Any fans of this awesome classic manga? i've been a fan of it for 16 years since i was 14 after i discovered/adored the animated movie and bought some back issues from comic stores in my city and comic conventions and have them in trade paperbacks. Katsuhiro Otomo is quite an artist and genius as he made the most famous manga ever and an influential work of art that ranks with other comics like Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns and more.
I can't say enougth good stuff about Akira or Otomo's skill as a visual storyteller, easily one of the great creative monuments in comics.
I saw the animated version as a kid, and didn't get the hype, until years later, when I finally read the phone-book sized collections of the manga. THOSE blew me away, and I'd reccommend them to others as a great example of sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, and social commentary.
I have loved this since I started getting the singles as the movie was on tour when I was young. I still have a few holes in my set. I also have the film on several media and of multiple versions.
I love the first two volumes a lot. But book 3 is kind of one, long, mindless chase that doesn't advance the plot or the characters at all. Book 4 improves a little, but then Otomo dragged out book 5 to keep the story going one volume longer than originally planned, to end in a 6th book. Also, somewhere towards the end of book 3 and beginning of book 4, the art started to take on more of an assembly-line look. The characters look less organic and individually-drawn than in the earlier books. Basically, I love books 1 & 2, but think the rest of the series kind of doesn't live up to the promise of those first two.
Is Akira available as a collection, or are those massive door stoppers I've seen the individual books?
The door stoppers are the collections. Individual releases from Epic numbered up to 37 or 39, can't remember which. The collections go from 1-6.
The Epic (Marvel Comics) issues were interesting because they were completely re-lettered to appeal to a 1980s Western audience not used to manga. The word balloon shapes and placements were all reworked to look American style. The flow is completely different. And the sound effects were all done in an American style, too. The Epic series also featured very early computer coloring, which is interesting to look at now. I think the book looks better in its original black and white, although the Kodansha english edition has its faults, too. But the Kodansha version is definitely the best option available for non-Japanese speakers so far.
I enjoyed the movie, but to this day, I can't tell you why. I didn't really understand half of it. I've always been interested in reading the manga, but the collosal size has always put me off. I like to read in bed, and those don't look like you can read them comfortably. Also, I'm not sure I have space on the shelf either! It's a shame there's no digital version.
I agree with HordakFan. The manga has a lot more explanation than the movie. Also characters that may only briefly appear in the movie have entire stories in the manga. I have most of the Epic singles so I never bothered with the collections. Some day I'll complete my set.
