The creator of the Eisner award-winning, and cyberpunk sci-fi redefining Akira manga Katsuhira Otomo teased a new work on October 25, 2023. Otomo teased his new manga at the Akira Cel Exhibition in Osaka through a fictional character named Kiyoko, likely drawn by Otomo himself. In the picture, Kiyoko says, “Otomo-sensei is drawing a new work,” signifying the revelation that she saw in a dream. Otomo confirms this dream and the new work in a post via X where he says, “Kiyoko’s prophetic dream becomes a reality.”
It’s not the first time Otomo has indicated he was working on a new manga. The Akira creator’s comments teasing a new long manga in 2012 and 2018 roused similar excitement, although these never came to fruition. The post quickly went viral, amassing 3.5mn views in 2 days, a testament to his popularity and the influence of his manga. Akira debuted in Kodansha’s Young Magazine from December 1982 to June 1990 and was a pioneer for manga coming from Japan to the West. The series spawned an animated movie that grossed nearly $50mn against its ~$6mn budget and is ranked by many fans as the greatest anime movie of all time. The manga is a bestseller, with well over 100mn copies in circulation.
Kodansha USA licenses the Akira manga under its Kodansha Comics imprint, and describes it:
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.
Source: Otomo’s Official X
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