"Akira". The name most anime fans of my generation associate with anime. It was the first uncensored anime movie released by a Western company (Streamline); and it was the basis of the Western anime market. I wouldn't be into anime or manga if it wasn't for Akira. Even today, Katsuhiro Otomo (creator, director and so many other occupations) is at the top of my list for all-time favorite artists. He's re-defined anime and manga to make it more than just fan-service. He proved that anime/manga can be used for powerful social statements-even providing an existentialist atmosphere-and still sell. Ever since I saw the Akira anime, I snatched up the Streamline subtitled version (40 bucks back then, and virtually non-existent until now. A big thanks to Pioneer for their upcoming bilingual dvd of Akira. ) But that wasn't enough. I had to see everything Otomo, including Neo-Tokyo, Harmageddon [He did chara designs for it.], Roujin Z, Memories, etc. And naturally, it wasn't just anime. I was getting all the manga as well. I collected the Akira manga, the single issues of Domu before they were sold as one graphic novel, and even the Legend of Mother Sarah, before Dark horse cancelled it. [I hear they re-issued that series, but I'd be too far behind to keep up.] I've gotten a lot of manga titles, but Akira stands out because 1)It's the only color manga I've ever collected, and 2)It's the only lengthy manga series I've had the priviledge of finishing. It took me a good 2-3 years to finish it, because when Marvel picked it up, they only managed to translate 33 issues. [It took me about 2-3 years to ever get the last 5. I can't even COUNT the number of times I asked my local comic store when the next ones would come in.] Apparently, the reason for the delay was that Otomo's Japanese fans didn't like the ending, so he had to change it before the manga was translated here. Then of course there was the fact that I had to look through conventions and old comic shops just to find back issues. (Some of which costed 25 bucks!) Anyway, as a consolation to American fans who waited so long, Marvel decided to let their artists write their own Akira doujinshi(fan manga)at the back of issues 34-38, so that we'd get something extra for our time and money. So 5-6 years later, Dark Horse's manga translation department-Studio Proteus-has made it easier for the next generation of fans to get Akira without having to sift through old comic bins. They even have the decency to sell it at 300 pages-and at 6 books-for 25 bucks each. [For those who actually got their hands on the Marvel versions of these books, they would've had to shell as much as forty dollars! I alone collected single issues at about 50-80 pages for an average of 5-7 bucks a piece. Unless of course they were the ones before issue 15. Then I'd be paying anywhere from 10-25 dollars per issue, as I mentioned earlier.] I was obviously not going to drop my hard-earned manga for these new versions; but as a fan, I feel that I should review the manga for the fans who never got to read it the first time around. Now, as I've stated earlier, the Marvel versions were made in color. For purists who prefer black and white manga, it would seem like a sin. But for me, it felt like I had the anime on paper. The inkists were THAT GOOD! So I was slightly disappointed that Dark horse decided to only leave some of the pages in color, and the rest in b+w. They did the same with Ghost in the Shell, since the Japanese version of that was in color too. Also, I'd have preferred that if they were going to charge me 10 more dollars than they usually do-for their graphic novels-that they'd at least have the decency to make it a hardcover so that non-fans don't have to chip in extra for huge plastic bags to protect their manga. As for the translation? Well I only skimmed through a few pages, but it seems flawless to me. [I've been told that one of the characters-Kay-was originally called Kei in the Japanese version, but that's semantics, and I'm not going to verify whether Dark Horse kept that name in.] I know the Marvel manga by heart, and it looked as if Dark Horse used the exact wording found in my version. I was pleased that Dark Horse used the bio of Otomo that was at the back of the first two Marvel issues. Hopefully, they'll also include the other Otomo information and art [found in Marvel] in future issues. I think Dark Horse even uses the original Japanese book covers for the books they've released here. But I can't verify that part. I have to warn new readers that Akira had some sexual content in later volumes, and Dark Horse has been known to censor that kind of material to sell their manga to the mainstream. [There was a racy scene that was lifted from the American translation of the Ghost in the Shell manga.] So hopefully, Dark Horse will have the decency to preserve that content in the later volumes of Akira. But overall, I'd give a B+, in terms of it's appearance, translation, and extras. Now the story. For those who don't know, Akira takes place in Neo-Tokyo, the old one having been destroyed by a huge explosion which sparks World War III. The manga starts off when a biker gang-member named Tetsuo is attacked by a psychic boy named Takahashi. Tetsuo is then separated from his comrades-Kaneda, Kai, and Yamagata-and experimented on by the military. Kaneda is arrogant, yet charismatic, while Tetsuo is the black sheep of the gang.But things start to change when Tetsuo gets implanted with the same psychic abilities used against him. Honing his powers, Tetsuo attacks rival gangs in order to get the drugs needed to control his withdrawal. Kaneda, meanwhile, meets up with an underground resistance group, led by the assertive and determined Kay and her easy-going, yet cautious "brother" Ryu. [I never did understand their relationship.] Tetsuo and Kaneda both want to find out about this mysterious Akira project that the military was involved in. But both boys have different motives for finding Akira, and when their paths cross, tensions will escalate. What you can expect from this volume is a large amount of action, as well as explosions of buildings and people. [That last part was a warning for those who are uneasy about violence in manga.] But the end of this book is just a sample of the chaos that is to come in later books. And believe me when I say that you will be riveted by the time you reach the end. You will want to know what happens next. That's why I give the manga itself an A+. Sure, I could tell fans NOT to buy the manga, just because of my issues with the color. But then that would be like certain reviewers telling people not to buy Wings of Honeamise on dvd, because their LD version has slightly better picture quality. I prefer to encourage interest, not discourage sales; so go ahead and grab a piece of the legend that was around before Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing!