Katsuhiro Ōtomo

The science fiction tale set in 2019 in Tokyo after the city was destroyed by World War III, follows the lives of two teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, who have a consuming fear of a monstrous power known as Akira.

In the 21st century, the once-glittering Neo-Tokyo lies in ruins, leveled in minutes by the infinite power of the child psychic giant, Akira. Now a wasteland of rubble and anarchy, the Great Tokyo Empire rises, a ragtag group of zealots and crazies who worship and fear Akira and his mad prime minister, Tetsuo, an angry teen with immense powers of his own -- and equally immense twisted ambitions. The planet at large is not taking the threat lying down,...

"In the industrial, tri-level world of Metropolis, Duke Red is a powerful leader with plans to unveil a highly advanced robot named Tima. But Duke Red's violent son Rock distrusts robots, and intends to find and destroy Tima. Lost in the confusing labyrinth beneath Metropolis, Tima is beginning a friendship with the young nephew of a Japanese detective. But when Duke Red separates the two innocents, Tima's life--and the fate of the universe--is dangerously...

Tetsuo, whose psychic abilities are rapidly growing, becomes obsessed with confronting Akira face-to-face, but those who want the sleeping giant to stay dormant, including Tetsuo's former friend Kaneda, will stop at nothing to destroy Tetsuo before he can release Akira.

With Akira and his mad prime minister ruling the Great Tokyo Empire, the world at largeis gathering its military strength to take on the Empire.

World War III breaks loose in 1988. In 2019, Tokyo is a megalopolis. Kaneda is the leader of a group of young robust delinquents who spends his nights tearing through the urban wastes and racing his motorbike against rival groups. One night while out riding with his gang, his friend Tetsuo suddenly encounters a strange boy. He is the product of human experimentation and is injured in an ensuing crash. Shortly therafter, a military squadron appears...

Clandestine army activities threaten the war-torn city of Neo-Tokyo when a mysterious being with powerful psychic abilities escapes his prison and inadvertently draws a violent motorcycle gang into a heinous web of experimentation. As a result, a biker with a twisted mind embarks on a path of war, seeking revenge against a society that once called him weak.