Katsuhiro Otomo's comic serial premiered in December, 1982. For many, the 1988 movie based on the comic is THE one that got them hooked on anime. Katsuhiro Otomo started Akira the manga series circa 1982. The series went on for several years until Otomo decided to make a film out of it. He wrote the screenplay and directed the film which took 3 years in the making. The budget of 1,000 million yen back in 1988 was unprecedentedly high, particularly for an anime project. The result is a lush, creative, decadent near-futuristic sci-fi epic like no other.

The story is set in the post-apocalyptic community of Neo-Tokyo. Tetsuo is a fiercely individualistic member of a scroungy motorcycle gang. The despotic authorities, the robot-like police, and even the cycle gang pursue Tetsuo when he's bombarded with a new, insidious energy source that has rendered him telekinetic. Budgeted at eight million dollars, Akira has become a cult favorite in the States thanks to generous midnight-movie exposure and its availibilty on video and cable TV.