocean. Kei—accepting the role of a medium controlled by Lady Miyako and the Espers—arrives and battles Tetsuo. Meanwhile, Kaneda, Kai, Joker, and their small army of bikers arrive at the Olympic Stadium to begin their all-out assault on the Great Tokyo Empire. Volume 6: Kaneda As Kaneda and the bikers launch their assault on the stadium, Tetsuo returns from his battle with Kei. As his powers continue growing, Tetsuo's body begins involuntarily morphing, and his cybernetic arm is destroyed as his original arm regrows. He then faces Yamada's team but absorbs their biological attacks and temporarily regains control of his powers. Tetsuo kills Yamada and the commandos; he also eludes the Colonel's attempts to kill him by guiding SOL with a laser designator. Kaneda confronts Tetsuo, and the two begin to fight; Kei joins them. However, the brawl is interrupted when the Americans try to carpet bomb Neo-Tokyo and destroy the city outright with their laser satellite, FLOYD. Tetsuo flies into space and brings down FLOYD, causing it to crash upon the aircraft carrier, killing the fleet admiral and one of the scientists. After the battle, Tetsuo tries to resurrect Kaori, a girl he loved who was killed in the battle. He succeeds to a small degree but is unable to maintain focus. He retreats to Akira's cryogenic chamber beneath the stadium, carrying her body. Kaneda and his friends appear to fight Tetsuo once more, but his powers transform him into a monstrous, amoeba-like mass resembling a fetus, absorbing everything near him. Tetsuo pulls the cryogenic chamber above ground and drops it onto Lady Miyako's temple. Lady Miyako dies while defying Tetsuo after guiding Kei into space to fire upon him with SOL. Kei's attack awakens Tetsuo's full powers, triggering a psychic reaction similar to Akira's. With the help of Kiyoko, Masaru, and the spirit of Takashi, Akira cancels out Tetsuo's explosion with one of his own. They are also able to free Kaneda, who was trapped in Tetsuo's mass. He witnesses the truth about the Espers' power as they, alongside Akira and Tetsuo, ascend to a higher plane of existence. The United Nations sends peacekeeping forces to help the surviving parties of Neo-Tokyo. Kaneda and his friends confront them, declaring the city's sovereignty as the Great Tokyo Empire and warning them that Akira still lives. Kaneda and Kei meet up with the Colonel and part ways as friends. As Kaneda and Kei ride through Neo-Tokyo with their followers, they are joined by ghostly visions of Tetsuo and Yamagata. They also see the city shedding its ruined façade, returning to its former splendor. ==Characters==

; :Kaneda (born September 5, 2003), full name , is the main protagonist of Akira. He is an antiheroic, brash, carefree delinquent and the leader of a motorcycle gang. Kaneda is best friends with Tetsuo, a member who he has known since childhood, but their friendship was ruined after Tetsuo gained and abused his psychic powers. He becomes involved with the terrorist resistance movement and forms an attraction for their member Kei, which eventually develops into a strong romantic bond between the two. During the events of volume 3, Kaneda is surrounded by the explosion caused by Akira and is transported to a place "beyond this world", according to Lady Miyako. Kaneda returns at the end of volume 4, and alongside the Colonel, Joker, Ryu, Kai, Miyako, the Espers and Kei, they take down Tetsuo. Kaneda is ranked as #11 on IGN's Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time list. ;:Kei (born March 8, 2002), is a loyal, high-ranking member of Kaneda's gang. He is known for his unorthodox fashion sense, such as neckties, which he adopts to appear intelligent and sophisticated. He is detained by the army and placed in a reform school following the climax of volume 1, but returns in volume 4. Forming alliances with Kei and Lady Miyako, as well as Joker and Kaneda, he plays an instrumental role in the build-up to Kaneda's showdown with Tetsuo. ;:Yamagata (born November 9, 2003) is a member of Kaneda's gang who serves as Kaneda's right-hand-man. Known for his aggressive, ready-to-fight behavior, he is killed by Tetsuo's powers in volume 1 after attempting to shoot him when Kaneda, unable to kill Tetsuo, loses his gun. ;: Joker is the leader of the Clowns, a motorcycle gang made up of junkies and drug addicts. Joker plays a small role in the beginning but becomes more prominent much later in the story as an ally of Kaneda and Kai. He wears clown face paint and often changes the pattern. ;:Nezu (born December 11, 1964) is an opposition parliament member who is also the leader of the terrorist resistance movement against the government. He seems to be the mentor of Kei and Ryu and purports to be saving the nation from the corrupt and ineffective bureaucrats in power. It soon becomes evident, however, that Nezu is just as corrupt, and all that he seeks to do is to seize power for himself. He later betrays Lady Miyako, as well as various other characters, as he attempts to take control of Akira. After losing Akira, he finds Ryu in a dark corridor with the boy in tow. He attempts to kill Ryu, thinking he is a member of Lady Miyako's group all along. Ryu, however, shoots Nezu. He later tries to shoot Akira before he can be taken into the Colonel's custody. He misses and shoots Takashi in the head, instantly killing him. He is in turn shot and killed by the Colonel's men. ;:Ryu (born May 31, 1992), short for , is a comrade of Kei's in the resistance movement. As the story progresses, Ryu abandons his terrorist roots and becomes more heroic, working with Yamada and guiding Kaneda to Akira's chamber where Tetsuo is held up, but battles with alcoholism. In the final volume, Ryu reluctantly shoots and "kills" Akira when he begins to release his power; he is killed by falling elevator debris shortly afterward. ;: Chiyoko is a tough, heavyset woman and weapons expert who is involved in the resistance and eventually becomes a key supporting character. She acts as a mother figure to Kei. ;:The Doctor (born January 28, 1958), last name , is the head scientist of the secret psychic research project and also serves as the Colonel's scientific advisor. He belonged to the second generation of scientists overseeing the project after Akira killed the first. It is his curiosity and negligence for anyone's well-being that unlocks and nurtures Tetsuo's destructive power in the first place. When Akira is freed by Tetsuo from his cryogenic lair, the Doctor fails to get inside the shelter and freezes to death. ;:Lady Miyako is a former test subject known as 19. She is shown to possess precognitive and telepathic powers, as well as, in the final altercation with Tetsuo, telekinetic abilities. She is the high priestess of a temple in Neo-Tokyo and a major ally of Kaneda and Kei as the story progresses. Lady Miyako is also an initial ally of Nezu and gives Tetsuo a lecture on his powers. She plays an instrumental role in the final battle with Tetsuo at the cost of her own life, and after her death speaks to Kaneda when he, having previously been absorbed by Tetsuo, is transported to a place "beyond this world". :;:Sakaki is an empowered and fond disciple of Lady Miyako and apparent leader of her team of three. Although small and unassuming, she uses her powers to become much faster and stronger than the average person. Tomboyish in appearance, she is sent to battle the Espers, the military, Kaneda, and Nezu to recover Akira. Sakaki only appears in the third volume, in which she is killed by the military. Before her death Lady Miyako utters Sakaki's name, emphasizing their close relationship. :;:Mozu is a girl, plump in appearance, who is an empowered and fond disciple of Lady Miyako. She later teams with Sakaki and Miki to recover Akira. Mozu only appears in the third volume, in which she is killed by a reluctant Takashi who psychically turns her attack back on her. :;:Miki is an empowered girl, gaunt in appearance and third fond disciple of Lady Miyako. She only appears in the third volume, in which she is killed by Nezu's henchmen. ;:The Great Tokyo Empire is a small army which rises amid the ruins of Neo-Tokyo after its destruction at the hands of Akira, made up of crazed zealots who worship Akira as an Emperor for the "miracles" he performs, though the power lies squarely with his so-called Prime Minister, Tetsuo. Disorganized and unruly, the army rejects outside aid and wars with Lady Miyako's followers. Tetsuo secretly drugs the rations distributed to its members. At the end of the story, Kaneda and friends take the Empire's name and declare Neo-Tokyo a sovereign nation, expelling the American and United Nations forces that land in the city. :;:Kaori is a young girl who appears late in the story and is recruited as one of Tetsuo's sex slaves. She later becomes an object of his sincere affections. Kaori also serves as Akira's babysitter. She is later shot in the back by the Captain. Tetsuo attempts to resurrect her but fails. :; :The Captain is an opportunist, posing as a fanatical devotee of Tetsuo who serves him as his aide-de-camp late in the story but secretly desires control of the Great Tokyo Empire. Despite his scheming, the Captain shows some compassion, begging Tetsuo not to kill or harm the young women he has procured for him as they still have families. During the confrontation between Tetsuo and the U.S. Marines, he is caught in the crossfire and is killed by the bacterial gas Yamada uses. :; :The Birdman is one of Tetsuo's elite psychic shock-troops. He wears a blindfold and is frequently standing atop ruined buildings and rafters, observing and reporting on the goings-on within the Empire's turf, and essentially acting as a security system. It is implied that his psychic powers allow him to sense sights and sounds from a great distance, further embodied by the all-seeing eye drawn on his forehead. He also possesses telepathic (his announcements are observed by a Marine to be "like a voice in my head") and telekinetic abilities. Birdman dies when Yamada knocks him from his perch, causing him to fall to his death. :; :The Eggplant man is a member of Tetsuo's shock troops. He is described as a fat, short man with glasses who encounters Yamada and the Marines at Olympic Stadium. He was friends with Birdman, and attempts to telekinetically crush a Marine's heart before being executed by Yamada. ;:Lieutenant Yamada, full name , is a Japanese-American soldier who is sent on a mission to assassinate Akira and Tetsuo in the latter half of the story after Akira has leveled Neo-Tokyo. Yamada plans to kill the two powerful psychics with darts containing a biological poison. He is later joined by a team of U.S. Marines to carry out the mission at the Olympic Stadium after it becomes the headquarters for Akira and Tetsuo's Great Tokyo Empire. However, the biochemical weapons fail to harm Tetsuo, instead giving him temporary control of his expanding powers again. He then kills Yamada. ;:Juvenile A is an international team of scientists who are appointed to investigate psychic events in Neo-Tokyo in the latter half of the story. Its members include , , , , , and lama . ==Production==

Conception Kodansha had been repeatedly asking Katsuhiro Otomo to write a series for their new manga magazine Young Magazine for some time, but he was busy with other work for another publisher and turned them down. After finishing Kanojo no Omoide... (1980) and Farewell to Weapons (1981) for Young Magazine, he started thinking of a new project. From the first meeting with the publisher, Akira was to be a short work of about ten chapters "or something like that," so Otomo said he was "really not" expecting it to be a success. Otomo used a science-fiction setting again the following year in Domu, which won the Nihon SF Taisho Award and Seiun Award and became a bestseller. Not wanting to repeat what happened with that manga, he had the basic plot of Akira outlined from the start in a two-page synopsis and predicted he would finish it in six months. However, just like what happened with Domu, new ideas and problems immediately came up and expanded the story gradually as he wrote. Mark Schilling reported that Otomo has also cited influence from the 1977 live-action film Star Wars on his series. Development With Akira, Otomo wanted to "dig deeper into [his] issues" with speed and flow, telling a story with as few words as possible, "edit it to gain that sense of speed and make people read it faster, and at the same time make them stop cold at the important scenes." The image model for the character Akira was Shōryū from Saiyūki (1960). Otomo liked his sorrowful expression and used him as a reference after deciding to make Akira a child. Otomo was meticulous in creating the collected volumes of Akira, often leading to them being released late. During serialization he faced not only schedule deadlines but also page limits and would have to cut content in order to fit said limit. He therefore would draw rough designs of what he actually "wanted" to draw in the margins of the chapters' manuscripts so that he would remember when time came to redraw the collected volume. He also had to make alterations in the collected volumes due to all the chapter title pages being removed, for example to make sure two-page spreads ended up on opposing pages. He wanted everything about the collected volumes, including the page count and paintings, to give a deep and full American comics feel. The covers are entirely in English, but he said this was not with an eye towards global distribution, he simply "had this incredible enthusiasm to just try to make something new." With its all-English cover, B5 size and painted page edges, the first volume of Akira caused a sensation in Japan. Otomo painted the cover illustration of the first volume very thick, while its inside cover illustration was influenced by Tetsuji Fukushima's manga Sabaku no Maō and how he used colors like American comics. Because the first volume had a "hot" red cover, Otomo felt volume two should have a "cool" one. Its back cover image was created using video, and he said he ruined Kodansha's VCR by repeatedly changing the color balance to get it right. Following the American and European cover images of the previous two volumes, Otomo felt the third should have an Asian one and so included the signs in its background. Its back cover is a composite photograph taken during a race at the Tokyo Racecourse when an image of Akira was shown on the jumbotron. Because the first three images had followed a pattern of "action-silence-action," the artist figured volume four should continue it and so drew Akira sitting down for the cover. Its back cover features an original Akira pinball machine created by Taito with animation cels pasted onto it by Otomo. The cover of volume five was the first to feature an event actually related to the content inside the book. Its back cover features an Otomo-designed decorative bamboo rake that cost 2 million yen to make and features a custom made Miyako doll and mecha models. Otomo felt the sixth cover had to be cool because it was the final one, and as a result it went through the most number of rough designs as he had to really work to get Kaneda's line of sight towards the reader without it feeling forced. For the back cover photograph, a life-size kiosk featuring numerous Akira goods was constructed in Kodansha's studio with cooperation from Sudo Art Workshop and a stage manager from Nikkatsu. Construction, which included two fluorescent signs (cropped out of the final image) and handmade newspapers, and shooting took three days. ==Themes==

Akira, like some of Otomo's other works (such as Domu), revolves around the basic idea of individuals with superhuman powers, especially psychokinetic abilities. However, these are not central to the story, which instead concerns itself with character, societal pressures and political machination. Susan J. Napier identified this morphing and metamorphosis as a factor that marks the work as postmodern: "a genre which suggests that identity is in constant fluctuation." She also sees the work as an attack on the Japanese establishment, arguing that Otomo satirizes aspects of Japanese culture: in particular, schooling and the rush for new technology. Akiras central image of characters aimlessly roaming the streets on motorbikes is seen to represent the futility of the quest for self-knowledge. The work also focuses on loss, with all characters in some form orphaned and having no sense of history. The landscapes depicted are ruinous, with old Tokyo represented only by a dark crater. The nihilistic nature of the work is felt by Napier to tie into a wider theme of pessimism present in Japanese fantasy literature of the 1980s. According to Dolores P. Martinez, the serial nature of the work influenced the storyline structure, allowing for numerous sub-plots, a large cast, and an extended middle sequence. This allowed for a focus on destructive imagery and afforded Otomo the chance to portray a strong sense of movement. The work has no consistent main character, but Kaneda and Tetsuo are featured the most prominently throughout. ==Publication==

Written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira was serialized biweekly in Kodansha's Young Magazine from December 20, 1982, to June 25, 1990. Shimizu said that Kodansha had received offers from many other publishers, including the newly established Viz Media, but Otomo chose Goodwin because he was really close to French artists that Otomo was a fan of. Otomo sent Oliff illustrations that he colored with markers as samples. Coloring lasted from 1988 to 1994, being delayed by Otomo's work on Steamboy. Akira began being published in the American comic book format in the United States in 1988 by Epic Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics. The English-language rights to Akira are currently held by Kodansha Comics, who re-released the manga from 2009 to 2011 through Random House. Kodansha's version is largely identical to the Dark Horse version. ==Volumes==

Sales and awards The first volume, which was released on September 14, 1984, significantly exceeded sales expectations, with its print run increasing from an initial 30,000 copies up to nearly 300,000 copies within two weeks, becoming the number-one best-seller in Japan before eventually selling about 500,000 copies. By 1988, Akira had sold approximately 2 million copies in Japan, from the first four volumes averaging about 500,000 copies each. The manga was published in the United States in 1988, followed by Spain in 1990, France and Italy by 1991, and then Germany, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Brazil thereafter. It was reported by Critique international that by 2000 Akira had sold over copies worldwide, including at least in Japan and overseas via the 38 issues of Epic Comics. By 2005, after the publication of the Dark Horse Comics editions in the original six tankobon volumes, Akira was published in more than a dozen languages worldwide. In 2020, the first volume of Akira became publisher Kodansha's first manga to receive a 100th printing. At a price of in Japan in Japan and overseas, for an estimated total of grossed worldwide. During its run, the seinen manga magazine where it was first serialized, Weekly Young Magazine, experienced an increase in its weekly circulation, from 1 million in 1986 to 1.5 million in 1990. At an average manga magazine price of at the time, the 120 issues serializing Akira sold an estimated total of – million copies and grossed an estimated (). Fans in the United Kingdom voted it Favourite Comic at the 1990 Eagle Awards. It won a Harvey Award for Best American Edition of Foreign Material in 1993, and was nominated for a Harvey for Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work in 2002. In 2002, Akira won the Eisner Awards for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material and Best Archival Collection. The 35th anniversary edition won Best Archival Collection again at the 2018 Eisner Awards, in addition to Best Publication Design. Critical reception Akira is credited with having introduced both manga and anime to Western audiences. According to Kodansha USA's Naho Yamada, "Akira ignited a new generation of dynamism not only in manga but also in European and American comics. Its impact shattered all borders." The Essential Guide to World Comics states that the translation of the work into French in 1991 by Glénat "opened the floodgates to the Japanese invasion." The imagery in Akira, together with that of Blade Runner, formed the blueprint for similar Japanese works of a dystopian nature of the late 1990s, such as Ghost in the Shell and Armitage III. Yamada also said that "Otomo jacked into his generation's frustration with society, in the wake of the defeat of Japan's liberal student movement, and created an epic that, in true Japanese fashion, processed societal trauma through cataclysmic visual symbolism." Akira cemented Otomo's reputation and the success of the animated adaptation allowed him to concentrate on film rather than the manga form in which his career began. She also noted how Tetsuo and Kaneda seem like real teenage boys in the manga, not generic action figures like in the film's "grossly" simplified depiction of their relationship. Although stating that Akiras plot was still as topical as ever in the year 2009, Dacey felt that the art had not aged as gracefully. Pellegrini reviewed the series by making many comparisons to the animated film adaptation, calling the characterizations in the manga both "better and on par" with those in it. Loveridge wrote that "Akira still feels incredibly relevant 35 years later. Giving it a three ½ star rating, Amy McNulty praised Otomo's art and setting. However, she called the characterizations weak and concluded that although Akira "does little to appeal to those who aren't interested in sci-fi, paranormal, or dystopian tales [...] manga fans owe it to themselves to at least check it out." Rebecca Silverman gave the series a rating of three out of five, calling Akira a must-read for anyone interested in manga. ==Related media==

While most of the character designs and basic settings were directly adapted from the original manga, the restructured plot of the movie differs considerably from the print version, changing much of the second half of the series. The film Akira is regarded by many critics as a landmark anime film: one that influenced much of the art in the anime world that followed its release. A video game, simply titled Akira, based on the animated film was released on December 24, 1988, by Taito for the Famicom console. In 2002, Bandai released a pinball simulation titled Akira Psycho Ball for the PlayStation 2. On June 9, 1995, Kodansha released Akira Club, a compilation of various materials related to the production of the series. These include test designs of the paperback volume covers, title pages as they appeared in Young Magazine, images of various related merchandise and commentary by Otomo. Dark Horse collaborated with Kodansha to release an English-translated version of the book in 2007. In 2002, Warner Bros. acquired rights to create an American live action film of Akira. Since the initial announcement, a number of directors, producers and writers have been reported to be attached to the film, starting with Stephen Norrington (writer/director) and Jon Peters (producer). By 2017, it was announced Taika Waititi would officially serve as the director of the live-action adaptation, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Golamco. Warner Bros. planned to distribute the film on May 21, 2021, but after Waititi was officially confirmed to both direct and write Thor: Love and Thunder, the film was put on hold and removed from the release slot. In June 2025, Warner Bros. Pictures allowed the rights to the live-action film lapse, returning to the Akira manga publisher Kodansha. On July 4, 2019, Bandai Namco Arts announced an anime television series to be made by Sunrise (now a division of Bandai Namco Filmworks). ==Legacy==

Akira is considered a landmark work in the cyberpunk genre, credited with spawning the Japanese cyberpunk subgenre. It actually predates the seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer (1984), which was released two years after Akira began serialization in 1982 and was not translated into Japanese until 1985. Akira inspired a wave of Japanese cyberpunk-infused manga and anime works, including Ghost in the Shell, Battle Angel Alita, Cowboy Bebop, and Serial Experiments Lain. Tetsuo Hara cited Akira as an influence on the dystopian post-apocalyptic setting of his manga Fist of the North Star (1983 debut). Manga artist Tooru Fujisawa, creator of Great Teacher Onizuka, cited Akira as one of his greatest inspirations and said it changed the way he wrote. Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has cited both the Akira manga and anime as major influences, particularly as the basis of his own manga career. Bartkira, a fan-made web comic parody of Akira created by Ryan Humphrey, is a panel-for-panel retelling of all six volumes of the manga illustrated by numerous artists contributing several pages each, with Otomo's characters being portrayed by members of the cast of The Simpsons: for example, Kaneda is represented by Bart Simpson, Milhouse Van Houten replaces Tetsuo, and Kei and Colonel Shikishima are portrayed by Laura Powers and Principal Skinner respectively. The city depicted in the first two stages of the 1992 video game Last Resort is very similar to that of Neo Tokyo from the anime film. In the 1998 video game Half-Life, aspects of the level design were influenced directly by scenes from the manga. For example, the diagonal elevator leading down to the sewer canals as well as the design of the canals themselves are taken from scenes in the manga. This was confirmed by Brett Johnson, the developer who designed the levels. The NeoTokyo mod for its 2004 sequel, Half-Life 2, was also inspired by Akira. In the 2002 video game The King of Fighters 2002, Kusanagi and K9999 have an Akira-esque intro before they fight. The Akira Class starship from the Star Trek franchise, first introduced in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First Contact, was named after the anime by its designer Alex Jaeger, of Industrial Light & Magic. In the 1998 film Dark City, one of the last scenes, in which buildings "restore" themselves, is similar to the last panel of the Akira manga. Its writer-director Alex Proyas called the end battle a "homage to Otomo's Akira". Director Josh Trank cited Akira as an influence on the 2012 film Chronicle. Rapper Kanye West has a tribute to the anime film in his 2007 music video for "Stronger". Electronic pop group M83 created a three-part tribute to Akira (and other influences) with their music videos for "Midnight City", "Reunion" and "Wait". Rapper Lupe Fiasco's 2015 album Tetsuo & Youth was loosely inspired by the Akira character Tetsuo Shima. In the original plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Opening Ceremony, Akira was to be featured in order to appeal to Japan's "soft power" among youth. The original plans featured Kaneda riding into the stadium on his motorcycle. As Japan scholar Tagsold notes, there is an inherent irony in the use of Akira to promote the 2020 Olympics. The original manga (and to a lesser extent the film) contains strong anti-Olympic sentiment and contains several references to the 1964 Olympics, and in the story the Olympics are also scheduled to be held in Tokyo in 2020, where they are to symbolize Japan's rebirth and recovery from a nuclear disaster that takes place in the 1980s in the story setting (the dates differ between the manga and the film). Tagsold notes, "By referencing the 1964 Games, Ōtomo paints a highly critical image of the first Tokyo Olympics, reflecting the mood of the early 1980s, when citizens vehemently opposed plans to host the Olympics in Nagoya." Nonetheless, the original plans also included Ōtomo creating an illustration for the ceremony, indicative of his own complex perspective on what the Olympics mean for Japan. Ultimately, the irony of an anti-Olympic story being used to promote the Olympics was avoided when the Olympics themselves were postponed due to the pandemic, and the original production team was replaced. ==Notes==