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KATSUHIRO

OTOMO

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AKIRA

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OTOMO

In1970,Japan'scomic magazine industry was drvidedroughlyintotwo types d[ publications.One was lor luvenile readers,from children

jptomiddleteens. Theotherwasloranadjil audienceconsistingmainlyol youngsalariedworkers. Kodansha,Ltd.,oneof the country's largest publishers, leltthattherewas an mter-mediate group being missed: highschool andcollege ;tudents, areadership .ensitivBtonewtrends developinginfilm,music, lashion, allformsofthe arts and entertainment.

Voung Magazine, a 300 lagebiweekly,was designed torthispotentialaudience. But findingexactlythe right material tocapturethe imaginationof anew reader-shipproveddifficult.Fortwo yearsYoungMagazine struggled.Duringthistime, it attractedthemteres t of rliSt-writerKatsuhiro Otomo.

Sincethe publication of his firstworkin1973— adapting theshort novelMateo Falcone by Prosper Merimee—Otomo'srepu

ta-rnhadsteadilygrown,based 1anumberofunique aed

(20 to3D pagesinlength rather thanthehundreds,sometimes thousands,thatanongoing

mics)Someofthesedealt with fantasyand science-fictionthemes,many with slice-of-tifecontemporary drama;allhad avisual spirit and rhythmthat reflected Dtomo'sfeelings fornew wave cinema and modern \an

Withthe publication of Domuin 19B3,Otomo enjoyed hisgreatest success. This230 page comic

—

which centers upon aconflictbetween two dwellersinamodern dayhigh riseapartment complex,anold man and younggirl,each possessingdeadlypsychic powers— becameabestseller andwent ontowinJapan science-fictionGrand Pnxfor story oftheyear(previously thisprizehadonlybeen awardedtonovels]

The successofDomu and reactions toanearlierwork— the still tobe completed series.Fireball- dealing withahuman versus mega-computer theme,ledOtomoto consider doing an evenlarger scalescience-fictionstory.

Thestorywas Akira. And ecause helikedthenew direction itwastaking,Young Magazine was where Otomo chosetopresentthismajor work, which,when complete, would bea sixvolume graphic novel.

Readerreaction to the first 25pagesegmentof the series toappearm Voung Magazine was overwhelming. The materialbroke withtradition and touched anerve. Circula-tionbeganto rise.Thenew audiencehadbeen found Todaythereareabouthalf a dozentitles likeYoung Magazine.YoungMagazine andtwoothershavea circulation ofoveronemillior

comicsseries firstappearsir irstallmerts in aweeklyor biweekly magaiine. When sufficientmaterialhasbeen pjblislied,the series isthen cnllecled intoabookediiion Usually this waiildhe about 240 pages andinaformatthai isalittlebitlargerbut still similar in size toan American paperbackbook.Heretoe, Akira broke withtredition. ThefirstJapanese book editionwas n a formatcloser indimensiontothemagazine size(about the heightand widthofoneofojrcomic books]and contained 360 pages.Thetitleandauthor's name appeared onthecoverm English;no Japaneselettering wasused.The formal and stylegrewout ofOtomo'sown conceptotmakingthebook ediiion similar infeeling to American comicsBook designerAkira Saitoworked closelywithOlomotoachieve this goal. Initial fearsfrom Kodansha's SalesDivision overthewisdomof thedesign and packagingofthebook faded asadvanceorders begantopourin.What was originallyslated tobeaSO.DOO printruneventuallyshot upto nearly300,000copies.The firstbookedition ofAhifa became3number one bestseller.

ThatwasinSeptemberof 1984.Threeothervolumes havecomeouteach yearsince then. Allhavehadthesame sort ofphenomenalreception. Thefifthvolumeiscomplete, andwillshortlyseeprint.With printrunsnowatabouthalfa millioncopies each,the completedsagaofAkirawill have atotal oftwo and afialf millioncopies in print.

Andthat'snot really the

Otomo. maddition to his comicsworkisa designerof TV commercialsforclients such asSuntory,Canon, and Honda, and actedas director, scenarist, designer,and illustratoron ananimatedfilm ofAkirathathasbeenplaying theUnitedStates this year.

Olomo hasalsobeen very involved in the production of the Englishlanguageversion ofAkirBsincethisISthe first timethat tiiswork has appearedintheUnitedStates intranslationandalso the first timeIt hasappearedcom-pletely incolorHisown studio,IVIASH ROOIVICo., Ltd.,preparestheadjusted artwork fromwhichwe reproduce (Japanese comrcs are onginallydonetoread fromright to leftandtheir dialogueballoonsand sound effects aredesignedfor letteringthatreadsveriicallyl. Through Kodansha'seditorsm New York and Tokyo with whom we work, Otomo sees thematerial ateach stageof development,providingnotes onthescnptadaptationbyJo Duffy andfurnishing color guidestoSteveOliff,who washispersonalchoice for coloristonthe proieci.

Thisconcernlor allpfiases intheproduction of hisworkis certainlyoneof the factors in makingAkirathe phenome-nonthat itwasforJapanese readers.Theother factorsare surelythe artistryand excite-mentthat isbroughtto the tellingofthe story.Now, thankstoKatsuliiroOtomo andKodansh^ LM, American readerscanatlong lastshare inthatphenomenon

IheThirdWoridWar beganin1992 withthe explosion ofanew type bomboverJapan. Thirty-eigiii years later, theworldisat last recovering. Bui in Meo-Tol(yo.near grtiund zero of the original desttuctioi,astrangeencountertakes place,Kaneda—young, restiess, committedtodefying aiithority— nearly runsdown achildwithhismotorcycle,Achildwiththe wizenedface ofanoldman,Achildwith powers beyondphysical science.Thechild isNumber26. Heistheharbinger of deadly events thatsweep Karedaintoastragglebetweenpowerfuland secret forces.Atthe center of this struggle issomethingfearedandprized forthe potential loshake the recoveringweid. Someoneorsomethingknownonlyas...AKIRA.

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OTOMO

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