Akira, Vol. 1

Reviews

1. 

   Ariel – August 14, 2024

   A postapocalyptic vision with extraordinary art
   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.

2. 

   Alejandra Valencia – August 14, 2024

   CALIDAD!!
   Excelente calidad, buenos tiempos de entrega, muy recomendado

3. 

   Kendra Smith – August 14, 2024

   An absolute manga classic
   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.

4. 

   Abai – August 14, 2024

   Wonderful art!
   Beautiful art by Otomo Katsuhiro as always

5. 

   Billy Jackson – August 14, 2024

   Read after watching the classic movie
   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.

6. 

   Zac Hanscom – August 14, 2024

   The Miami Vice of Japan
   Akira, Vol. 1 is the first of six volumes in the 2009 printing of the Akira series. The pages are nearly twice the size of ordinary manga, it’s 360 pages long, and it’s reformatted to read like a Western comic, left to right. Akira is the story of two teenagers, Tetsuo and Kaneda, who ride the streets in stolen motorcycles, take drugs, and generally cause all sorts of trouble. One night, Tetsuo is out riding in the remains of Old Tokyo with Kaneda and their friends when a ghostly figure appears on the road. Tetsuo crashes his motorcycle and is taken to the hospital, where he begins exhibiting psycho kinetic powers.There is very little in Japan that Americans would call “cool.” Its chief exports are technology, manga, puroresu, and anime, and telling a girl about the Showa puroresu you watched on YouTube (Jambo Tsuruta vs. Dory Funk, for instance) will rarely score you any points. But Akira is cool, almost undeniably so. On top of that, it’s perfectly crafted; you can practically hear the motorcycles roaring as you flip through the pages. First serialized in 1981, Akira is literally the Miami Vice of Japan. *****

7. 

   w Kevin O’Brien – August 14, 2024

   Must own. Must. It is a game changer.

8. 

   Ayan – August 14, 2024

   Great art, thick paper quality, Collectibles

9. 

   Jonas – August 14, 2024

   The book came in perfect condition, but some pages where not cut properly and where larger than the other ones.