A nicely done unofficial Akira page.
I LOVED this movie when I first saw it and love it still.
From the site:
"Akira originally started life as a monthly Manga comic strip in Japan's Young Magazine on Dec 6th 1982. It was one of the first aimed at the teen market in Japan. Written and illustrated single handedly by Katsuhiro Otomo over the course of many years, the Manga is a remarkable achievement.
Rising popularity saw the western translation released by Epic Comics in 38 squarebound issues. These books were coloured via a digital process that was devised for this release, this was the first time a comic had been coloured digitally, which today is common practice.
Akira was turned into an animated film in 1987 and for many, was the first taste of this phenomenon known as Anime from Japan."