Manga vs Anime: AKIRA Edition

I DO NOT OWN THE CLIPS OR MUSIC USED IN THIS VIDEO, I AM USING THESE CLIPS IN REVIEW OF CONTENT, WHERE IT FALLS UNDER FAIR USE:
www.copyright.....
MUSIC:
Try to Sleep - Attic Basement
Intro - M83
Einstein on the Beach (Knee Play 1) - Philip Glass
Pruit Igoe - Philip Glass
OUTRO MUSIC:
Raconte-Moi Histoire - M83

[@dannyrodarte4865]

the english translation of the manga is set 2030 and the japanese version is set in 2019 this most likely done because the manga was brought over to the us later

[@thetruth9783]

Thats interesting. The western manga was mirrored so the book could be read from left to right, while original Japanese books are read from right to left - so in the west Tetsuo has his left arm shot off because all the images were flipped, while in Japan it was his right. It was his right in the movie too I believe

[@Gundam_JAY]

Neat

[@cd4playa1245]

@Mickey Nicholason instaportal thou sayeth? Mayhaps I shall look upon this anon.

[@patrickzalatoris3206]

im not 100% sure, but i think they reissued akira manga to be properly read from right to left again, i do know years ago they would publish manga to the US by mirroring the panels so they could be read the "american way!"

[@wafflebroz]

There is one panel where Tetsuo (I think) stops a guard's heart and the guard clutches the right side of his chest

[@Jeffrey_zeta]

Also the manga didn’t end until 1990 and the anime came out in 1988 so it’s cool you have both stories

[@antonio_a87]

AKIRA is probably my favorite manga and it is the one that I have reread the most, I still love the condensed movie but I can not wait for the anime that is going to come out that covers the whole manga.

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

100% agree

[@BigChungus-ku5td]

Damn still not out yet or any details

[@BigChungus-ku5td]

Also agree about how hype I am for it

[@theblackprince5898]

Domu a child’s dream is also by Otomo and its a scary manga. It’s important as it led to Akira being made

[@michellesiregar8245]

I've watched the movie and i think it's okay. Is the rest of the manga better than the parts that have been adapted into the movie ?

[@EricToTheScionti]

I love Tetsuo's coat in the manga.

[@Red_-Super]

Oh hey Ed

[@EricToTheScionti]

@@Red_-Super hey there. Lol

[@ihavenoname.6078]

@@EricToTheScionti you are cringe asf in real life pls stay in 2D and don’t ever be a real person.

[@Onyx421]

Yea it's really cool

[@thelamergamer1894]

I wish this had more views. Thanks for this, very helpful.

[@dinojunkie902]

I will most definitely make more vids like this!

[@DeeganJango]

Great analysis. Thank you for producing it. However, I propose another reason for Akira’s absence in the film. Less than not having time to flesh out Akira’s character (let’s be honest, he was mostly a silent observer throughout most of the manga so there really wasn’t much to ‘flesh out’ there). He then saves the world at the end a la deus ex machina, taking away all agency from the main heroes. But by revealing that Akira no longer existed at the end of the film was both a major plot twist since the all powerful being everyone sought turns out to be nothing, but it also kept the focus of the resolution on the main cast we’ve been following throughout the film.

[@FabricateFrog]

Honestly i prefer the use of Akira and his portrayal in the Movie vs the Manga. However the other additions to the manga were superior in story telling.

[@bunnygirlsauce9448]

FINALLY!!! As soon as I saw the movie for the first time, I immediately read the manga and omg....Everything made soo much more sense. I rlly wish they would turn this into a TV series. There are a lot of mangas that deserve anime adaptations

[@antonio_a87]

there is a new anime being developed by sunrise that is going to cover the whole manga

[@alfarouqalderwish1336]

@@antonio_a87 nani?! Where is your proof

[@antonio_a87]

@@alfarouqalderwish1336 simply use google and search AKIRA sunrise series and a bunch of articles will come up on the subject

[@stuartirwin8628]

@@alfarouqalderwish1336 it was announced in 2019, there’s a polygon article about it, still in development

[@3333a3-y]

Personally, I like the ending of the movie better than the manga.

[@nomenbeb5747]

Why? I personally prefer the manga

[@cyberia7671]

Me too. I also prefer Tetsuo's character in the film because it's easier to sympathize with him, he's more a victim of circumstances whereas in the manga he is way more sadistic and chooses to be fxked up (that awful vol 4 scene to be specific)

[@isthisfelix7609]

@@cyberia7671 can you tell me it kinda sounds interesting and yes I finish watching the movie

[@theinsp3ctor368]

@@isthisfelix7609 there's a scene in volume 4 where Tetsuo has 3 girls rounded up, one of them being Kaori, to be his sex slaves. He has them take a less potent version of the pills he uses to suppress his power but it just ends up killing them, except Kaori because she didn't take hers.

[@mr.l3938]

Honestly both versions of Akira are very fucking good I really like kaneda in the movie more than in the manga but tbh it was a close second but my point still stands both are peak fiction

[@UltimateLegoFan324]

This should have atleast been a trilogy.

[@byxyro3439]

Honestly that would’ve been better

[@SEAL341]

Having just seen the film again in 4K, and today received the Manga box set of the AKIRA volumes, I had to watch this and I'm glad I did. Excellent work. You should be very proud. I was about 18 when the film of AKIRA was released on VHS in the UK and it made a big impression on me. A mesmerising work that I watched repeatedly. Now 31 years later I've bought the books and can finally read the full story.... Thank you.

[@megasean3000]

Read the manga and watched the movie. Much prefer the manga, but the anime does have some good moments. - No Chiyoko in the movie was such a gut punch. She was easily one of the most awesome characters and helps to complete the Kaneda-Kei combo, acting as their muscle right to the very end. - Lady Miyako being killed with less than a minute of screen time when she was an extremely prominent character in the manga was jarring. The end result is still the same, but her redirecting the SOL laser fired by Kei right at Tetsuo was such a badass move. - The anime did Kaori’s introduction way better, but the manga did her death better. I much preferred her being Tetsuo’s girlfriend than coerced to be his sex slave. Conversely, I much preferred Kaori dying in Tetsuo’s arms that being _crushed_ in Tetsuo’s arms. - For those that loved the Kaneda-Kei romance, the manga has you covered. They get a kiss scene and there’s even a moment of Kei riding Kaneda’s bike. Heck, they do Kei fighting Tetsuo much better, who doesn’t have a two minute fight and have Kei get beaten. Kei fights to the bitter end and is even the one to help Kaneda out of the singularity. There was several moments in the manga, where both Kaneda and Kei see ghosts of themselves, wondering what they were. Turns out, those ghosts were apparitions in the singularity as it tears through time and space, creating the ghosts. It was such a shame it wasn’t in the movie. - Akira being test tubes was a major WTF for the movie. I can understand why, but it was still crap we never got to see the true Akira. Overall, I just love this series. Both movie and manga. Though the movie could have been better adapted, it does a good job with the run time it has. That and the animation is damn good. No idea why I’ve not gotten into this series until now.

[@wutmeta]

Dude this was sooooo good. I finished reading it over for the 2nd time and I just needed more clarification. Masterful.

[@ChrisVellrath]

Really well put together video, Thanks! Just got back from the theatres tonight, after viewing the sparingly remastered 4k version. It was one of those cases where I would prefer an English dub just to take in all of the beautiful animation.

[@GothamKnight84661]

Well, not sorry you can't read! Japanese is better, yeah deal with it!

[@nickkings2220]

@@GothamKnight84661 it's hard to appreciate the visual spectacle while reading, why are you such a condescending ass.

[@tanyaharmon6739]

@@nickkings2220 because weebs

[@gateauxq4604]

There are a few english dubs out there that may or may not be available now. One was made in the 2000s I believe and I think there was another done more recently? The Japanese dub is the definitive version but it’s also very much worth the rewatch because there is so much to see.

[@CowboyRangerRojo]

The manga taking place in 2029 is only in the English translation, in the original Japanese is in 2019, just like the movie.

[@dinojunkie902]

I was not aware of that, thanks for bringing it to my attention!

[@CowboyRangerRojo]

@@dinojunkie902 You're welcome.

[@nogroup5861]

Many years after watching the movie, I finally decided to read the manga and weirdly enough, I think the movie is better. You get more of everything in the manga, specially about #19 and Akira, but overall there's a lot of what I call "chaos filler", pages and pages of action with little involvement of the "psychic" characters which doesn't offer much story developement otherwise.

[@avix4244]

I understand and respect your opinion and taste, but I like the manga a lot more, there’s so much extra content in the manga than the movie, and I feel like they had more room to explain the ideas of Akira a bit better, whereas the movie had a lot less time to properly explain these powers because the movie had so much content as it is, it would be hard to explain those ideas. And I think some of the characters in the manga seem more bad ass and fleshed out because they had so much more time to be more badass and fleshed out. But on the flip side, you are right about the chaos filler, and in the manga, when tetsuo releases akira, he is a young boy, but in the movie, his various organs are in a bunch of viles, and when he transforms in the movie, it seems like his consciousness resided within his separated organs, and I kinda like that idea more. And both the manga and the movie are structured differently, and I think that the way they structured both the manga and the movie served those 2 stories equally. But ultimately it’s kind of hard to compare the movie to the manga, their storylines and story structures are aligned so differently that they appear as different types of stories. The best way I can describe it is, they used the same box of tools to build 2 different machines. I can see why you’d like the movie more than the manga.

[@froggoTV]

just say you like simple things bruh. manga clears

[@nogroup5861]

@@froggoTV Simpler? The manga is way easier to understand, explaining everything, while the movie gives you more of a "wtf" vibe, becoming more impactful. A lot of times, less is more.

[@PatchGuilf]

They NEED to do a new series based around each book... Expand on the movie as that was only able to do so much in that short running time. 🤞🤞🤞

[@rockyreyes8589]

Wow amazing video!

[@gustavouchida1]

Thank you very much for this. After 30 years, someone's finally convinced my stubborn head to read out Akira.

[@GeekLevelAsian]

The way you closed the explanation made me very hopeful and scared at the same time

[@tyeboyce]

mate! thanks so much for this and everything is starting to make so much more sense. I watched akira for the 3rd time and as a 33yo and I thought I'm old enough to understand it finally but I didn't and now I know why. the movie omits SO SO SO MUCH! I'm buying the manga to read and will be my first ever manga purchase, this video has inspired me to.

[@lucassiccardi8764]

The year of the manga, 2030, creates a pattern of 43 years between each destruction: 1945, 1988, 2031. The choice of 2019 in the anime is linked to 2020 being a possible olympic year (the olympics are a less important plot theme in the manga, if I remember correctly) and maybe was influenced by Blade Runner (if people believe that is LA in 2019, I can set Akira in 2019, Otomo must have thought).

[@evanpetelle5669]

The anime is an absolutely amazing feat. I have yet to read the manga. Really really need to get on that.

[@PatchGuilf]

Favourite elements missing from the movie are the group of Tetsuo's mutant gang; Birdman and the Hulk type geezer. Using the drugs to get more members with powers is a great detail. Love all that post 2nd impact stuff. The scenery and characters are so good.

[@ZombeeJohnny]

Wonderful job! This is a really great synopsis and review!

[@code6843]

I love the use of m83s music in this video

[@FriendlyEsotericDude]

You deserve more views.

[@projectnewmoon9314]

Awesome video!! Exactly what I was looking for after finishing the manga. Great analysis!

[@Arirezz]

Something to remember about how different the endings are is the manga was not finnished yet, not even close if I remember correctly, so I'd imagine the film had some influence on how the manga ended and I'm pretty sure I seen somewhere that he wished he'd finished the manga first for the most pure version of the story which is just unobtainable now.

[@jordanthomas4379]

fantastic video dude, you did a great job, I finished reading the manga for the first time a few weeks ago, it's one of the best things I have ever read, I saw the movie a few years ago, I liked it a lot but I was also very confused, the movie had to skip a lot of the manga unfortunately. this break down was really nice.

[@EagleyeDT]

Thank you so much for this summary. I was looking for this for awhile

[@therealeikichionizuka]

i absolutely love your narration voice, it’s beautiful

[@kylenuske2020]

This should have at least 10x the views. Simply excellent!

[@TheoConway]

watched akira as a kid, loved it but found it slightly confusing at the time. a year or so ago i read the manga and was amazed its so much more in depth and the characters that dont make it into the movie are great. rewatched the movie today for the first time after reading and although its still a great film its crazy how different it is to the source material

[@viz_2847]

Awesome video man. I assure you that you will be getting more subs soon. Keep up the good stuff

[@Sichan45]

Great analysis and the amount of work you put into this Max. Brilliant 👏

[@CharcoalRabbit]

I saw the 2001 Pioneer/Animaze English dub of Akira last year.

[@panfilolivia]

amazing video wow! really good analysis

[@KeyserTheRedBeard]

astounding upload Dino Junkie. I broke that thumbs up on your video. Keep up the quality work.

[@moon-runes]

I’m sad ab how underrated this video is. I hope you continue to make bangers and gain traction

[@eldritchmorgasm4018]

Haven't read the manga, but I still kinda do know what's happening & what's different to the anime, which I have watched. I dare say the anime is quite good as in just being a movie, it doesn't feel like a dumbed down version like Hollyweird in general might do, it's also not just heavily castrated content- & context-wise, as in you do understand what's going on, even though there's lots of stuff missing, it's simplified but still smart. So this is a rare case of anime/movie-representation that doesn't insult your brain, the fans or the casual watcher. Especialy for something from the 80s, that alone makes it great. This being said, I do hope a new movie/show, anime or live-action, with today's capabilities, will give us a closer to the source-material presentation. "Akira", like "Berserk", is a tough thing to do, but certainly not impossible. Especialy now that Disney & the woke-mentality damaged or even destroyed so much, people crave for better quality-entertainment than before. Imagine putting just old 80s/90s movies back in the theaters, people would watch it, this would make money, and more than woke-gobbledygook nowadays, and "Akira" might become known to a wider audience. I mean "Akira & Ghost in the Shell" proved the WORLD animated stuff isn't just for children, right? Which is important, because lots of anime nowadays became kinda less like that.

[@3333a3-y]

This is sososos good! Please make a lot more!!!!!

[@chrisa8157]

So did Tetsuo's collision with Takashi just unleash what he always had? Or was it that incident that GAVE him his powers?

[@dinojunkie902]

Tetsuo developed his powers in a combination of the collision and the testing that the military did on him. Here’s the link: readcomiconline.to/Comic/Akira This is what I read it on. Its kind of a pain so there may be better sights, but that’s what you get for free :/

[@Jay-ky4ew]

It dawned on me that there might be a slightly hidden commentary in only allowing a ghostly image of Akira in his full power in the film vs. in the manga. The statement might read "If you want the real Akira, you'll find him in the manga I'm writing and drawing. This is more like an advthan anything else".

[@anthonydef3000]

How you tied the ending…EPIC❤

[@AleSchuldiner]

Wow, nice one Dino Junkie! This is what I've been looking for :)

[@cspo]

great vid. love the closing sentence and use of Philip Glass. thank you.

[@themff]

Great comparison! One interesting thing I noticed in the film is that the right-to-left reading order of Japanese text seems to carry over to the visual language of the movie. Virtually all forward motion in the film starts on the right side of the screen and moves toward the left. If you are interested in an alternate version of Akira with a new original synthwave score, in the style of American 80s movies like The Terminator, Escape from New York, Videodrome, and Blade Runner: trailer: @ full film in HD: @

[@Kusanagikaiser999]

I glad I naturally watched the film first and then discover the manga, both are amazing but incredibly different, I think is better to watch the film first instead of read the Manga first. because of that I absolutely love both equally and to this day, the film and the manga of Akira are 2 of my top 5 favorites films and comics of all time.

[@Yas-ef3qm]

Me too.

[@heroofslime9639]

How do u only have 68 subscribers

[@JT-si6bl]

Hmm, even with spoilers, the actual process of watching/experiencing the books make the point of doing it. You're 'there' IN the spell. That's IMO what makes a legendary epic of cult status; the ability to outstrip expectations, regardless of where you are. I feel very lucky to of surfed that wave when it happened. I say do both. A 101 how and why modern films have to dilute thicc stories from books. Just take your pick... the conclusion is - the books are always better. Graphic books are still really unsung... Fantastically well-thought-out project. Really excellent work. Thanks

[@neilsanzari9723]

Otomo might’ve tipped his hat to the first Blade Runner (1982) taking place in November 2019. Both films appear to be cousins.

[@billythekid5579]

My buddy found the 35th anniversary of Akira just chilling at his job full set n all they were gonna trash it but he wanted it and got it for the free.99 I started reading them and holy Shit manga is a whole different beast both are amazing though

[@LVC85costa]

I think that parts of the manga was inspo for Nolan's tine travel movie, can't remember the name. I loved the movie but after reading the manga I am blown away. It was amazing.

[@N9olan]

Interstellar

[@gaijingabber1056]

amazing video, thank you for this content

[@AnimeLuffyFan]

Amazing video!

[@bluecafe509]

Denver The Last Dinosaur. I loved that show and the theme song.

[@zmastr_19]

Omg bro you should have lik 5k subs your rlly good

[@greigstallon9278]

wonderful content

[@redpapermen]

great job!

[@unjusttv6383]

Good video! Very well done.

[@sosaomen6255]

I just finished the manga and I have to say the ending in the manga is just wow like I can’t even explain how amazing it was, i wish more people would read all of the manga just for the sheer joy of enjoying those last pages after the amazing journey you went on with the Kaneda and Kei.

[@chrisa8157]

Great video. Anyone know where I can find a fully colorized version of the manga?

[@EricToTheScionti]

Online prolly as a pdf.

[@roastedtoast5461]

I never thought of it that way, that the movie is a teaser to that of the manga.

[@noswad7898]

Beautiful editing

[@Heavy-P]

I liked it. Keep up the good work

[@thedipermontshow]

1:12 that's M83 in the music background right?

[@ontheedge33371]

Very sick now we could use another Akira Anime soon plz yep thanks ! 🙏🏻💙

[@seraveegundam2032]

Something spooky about it taking place in 2030.

[@feelingnice1567]

I thought Nezu was aiming for the colonel when he took the shot.

[@StudioMod]

I much prefer the film, though the middle and last act could have been done better. I feel like Kaneda should have gotten a gundman style thing to pilot and fight him in the second act, only to realize his bike was still the shit and follow the third act normally. This ALMOST happened, with Kaneda getting a cool laser in the film's second act, but considering he's more of a wild pilot/biker, I think a super jet thing would have been cooler for him to steal from the military to try and fight Tetsuo. The other aspects, such as the other characters, struck no chords with me and I have no real attachment to them. I read the manga and felt that both the film and book were slightly lacking in many ways. However, the film's first 10-20 minutes were stronger than the manga at its core for me. It's ability to paint a story and be thrilling was nothing short of masterful cinematic perfection.

[@unwantedkid123]

Great video. Not to be pedantic, but tetsuo loses his right arm the right In the original Japanese manga. When they flipped the manga for western audiences, a bunch of things changed. 👍🏾

[@Uinta_wildlife]

Okay I finally read this and now im back.

[@Jeffrey_zeta]

It’s nuts that the numbers are power levels and tetsuo is a 41 or something

[@KA-ug8bb]

The voice is so smoothing

[@fredleggett923]

When I first saw Akira, I was very confused. I knew about the (much longer and involved) manga, but tried to take-in the movie on its own. However, it felt more like a snapshot or sliver of the events depicted in the manga, so I think I failed in that respect. Don't get me wrong. I really liked the film and thought the animation stunning, but the narrative seemed...I'm trying to find a good word...obscure? Perhaps better described as distant or unreachable. I did track down several episodes of the manga, but it just served to confuse things, as reconciling the comic and film seemed like a futile and pointless endeavour. Kinda like how the Macross movie re-framed the events of the series, sometimes in pretty wild and divergent ways. Anyway, what probably confused me the most was the climax, as I just did not understand what was suppose to be in those transparent canisters on ice. I initially thought that the military had become so terrified of Akira that they decided to subdue and dissect him for further study in a controlled setting. As such, the contents of the tubes were various parts of the boy, particularly his nervous system. Very creepy and body horror-ish, but that was the only thing that made some sort of sense. The sub or dub doesn't really answer the question, so did those canisters contain various dissected parts of Akira or just random small tissue samples? If the latter, was the boy contained somewhere else or did he exist as a being of pure energy at that point, making his physical form irrelevant? It's a really bizarre fork from the manga and I don't understand the reasoning, as Otomo could've incorporated Akira during the climax, at least more than the brief glimpse we get of him before he transforms into a being of cosmic energy. We know from Kaneda's donated psychic visions that Akira was "just" a boy at one point, so what exactly did the military do to his body and why? I'd love for someone to answer that question.

[@victoriamotta8054]

fucking great video, thank you!

[@slightlytwistedagain]

I recently finished reading the manga and thought it sucked compared to the film. Akira's presence was a massive waste of time and there were a lot of pointless scenes drawn out. Not only is the movie story tighter, but IMO it is an expertly executed a Lovecraftian movie. Relationships, rivalries, gangs, love, corruption, revolution, political ambition, nuclear war, government secrets, scientific abuses, cults, all of these experiences that are eternally important to the human species are utterly meaningless to the higher plane of the cosmos. Tetsuo being guided by the ascended Akira and the Espers to a higher state (and ultimately made him a god of a micro universe) made humanity see itself as nothing more than ants. Some people would go mad at a revelation like that.

[@JamesEDonaldson]

>1988.7.16 Tokyo "-there's a big bang in Tokyo in 1992" :/ ?

[@micenabled9418]

I saw the movie before I read the manga, I like the manga more wish it had a anime series...I feel like the openings would be amazing.

[@theannouncer5538]

Mob vs tetsuo

[@yaxantonio3719]

This is like back to the future 2 with akira futures with the m having what is supposed to be the future but in real life it is not that tecnologic

[@nickjorden5732]

Bro you can’t put M83 on in the back ground and expect me to understand what you are saying in the vid…

[@sweet_sukeban4022]

The song you used is so distracting with all the counting

[@scuffedcomedy4819]

Holy shit the manga part is infinitely better

[@AIONBERSERKER]

The Manga was so much better

[@yeahboyz9314]

From same creator

[@nataelgarcia3722]

Denver the last dinasour

[@josuesarmiento8844]

3:04 Blade runner inspo? 🤔

[@braydenb1581]

Honestly, if I had loved the manga then seen the movie, I'd have been happy. I hate exact translations that cut stuff. If it's a bit of a rejmaginaing then I don't mind

[@Yoko.Kurama]

In the manga when Tetsuo turned into a giant baby what was that big metal sphere he crashed into the church?

[@robertmiles1603]

I saw the movie and read the manga and I liked the movie better.

[@gurozawa]

dude you keep repeating about how you're gonna talk about the story like million times, just say it already, if im searching for explanation of the plot then ofc i made up my mind i dont want to invest the time to read or watch in depth

[@kerri960]

this a mad vid pls make moar

[@lucasterable]

I call it "Akira Syndrome" when a series is about to conclude organically but instead gets hijacked to drag on and on because money. Other examples: Heroes, Prison Break, Twin Peaks, Dragon Ball

[@philotaaveti]

french version....

[@cd4playa1245]

I’ll say it: I actually preferred the anime over the manga. I know that’s sacrilege to the fanboys, but honestly there were so many times while reading the manga I thought to myself, “What the fuck is actually happening here, why won’t this story reach a conclusion, and why does everyone like Kaneda so much when he’s a little asshole who’s absent for almost half the story?

[@germanpalomaresdelpalomar5883]

Personally, I did not enjoy the movie. Should I read the manga?

[@bk83082]

Akira has always been a big letdown for me. It starts out with one of my all time favorite premises: rival motorcycle gangs dueling at high speed on the streets of a futuristic megalopolis. It then becomes a story about magic elderly children and strong aura spirit political power struggle resistance fighters something something body horror. I'm not actually sure what. Fine. I guess. I think focusing on the Capsules, Clowns, other gangs, dive bars, drugs, and the generally seedy underbelly of the Neo-Tokyo Bosozoku scene is far more interesting than psychic abilities etc.

[@moguldamongrel3054]

Before anime became dumb