In the years following World War III, huge, sinister corporate entities seized power, continuing to fight amongst themselves for survival. Ordinary citizens are in hiding as roving gangs patrol the streets, staking out their claims and defending them with deadly force. In the post-apocalyptic landscape of Neo-Tokyo, two teenaged bikers (of the motorcycle kind) run afoul of corporate politics when one spontaneously begins to develop extra-normal psychic abilities. One of the most well-known and widely respected graphic novels in the world, AKIRA has won numerous awards for its influential visionary style and its intellectually challenging (and politically charged) story line. In 1988, it was made into an enormously successful film that effectively introduced the Western world to Japanese anime. This is the first of six parts.
