Feeling Old
Yes, I remember the first time I saw Akira. Â I was in my 20s, working for State and living in DC. Â The official release date seems to have been 1988, and it probably wasn’t too long after that that I saw it. Â I had a VHS copy, then stumbled on the books and started picking them up when I could find them here and there. Â I don’t remember the genre being big in DC at the time, but it might have just been my sheltered existence. Â When the opportunity arose it was one of the first VHS tapes I replaced with a DVD, which was a damn good thing because that old tape was getting mighty worn. I still try and fill in gaps in the book collection when I find them, because the movie only went so far, and the continuing story just kept getting better. Â And yes, I feel old.



I actually think it was later: IMDB says limited US release in 1990.
I saw it at the Ken. Helluva movie.
You collect the old fullsize comics, or the smaller re-released comics?
Also, hope Spinnerdude is feeling better!
Could be. I was there until late 1991 that stretch, and the years tend to blur at my age
. I’ve got a mix of several versions, single-issue and collections, from Epic and Black Horse, and one book published by Mandarin that I probably got overseas. All English though – never tried to master the original text.
Oh good point, I only ever had the “graphic novel” size single issues from Epic. I’ve seen the denser releases, not sure I know of a /third/ English release.
I don’t have the daring to try and absorb comics in a non-alphabetic language unless there’s very very little dialogue.