Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
34th out of 1,500 books
—
3,022 voters
Akira, Vol. 1 (Akira: 6 Volumes #1)
Dark Horse is committed to bringing the finest comics from around the world to America. Now, in association with Kodansha Ltd. and Studio Proteus, Dark Horse has again gathered one of the crown jewels of graphic fiction. Katsuhiro Otomo's stunning science-fiction masterpiece, Akira! Regarded by many as the finest comic series ever produced, Akira is a bold and breathtaking...more
Paperback, 364 pages
Published
January 1st 2001
by Dark Horse
(first published September 21st 1984)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Apr 30, 2012
Nate D
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
motorcycle delinquents and manipulating politicians
Recommended to Nate D by:
teen anime viewing
So apparently I'm doing this manga thing right now. Like many people, I was dazzled by the film version of this as a teen. Now, finally, I'm reading it, and it promises much more (welcome) development. A lot of the tropes are familiar -- post-destruction-of-tokyo, teen rebellion, ill-advised tapping of uncontrollable power -- but this distinguishes itself in a lot of ways:
-Though originally serialized like most manga, it's almost impossible to tell -- the plotting seems that cohesive and fully-...more
-Though originally serialized like most manga, it's almost impossible to tell -- the plotting seems that cohesive and fully-...more
Like many, I read comics as a child, but I was not avid--never a collector--and it was not until I became an adult and returned to comics that I began to look at what they can be, and the stories they can tell. Whatever avidity I lacked then, I have since made up for, becoming an incidental snob for European comics.
Similarly, despite my familiarity as a child with Japanese anime, it is only in recent years that I have returned to that tradition. I watched Dragonball, Sailor Moon, and Ronin Warri...more
Similarly, despite my familiarity as a child with Japanese anime, it is only in recent years that I have returned to that tradition. I watched Dragonball, Sailor Moon, and Ronin Warri...more
5 likes · like · see review
http://andalittlewine.blogspot.com/20...
Of course, if you made it to the Open Mic, you already know what I've been re-reading.
I read a lot of memoirs in graphic novel form, and that is not what Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira is.
For all that made it groundbreaking in the 1980s (one of the first manga to be translated into English), volume one of Akira is also a throwback. The sound effects leap off the page like the old Batman live action tv show. The set-up is classic comic: young men, apparently still...more
Of course, if you made it to the Open Mic, you already know what I've been re-reading.
I read a lot of memoirs in graphic novel form, and that is not what Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira is.
For all that made it groundbreaking in the 1980s (one of the first manga to be translated into English), volume one of Akira is also a throwback. The sound effects leap off the page like the old Batman live action tv show. The set-up is classic comic: young men, apparently still...more
(4.5 stars). If you accept the idea that there can be post-apocalyptic masterpieces of literature, I guess this is one of them.
Now, be warned: if you do not like squalid or simply dark atmospheres, this book is really not for you. On the other hand, if you are tired of bullshit dystopias coming with a list of "features" fed to you about how the world is going to be, etc., this book is for you. It is downright honest (you cannot imagine the writer saying, "Oh, it would be cool if we had..."). It...more
Now, be warned: if you do not like squalid or simply dark atmospheres, this book is really not for you. On the other hand, if you are tired of bullshit dystopias coming with a list of "features" fed to you about how the world is going to be, etc., this book is for you. It is downright honest (you cannot imagine the writer saying, "Oh, it would be cool if we had..."). It...more
Wer oder was ist Akira?
Diese Frage wird in diesem Band leider nicht geklärt, dafür bekommt man eine äußerst dichte, sehr atmosphärische Geschichte präsentiert. "Neuromancer" meets "A Clockwork Orange", und ein guter Schuss "Blade Runner" ist auch mit drin - eine sehr gelungene Mischung. Bereits nach wenigen Seiten ist man in der Geschichte drin und wird immer tiefer hineingezogen.
Die Zeichnungen unterstützen den Erzählfluss und stellen eine heruntergekommene, gespaltene Gesellschaft in einem fi...more
Diese Frage wird in diesem Band leider nicht geklärt, dafür bekommt man eine äußerst dichte, sehr atmosphärische Geschichte präsentiert. "Neuromancer" meets "A Clockwork Orange", und ein guter Schuss "Blade Runner" ist auch mit drin - eine sehr gelungene Mischung. Bereits nach wenigen Seiten ist man in der Geschichte drin und wird immer tiefer hineingezogen.
Die Zeichnungen unterstützen den Erzählfluss und stellen eine heruntergekommene, gespaltene Gesellschaft in einem fi...more
I recently bought this volume for my brother-in-law as a Christmas gift, then pulled the anime off my shelf for another go-around (it's been years since I last saw it), but after the first fifteen minutes decided it was time to re-read the graphic novels, and I am lucky enough to have a public library that has the entire series. I've read them once, but it's been long enough that most of the details of the story are a blur now, and as good as the film version is on its own, it is a mess compared...more
VALUE SECTION: 10/10
Analysis: Historical Value 3/3, Rereadability 3/3, Memorability 4/4
Amongst the most classic manga titles of all times, Akira has passed in history as one of the best dystopian/apocalyptic titles of all times, not only because of its detailed artwork but also because of its themes, angst-ridden characters, and grotesque action/transformation scenes.
ART SECTION: 8/10
Analysis: General Artwork 2/2, Character Figures 1/2, Backgrounds 2/2, Readability 2/2, Visual Effects 1/2
I m...more
Analysis: Historical Value 3/3, Rereadability 3/3, Memorability 4/4
Amongst the most classic manga titles of all times, Akira has passed in history as one of the best dystopian/apocalyptic titles of all times, not only because of its detailed artwork but also because of its themes, angst-ridden characters, and grotesque action/transformation scenes.
ART SECTION: 8/10
Analysis: General Artwork 2/2, Character Figures 1/2, Backgrounds 2/2, Readability 2/2, Visual Effects 1/2
I m...more
I saw the animated movie adaptation of Akira in college and I thought it was pretty sweet. In the years since, I also gradually picked up on the fact that the original manga series was extremely significant in terms of the history of the medium's achievement. I'd always meant to read it someday, even though it's a somewhat daunting task involving thousands of pages collected in six phonebook-sized volumes. This year I resolved to at least start the series, and I recently finished volume 1. Which...more
If I hadn't seen the film version of Akira way back in the late eighties, at a midnight screening at our local Indy theatre (run by the crazy Swede my Dad hated for selling us a nicked table), and if I hadn't watched it repeatedly over the next twenty some years, I'd have read this manga this week with complete disdain. But the movie, luckily, is a masterpiece, and it is based on the full six part manga, so I have some sense of where Akira is going and what makes it worth while.
As a stand alone...more
As a stand alone...more
9 likes · like · see review
Sometimes you have to do things over and over again to realize that you don't like doing them in the first place. Still, I don't have a consistent opinion on how I feel about manga. Probably because manga can succeed and spoil their ways of telling stories. Akira has these teenage boys riding around in the year 2030 who think they're hot shit because they ride around and are jackasses to people, which in essence could encapsulate the essence of teenage boys living in the year 2030. Kaneda, the b...more
I found Akira Vol 1 to be interesting in the new ideas it had and the art was excellent! I do want to know what happens next, so I'll probably keep on reading the Japanese series.
It begins with 15-16 yr old juvenile delinquents, in a gang, all with motorcycles. Those who don't have one, 'find' one on the street. There doesn't seem much of a plot until we realize that the small boy they encountered in an area previously devastated by a large bomb, one that began WWIII, is as old as the event caus...more
It begins with 15-16 yr old juvenile delinquents, in a gang, all with motorcycles. Those who don't have one, 'find' one on the street. There doesn't seem much of a plot until we realize that the small boy they encountered in an area previously devastated by a large bomb, one that began WWIII, is as old as the event caus...more
Akira vol. 1 is the first part of a sci-fi epic, telling the story of a teenage biker gang in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Tokyo who get caught up in a huge government conspiracy involving an army of psycho-telekenetic individuals who are capable of blowing up any and everything in their paths. This apparently induces severe headaches, and their only sedative is a rare and powerful drug. When Tetsuo, one of the bikers, has a crash and discovers he has these powers, it leads to a war between th...more
Set in the post-apocalyptic city of Neo-Tokyo, Akira is a sprawling epic that centers around two childhood friends: a brash, loud-mouthed antihero named Kaneda, and his quiet second fiddle Tetsuo, who, through a series of clandestine government experiments, finds himself the wielder of vast and destructive psychic powers.
The book begins as a slick, cyberpunk style tale, and ends as a dystopian survival story in the shell of Neo-Tokyo’s ruins. Along the way, Otomo explores the issues of friendshi...more
The book begins as a slick, cyberpunk style tale, and ends as a dystopian survival story in the shell of Neo-Tokyo’s ruins. Along the way, Otomo explores the issues of friendshi...more
This 360-page chunk of manga is obviously the start of something big - it's got all that room to play and although it hits a satisfying climax, it is also clearly only the start of something big. Otomo's art is also very interesting, looking neither western nor like the exaggeratedly rounded style that has come to dominate the manga that reaches America. He also manages some exceptionally cinematic layouts, often with extreme widescreen panels that span the top 1/3-1/2 of a two-page spread or di...more
A review of AKIRA by Katsuhiro Otomo.
Let’s get this out of the way first: I watched the animated AKIRA before I ever laid eyes on the actual manga that inspired it. And was blown away by the animation and the themes of teenage rebellion, power and greed. Though, understandably, there seemed to be a lot of loose ends and a lack of characterization in the struggle to remake the story from comics to film. Still, it blew me away.
And so I finally read the entire epic manga over the course of the past...more
Let’s get this out of the way first: I watched the animated AKIRA before I ever laid eyes on the actual manga that inspired it. And was blown away by the animation and the themes of teenage rebellion, power and greed. Though, understandably, there seemed to be a lot of loose ends and a lack of characterization in the struggle to remake the story from comics to film. Still, it blew me away.
And so I finally read the entire epic manga over the course of the past...more
I've never been a big fan of anime - I usually find the animation too stilted. I vaguely remember seeing Akira about 20 years ago and vaguely enjoying it, though I was kind of tired and actually fell asleep...
With that out of the way, this stuff is right at home as a comic. It's awesome.
Here's where anime goes wrong. Essentially they take manga and add some motion to the panels. This fails! As presented on a page, your mind fills in the action that occurs in the gutter. Presented on a screen, th...more
With that out of the way, this stuff is right at home as a comic. It's awesome.
Here's where anime goes wrong. Essentially they take manga and add some motion to the panels. This fails! As presented on a page, your mind fills in the action that occurs in the gutter. Presented on a screen, th...more
(my review here concerns all six volumes of AKIRA, not just the first...for all intents and purposes, I give every volume 5 stars and consider them among the best of the best)
An epic 2,000+ page graphic novel that is acclaimed and has been for years, rightfully so. Katsuhiro Otomo created a truly original and entertaining look at a possible future for Tokyo, one that is eye-opening and horrifying. To summarize it is pointless, just go into this bad boy knowing that Tokyo was destroyed in WWIII a...more
An epic 2,000+ page graphic novel that is acclaimed and has been for years, rightfully so. Katsuhiro Otomo created a truly original and entertaining look at a possible future for Tokyo, one that is eye-opening and horrifying. To summarize it is pointless, just go into this bad boy knowing that Tokyo was destroyed in WWIII a...more
"Welcome to Neo-Tokyo"
Akira as we know it,is what you called the 'Godfather' of modern manga. What makes it different from other mangas is that it injects a sense of 'Western' storytelling in the plot. It has that meticulous attention to details,frame by frame,but at the same time still maintaining the charm of a manga. Otomo has a knack of making the plot and action so engaging and kinetically addictive,that it is so hard to put the book down. I finished it in one sitting,spending a whole after...more
Akira as we know it,is what you called the 'Godfather' of modern manga. What makes it different from other mangas is that it injects a sense of 'Western' storytelling in the plot. It has that meticulous attention to details,frame by frame,but at the same time still maintaining the charm of a manga. Otomo has a knack of making the plot and action so engaging and kinetically addictive,that it is so hard to put the book down. I finished it in one sitting,spending a whole after...more
Katsuhiro hits the ground running. This first volume introduces us to the major characters and swings us rather quickly into the story. As a result, the characters do not have much of a chance to develop. Of course, this is rectified over the course of the series but it may throw off new readers. That said, Katsuhiro's storytelling through art is simply magnificent. The dialogue is sparse but effective.
For first time readers, a tale of rebel teenagers in Neo-Tokyo getting caught up in military...more
For first time readers, a tale of rebel teenagers in Neo-Tokyo getting caught up in military...more
May 09, 2012
Mary Grace
added it
This book took me a long time to read. Much longer than other graphic novels. Partly because it was so good, and the other part being it was very confusing. If you like action graphic novels, then this is definitely for you. Many pows, blams, and other various onomatopoeia ..... things. I'd mainly recommend it to people who like the sci-fi sorts, but if you like action then it'll work for your tastes as well. Overall the book was great. A little bit confusing at first, so I had to go re-read a c...more
Kaneda is a disaffected rebellious teenage boy growing up in dystopian 2030 Neo-Tokyo, a city built around a crater of destruction from the massive detonation that exploded in the heart of Tokyo at 2.17pm on December the 6th 1992. He leads his gang of anarchic motorcyling teenage delinquents breaking into the zone of destruction and his friend Tetsuo is badly wounded as they crash trying to avoid a mysterious wrinkled faced child who disappears. Tetsuo is taken away by mysterious forces and retu...more
Akira is amazing. Katsuhiro Otomo also wrote the movie (which is amazing in it's own right) so there is a lot of fan service with this series. Akira is about two street-smart punks growing up in Neo-Tokyo, aptly named after being destroyed once by a giant nuclear explosion. After suffering a near fatal motorcycle accident, one of these main characters gains extraordinary mental powers and unleashes the power that plunged the world into war for a third time - Akira. The other main character, Kane...more
I'm assuming that you've heard of Akira. If you haven't, well, read this comic. And once you've finished it, watch the animated film based on it, which is really a visual treat, and one of two indomitable classics of the 1990s.
Akira's another one of those stories about youth culture gone wrong. The youths in question are delinquents who do drugs, ride around on motorcycles that go much too fast, and perform acts of violence. Completely by accident, they stumble on a drug that gives one of them i...more
Akira's another one of those stories about youth culture gone wrong. The youths in question are delinquents who do drugs, ride around on motorcycles that go much too fast, and perform acts of violence. Completely by accident, they stumble on a drug that gives one of them i...more
Usually, I'm not into manga (or anime) at all, but at the suggestion of a friend, I checked out volume 1 of the famed Akira series, and I'm glad I did. As Kaneda, head of a local youth biker gang in dystopian Japan, nearly loses his best friend Tetsuo a motorcycle accident, he quickly learns that there are more powerful forces at work in the world than he ever imagined. When Tetsuo awakens with latent psychic abilities now ravaging his mind, a series of events is kicked off involving secret gove...more
Holy crap! I was given the first issue of Akira as a gift in Japanese when I was a kid, and was compelled by the art, but unfortunately unable to translate any of the dialog. I picked up a few issues when it was published in America, but remained happy enough with the movie to never really pursue the comics series. I'm not sure what compelled me to buy the TPB's, but I haven't been more amazed at a series since Bone. Otomo had created an entire universe that I was completely ignorant of. Pick th...more
Huh. Well, this is disappointing.
I've seen the movie several times and it was always clear that it was heavily truncated, so I decided to read the first volume of the manga. I actually found it more difficult to follow than the film, for even though this helped clarify some aspects, it created further problems.
It seemed about four times that Kaneda would stumble into another important character by chance, simply by being in the right place at the right time.
The pacing was also problematic for m...more
I've seen the movie several times and it was always clear that it was heavily truncated, so I decided to read the first volume of the manga. I actually found it more difficult to follow than the film, for even though this helped clarify some aspects, it created further problems.
It seemed about four times that Kaneda would stumble into another important character by chance, simply by being in the right place at the right time.
The pacing was also problematic for m...more
I saw the anime first and loved it. Since the manga contained more details than the anime, I decided to give it a try. If you're a fan of the anime, definitely check out the manga since the anime was completed while the manga itself was still ongoing (therefore there are more details not mentioned in the anime).
Even if you're not a big fan of the anime, if you're usually into sci-fi series, give it a try. I've known some people who didn't like the anime as much but enjoyed the manga (maybe becau...more
Even if you're not a big fan of the anime, if you're usually into sci-fi series, give it a try. I've known some people who didn't like the anime as much but enjoyed the manga (maybe becau...more
The anime has always been one of the greats for me, while admittedly only having seen it once as a kid. But it has left a mark with its story and visuals. With that fascination it once had over me I couldn't say no to the opportunity to read the manga. The beginning of the volume was slow, with very little text and sense of what is going on, but half-way through it the suspense of Akira and the story is built up, so it's difficult to put the book down. That thrill lasts to the end and gets more...more
For those who know a bit about graphic novels, you'll know that this is one of the most famous series of all times. It's a bit intimidating to be honest when you look at the thickness of one volume and realize how many there are! But I found myself glued to the pages the minute I started reading. The art is simple yet complete. The story line is very engaging. And the character development is strong. You actually want to see good things happen to the protagonist. Otomo has crafted out quite a na...more
I absolutely adore the film Akira, and always wanted to read the manga. Thank goodness for good bookshops! =) The artwork in this book is absolutely superb, you have to really spend a good deal of time taking it all in. The plot is fantastic and in so much more depth than the film, which, while I love it, had to cut out much, including much of Kei's plot development. A masterpiece, really, and something that makes me irritated that I can't draw. Otomo is a genius, and this work is superbly well-...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphic Novel Rea...: Official 14th Book Club Discussion: Akira, Vol. 1 by Katsuhiro Otomo - February 2013 (may contain spoilers) | 12 | 52 | Feb 28, 2013 02:46pm |
Katsuhiro Otomo (大友 克洋, Otomo Katsuhiro) is a Japanese manga artist, film director, and screenwriter. He is perhaps best known for being the creator of the manga Akira and its anime adaptation, which are extremely famous and influential. Otomo has also directed several live-action films, such as the recent 2006 feature film adaptation of the Mushishi manga.
Katsuhiro Otomo was born in the former to...more
More about Katsuhiro Otomo...
Katsuhiro Otomo was born in the former to...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Apr 30, 2012 01:01pm
Apr 30, 2012 02:12pm
Apr 30, 2012 02:13pm