#Manga studio 5 serial numbers series#

Meanwhile, Kaneda becomes involved with Kei, a member of a terrorist organization that stage attacks against the government.

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. This incident awakens psychic powers in Tetsuo, attracting the attention of a secret government project directed by JSDF Colonel Shikishima. While exploring the ruins of old Tokyo, Tetsuo Shima, a member of the bōsōzoku gang led by Shōtarō Kaneda, is accidentally injured when his bike crashes after Takashi - a child Esper with wizened features - blocks his path. Although Neo-Tokyo is set to host the XXXII Olympic Games, the city is gripped by anti-government terrorism and gang violence. By 2019, a new city called Neo-Tokyo has been built on artificial islands in Tokyo Bay. On December 6, 1982, an apparent nuclear explosion destroys Tokyo and starts World War III. The manga won several awards, including the Kodansha Manga Award, a Harvey Award, and four Eisner Awards. The adaptation also marked Otomo's transition from a career primarily in manga to one almost exclusively in anime.Īkira was instrumental in the surge in popularity of manga outside Japan, especially in the United States and France.

The film was similarly lauded and has served as a significant influence to the anime industry and sci-fi media as a whole. The manga also achieved international commercial success, selling millions of copies worldwide.Īn animated film adaptation released in 1988 shortened the plot considerably, but retained many of the manga's primary characters and plot elements alongside additional scenes, settings, and motifs. Widely regarded as a landmark work in cyberpunk and credited with pioneering the Japanese cyberpunk subgenre, Akira received universal acclaim from readers and critics, with Otomo's artwork, storytelling, characters, and exploration of mature themes and concepts subject to particular praise.

Otomo uses conventions of the cyberpunk genre to detail a saga of political turmoil, social isolation, corruption, and power. Set in a post-apocalyptic and futuristic 'Neo-Tokyo', more than two decades after a mysterious explosion destroyed the city, the story centers on teenage biker gang leader Shotaro Kaneda, militant revolutionary Kei, a trio of espers, and Neo-Tokyo military leader Colonel Shikishima, who attempt to prevent Tetsuo Shima, Kaneda's mentally unbalanced childhood friend, from using his unstable and destructive telekinetic abilities to ravage the city and awaken a mysterious entity with powerful psychic abilities named 'Akira'.

Considered a watershed title for the medium, the manga is also famous for spawning the seminal 1988 cyberpunk anime film adaptation of the same name and the greater franchise. It is currently published by Kodansha Comics in North America. It was initially published in the United States by Marvel Comics under its Epic imprint, becoming one of the first manga works to be translated in its entirety into English. It was serialized biweekly in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Young Magazine from December 20, 1982, to June 25, 1990, with its 120 chapters collected into six tankōbon volumes.

#Manga studio 5 serial numbers series#

Akira ( アキラ, stylized as AKIRA) is a Japanese cyberpunk manga series written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo.