Katsuhiro Otomo
Katsuhiro Otomo is a Japanese manga artist, film director, and screenwriter. For his works in Japanese see 大友克洋. 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 town of Hasama, in Miyagi Prefecture. As a teenager growing up in the turbulent 1960s, he was surrounded by the demonstrations of both students and workers against the Japanese government. The riots, demonstrations, and overall chaotic conditions of this time would serve as the inspiration for his best known work, Akira. Some would argue that this seminal work is an allegory of 1960s Japan, and that one could easily substitute the year 2019 for 1969 and leave little difference in the basic story. The animation from this period (especially the works coming out of Tokyo animation studios Mushi Production and Toei Doga, now known as TOEI Animation) were influencing young Otomo. Works like Tetsujin 28-go, Astro Boy, and Hols: Prince of the Sun would help push Otomo toward a career in animation. However, it was the films coming out of America that were driving his rebellious nature. Five Easy Pieces and Easy Rider would serve as inspiration for Shotaro Kaneda and his biker gang in Akira: rebellious youth who took too many drugs and didn't care about authority or the pressures put on them by their parents' generation. Otomo has recently worked extensively with noted studio Sunrise with the studio animating and producing his most recent projects, the 2004 feature film Steamboy, 2006's Freedom Project and his latest project, SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next, released in 2007. Otomo grew up a fanatic of American blockbusters, which has influenced his cinematic style throughout his huge career. He grew fond of the work of artists like Moebius, and is often regarded as the person who brought a Westernized style into manga. From the late seventies onwards, Otomo created numerous volumes of anthologies and short stories, which usually ran at 23 pages each. Serialization for Fireball was cancelled, though the premise and themes were later to appear in the Sci-Fi Grand Prix award winning Domu and Akira. Otomo later moved onto directing and creating notable anime like the film adaption of Akira, Memories, and Steamboy. His most recent manga have been the scripting of Mother Sarah and the short story Park released in an issue of Pafu last year. He has also directed several live action films, such as World Apartment Horror, Give Us A Gun/Give Us Freedom, and the 2006 feature film adaptation of the Mushishi manga.
30 Books Written
Welcome to Neo-Tokyo, built on the ashes of a Tokyo annihilated by a blast of unknown origin that triggered World War III. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, making him a target for a shadowy agency that will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like the one that leveled Tokyo. At the core of the agency’s motivation is a raw, all-consuming fear of an unthinkable, monstrous power known only as Akira.Katsuhiro Otomo’s stunning science fiction masterpiece is considered by many to be the finest work of graphic fiction ever produced, and Otomo’s brilliant animated film version is regarded worldwide as a classic.This edition includes a new foreword from the author and a postscript from Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson!
In the year 2019, a cataclysmic blast levels the city of Tokyo and triggers World War III. By 2030, the dazzling Neo-Tokyo rises from Tokyo's ashes, but the power that once sent the world to the brink of Armageddon-a being of monstrous telekinetic power known only as Akira-lives on in absolute-zero frozen stasis far below the city. Those who stand guard will stop at nothing to keep Akira from awakening, but an angry young man named Tetsuo, himself possessing of immense-and rapidly growing-psychic abilities, becomes obsessed with confronting Akira face-to-face. In time, Akira will surely awaken, and Tetsuo may be the only being potentially capable of controlling him, but Tetsuo is becoming increasingly unstable and violent, and a group including his former friend Kaneda sets out to destroy Tetsuo before he can release Akira-or before Tetsuo himself becomes so powerful that no force on Earth can stop him!
In the 21st century, the glittering Neo-Tokyo has risen from the rubble of a Tokyo destroyed by an apocalyptic telekinetic blast from a young boy called Akira -- the subject of a covert government experiment gone wrong now imprisoned in frozen stasis. But Tetsuo, an angry young man with immense and rapidly growing psychic abilities, has done the unthinkable: he has released Akira and set into motion a chain of events that could once destroy the city and drag the world to the brink of Armageddon. Resistance agents and an armada of government forces race against the clock to find the child with godlike powers before his unthinkable destructive abilities are unleashed!
Set off by the bullet of a would-be assassin, Neo-Tokyo has been leveled by Akira's godlike psychic fury. Now cut off from the rest of world, the Great Tokyo Empire rises, with Akira its king, Tetsuo its mad prime minister, and a growing army of fanatic acolytes. Forces on the outside still search for a way to stop Akira, and the answer may lie in the hands of the mysterious Lady Miyako, a powerful member of Akira's psychic brotherhood. But the solution to harnessing Akira may ultimately be more dangerous than Akira himself!
In the 21st century, the once-glittering Neo-Tokyo lies in ruins, leveled in minutes by the infinite power of the child psychic giant, Akira. Now a wasteland of rubble and anarchy, the Great Tokyo Empire rises, a ragtag group of zealots and crazies who worship and fear Akira and his mad prime minister, Tetsuo, an angry teen with immense powers of his own -- and equally immense twisted ambitions. The planet at large is not taking the threat lying down, however, and the might of the world is ready to take on the Empire, but will technology's most advanced weaponry be enough to destroy Akira -- and is Tetsuo an ever greater threat?
The explosive finale to one of graphic fiction's greatest achievements is here! The mad psychic colossus Tetsuo, the world's military, and the remaining psychics of The Project face off -- with the child psychic god, Akira, the wild card -- in what may not only decide the fate of mankind, but may determine the next step in human evolution! This long-awaited volume -- a staggering 440 pages -- features the impossible-to-find final chapters of Akira, never before collected in the U.S., presented as they were intended to be seen in their original, stunning black and white! Featuring a revised translation and top-quality art reproduction, this is the final edition of one of comics' definitive works, a six-volume epic of over two thousand pages. Katsuhiro Otomo's entire masterpiece is finally available -- only from Dark Horse!
Old Cho, a disturbed old man with psychic powers, takes control of an apartment complex and causes the tenants to kill themselves or others, but is finally challenged by Etsuko, a young girl with her own psychic talents.
[Volume 1 - Volume 2 - Volume 3 - Volume 4 - Volume 5 - Volume 6 - Akira Club]An all-new, complete 35th anniversary hardcover box set of one of the most acclaimed and influential comics of all time, with the original Japanese art and right-to-left reading format for the first time! The science fiction epic that changed anime and manga forever is presented in six beautiful hardcover volumes, plus the hardcover Akira Club art book and an exclusive patch with the iconic pill design.In 1982, Kodansha published the first chapter of Akira, a dystopian saga set in Neo-Tokyo, a city recovering from thermonuclear attack where the streets have been ceded to motorcycle gangs and the rich and powerful run dangerous experiments on destructive, supernatural powers that they cannot control. In 1988, the manga was adapted into what was at the time the most expensive animated film ever made, which brought Akira's influence out of the manga world and onto the global stage. Today, it remains a touchstone for artists, writers, filmmakers, and fans, retaining all the brutal impact and narrative intensity it had when Otomo first unleashed it onto the world.
Now available for the first time in an English-language edition, Akira Club is an essential companion to Akira, a dazzling collection of Otomo's mind-blowing visions, including over 100 title-page illustrations created for the original serialization but not included with the published collections of Akira. The book also features rarely seen alternate art, preliminary drawings, production sketches and a variety of Akira posters, advertisements and products, all accompanied by fascinating commentary by the artist himself. No Akira enthusiast, manga fan, or devotee of fantasy and science-fiction illustration should be without Akira Club.
Voici un recueil d'histoires courtes de Katsuhiro Otomo. Bien qu'antérieurs aux fameux "Akira" et "Dômu", certains de ces récits posent déjà les bases de ce que deviendra l'oeuvre de Katsuhiro Otomo. D'autres histoires vous feront découvrir un auteur dont le talent s'exprime aussi bien à travers la science-fiction que l'humour. En tout ce sont dix histoires d'un maître du manga à découvrir absolument !
Collectible comic. Limited and long out of print. Comes shipped in protective comic bag.
"Chapter 16: Akira Unleashed"
2030. Néo-Tokyo est devenue une gigantesque poubelle hi-tech. Tetsuo, Kanéda et leur bande de jeunes du centre d'insertion et d'apprentissage professionnel foncent dans la nuit sur des motos volées, sans autre but que de repousser toujours plus loin les limites du speed. Quand ils croisent un drôle de petit garçon au visage de vieillard, leur premier réflexe est de l'agresser mais cette créature perdue possède un étrange moyen de défense... Ils viennent de faire connaissance avec le nº26 et de franchir, sans s'en rendre compte, la première étape d'un processus irréversible : le réveil d'Akira...
Limited edition long out of print.
2030. Néo-Tokyo est devenue une gigantesque poubelle hi-tech. Tetsuo, Kanéda et leur bande de jeunes du centre d'insertion et d'apprentissage professionnel foncent dans la nuit sur des motos volées, sans autre but que de repousser toujours plus loin les limites du speed. Quand ils croisent un drôle de petit garçon au visage de vieillard, leur premier réflexe est de l'agresser mais cette créature perdue possède un étrange moyen de défense... Ils viennent de faire connaissance avec le nº26 et de franchir, sans s'en rendre compte, la première étape d'un processus irréversible : le réveil d'Akira...
COLLECTIBLE - Epic Comics 1989
Welcome to the vampire city of Saruta, where the sun never rises, and all the vampire children love trying to stay up late. Hipira is a precocious young vampire whose best friend is a fairy named Soul. Hipira and Soul are an odd couple to say the least, and their games, pranks and adventures are extraordinary even for dwellers of this supernatural city. Hipira is a delightfully bright twist to traditionally dark subject matter. Filled with fun, wonder and heart, the illustrations look like they have been pulled off the screen of a top-flight animated feature. Hipira is a children's book like no other, one that will appeal to readers of all ages.
