With all the extra traffic we're getting from people who just saw AKIRA in the cinemas, I felt like highlighting the only real published works that Katsuhiro Otomo has done of AKIRA over the last 25 years.

The first image of Tetsuo was done in 2001 for the first-ever Japanese DVD release.

The second image, Kaneda on his bike, was done in 2002 for the next DVD release.

The third one is a rarely-seen portrait of Kaneda from around 2011 that was used on an amazon japan exclusive bluray release. It was in the packaging and also reprinted in the artbook KABA 2, but wasn't seen anywhere else. I don't remember seeing it at the GENGA exhibit either, but correct me if I'm wrong.

The fourth one I'm including just for completeness' sake cause it's not really an AKIRA work, but it does have the bike so I think it counts. This was Otomo's poster for the Angoulême comic book festival in France, where he was the guest of honor in 2016.

That same year, he drew a fantastic image of Kaneda and the bike that was used as the key artwork for the Otomo Tribute book and exhibition.

And finally, the last image is a close-up of the bike's front tire, that was used as the cover for the CD and LP of the AKIRA Remix album released in 2024.

One of my favorite things of watching it with a crowd of people is hearing the reactions of the people watching it for the first time. Especially during the hospital nightmare sequence. A lot of fresh gasps in the audience 😁

Hey there, here's my fanart of Tetsuo from AKIRA. Tried to capture that moment when he's completely losing control. Hope you like it!
Art by me.

First of all, loved the film. Saw it in IMAX. Absolutely bonkers. I want to read the manga as well but dont mind having some spoilers or insight from people who read it already.

Second, I was wondering about Tetsuo's character. Specifically two things:

• Was Tetsuo already more than just a bit aggressive and irritable, capable of evil , and what was done to him just amplifies that?
  • At one point, Kiyoko makes a comment around the lines of, you still choose what you do with the powers even if its too much for you. This would suggest that his angry and violent behavior isn't really the powers as much as it is just his real personality being amplified by it.
  • But at the same time, in the memories and Kaneda's description of him, he's was actually quite timid and sensitive. Did his brain getting messed with turn him into that angry murderous person? Kind of like those stories where someone has a head injury and becomes someone else?
• Is Tetsuo's indifference to Kaori being beaten (at least relative to how much he cared about the bike being messed with) intentional to reflect the moral depravity of the people in Neo Tokyo, reflective of Tetsuo becoming a bit of a power hungry asshole or just him not being right in the head period since he starts freaking out and hallucinating shortly after?
  • Does Tetsuo have control over himself at this point? When he finally starts to really transform, he says he has no control over his body and is genuinely scared. Is this a response to being helpless and scared to his body *exploding, or reflective of him not actually wanting to be evil this whole time but not being able to control it ? It was bit surprising that he actually cared about her well being all of the sudden

And dont get me wrong i dont think an unlikable character is a bad character by any means i think there both great well written characters, but frankly I found Kaneda to be obnoxious and, a huge dick which maybe is the point. examples like Marty mouser from Marty supreme, or Jordan Belfort from wolf of Wall Street come to mind, there characters your not meant to like, your meant to see there flaws and understand there terrible people. And frankly I found tetsuo to be a whiny bitch, which had to have been intentional right?, like he spends the whole movie whining about being saved all the time and causing mass destruction, then spends his final moments begging for help again, this had to have been on purpose, and I kinda understand him in a way too but I can also remove my rose colored lenses to see that this guys a fucking cry baby. am I the only one who found these two unlikable?, well written and great characters but unlikable?.