AKIRA. 1st Ed. Vol. 1 & 2 1984/1985 Otomo Katsuhiro. Kodansha. NF SC Japanese Cyberpunk Manga

Katsuhiro Otomo. Tokyo. Kodansha. 1984/1985 

Japanese Language, 1st Edition, Near Fine, SC octavo 7" x 10", 350pp./300pp.

Near Fine Vol. 1 and 2 in stiff pictorial wraps, Vol 1 bumped and creased at fore edge corner, else clean, tightly bound, and unmarked throughout. Publisher's full-color pictorial dustjackets intact, not price-clipped, showing minor shelfwear to top edge, previous owner's name written in pencil on one interior flap of each volume, else pristine, and unmarked. Text is Japanese Language  with some English publication information. Text to dustjacket flaps in Japanese and English. Vol 1. 350 pp., Vol 2. 300 pp. replete with the unmistakable illustrative work of Otomo Katsuhiro here in the original black-and-white with pastedowns and endpapers in vivid full-color. Akira was originally published in Young Magazine in multiple episodes, then published as collected volumes by Kodansha. Ex: Volume 1 is the first 18 episodes.  Akira was adapted as a full-length feature anime film in 1988, directed by the original creator Otomo Katsuhiro, but not including the entire manga storyline as the books continued to be published for two years after the film's release. The film adaptation would become a worldwide cult classic and maintains status as a landmark in cyberpunk Japanese anime, widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. Set in a dystopian future Neo-Tokyo in 2019, after a world war triggered by the destruction of Tokyo, the scene is set with civil unrest, street violence, terrorism, protests, corruption, and violence. Onto this stage emerge two best friends on a collision course with underground forces strong enough to change the world. A monumentally influential work of illustrative genius.