Katsuhiro Otomo's comic serial premiered in December, 1982. For many, the 1988 movie based on the comic is THE one that got them hooked on anime. Katsuhiro Otomo started Akira the manga series circa 1982. The series went on for several years until Otomo decided to make a film out of it. He wrote the screenplay and directed the film which took 3 years in the making. The budget of 1,000 million yen back in 1988 was unprecedentedly high, particularly for an anime project. The result is a lush, creative, decadent near-futuristic sci-fi epic like no other. This 5.1ch DTS, low-priced release of the movie on DVD marks the 20th anniversary of the original comic's premiere.