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●BOOK BOX SET● ŌRU KARĀ KOKUSAI BAN AKIRA 7 (オールカラー国際版 AKIRA 7)



This is the seventh of twelve box sets that collect the INTERNATIONAL EDITION of AKIRA that was released by Marvel / Epic Comics in the USA as 38 comic books. Each box set includes three of the English language comic books plus a booklet with the English-to-Japanese translation. The coloring was in charge of Steve Oliff and the lettering was done by Michael Higgins.

AKIRA started its serialization in black and white in Young Magazine on December 20, 1982 and became the longest lasting manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo. Its 120 chapters were published over the curse of eight years. AKIRA was also adapted as a full length animation film directed by Otomo himself in 1988.

BOOKS INCLUDED IN THE BOX-SET

BOX SET DETAILS

Publisher: Kodansha (講談社) + Marvel
Release date: 1990-VIII-31
Languague: English + Booklet with Japanese translations
Size: B5
Retail price: ¥1,796
ISBN-10: 4063050173
ISBN-13: 978-4063050172

AVAILABILITY

Amazon JP: http://amzn.to/1ipcudF
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2xTqSJM
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2zMZ5Mw
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2IAk0Fo
Amazon DE: https://amzn.to/2P5qJtp
Amazon FR: https://amzn.to/2IAjFm6
Amazon IT: https://amzn.to/2DS6n5M
Amazon ES: https://amzn.to/2DSBCO1


OTHER EDITIONS


ENGLISH EDITION ● AKIRA vol. 7 (TPB collection)

This 10 volume collection was never completed and collects only 31 issues of the 38 that that were previously published by Marvel in the U.S.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Marvel Epic Comics
Release date: 1992-XII
Number of pages: 120
Language: English
Size: 10x7 in
Retail price: $14.95
ISBN-10: 0871359391
ISBN-13: 978-0871359391

AVAILABILITY
Amazon CA:


GERMAN EDITION ● AKIRA Bd. 10: Begegnung in der Tiefe

20 volume paperback color edition.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Carlsen
Release date: 1992-VII
Number of pages: 119
Language: German
Size: 26x17 cm
Retail price: 29,90

ISBN-10: 3551711704
ISBN-13: 978-3551711700

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP: -
FRENCH EDITION ● AKIRA vol. 7: Révélations

The incomplete French 31 paperback issues were republished as 14 color hardcover volumes, completing the series for the first time in France.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Glénat
Release date: 1992-IV-24
Number of pages: 172
Language: French
Size: 29x19 cm
Retail price: 15.5€
ISBN-10: 2723415228
ISBN-13: 978-2723415224

AVAILABILITY
Amazon ES: https://amzn.to/2ISX58y


ITALIAN EDITION ● AKIRA vol. 7: Rivelazioni

Only 11 hardcover color volumes were published in Italy, leaving the series incomplete.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Glénat
Release date: 1992
Number of pages: 172
Language: Italian
Size: 29x19 cm
Retail price: L 20.000
ISBN-10: 8878111910
ISBN-13: 978-8878111912

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP:
Amazon CA:
Amazon UK:
Amazon ES: 


SPANISH EDITION ● AKIRA vol. 7

The Spanish 38 paperback issues were republished as 14 color hardcover volumes.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Ediciones B
Release date: 1992-IV
Number of pages: 172
Language: Spanish
Size: 29x19 cm
Retail price: 2000 ptas
ISBN 10: 84-406-3302-5
ISBN 13: 978-84-406-3302-6

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP: -

●BOOK ENGLISH EDITION● AKIRA #21 THE RAGE AND THE TORMENT



Twenty-first issue of Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA colored edition published by Marvel Epic Comics in English language in the USA. This book was collected in Japan in a box set:  ŌRU KARĀ KOKUSAI BAN AKIRA 7 (オールカラー国際版 AKIRA 7).

COMIC BOOK DETAILS

Publisher: Marvel / Epic Comics
Release date: 1990-VI
Language: English
Number of pages: 64
Size: 10x7 in
Retail price: $3.95
ISBN-10: 0871356228
ISBN-13: 9780871356222

AVAILABILITY

Amazon JP:
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Ep1S2I
Amazon CA:
Amazon UK:
Amazon DE:
Amazon FR:
Amazon IT:
Amazon ES:


OTHER EDITIONS


FRENCH EDITION ● AKIRA #21 Fureur et Tourment

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Glénat
Release date: 1991-IV
Number of pages: 64
Language: French
Size: 19x28 cm
Retail price: 16FF

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP:
Amazon US:
Amazon CA:
Amazon UK:
Amazon DE:
Amazon FR: https://amzn.to/2Qw0D30
Amazon IT:
Amazon ES:

ITALIAN EDITION ● AKIRA #21 La rabbia eil tormento

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Glénat
Release date: 1992-II
Number of pages: 64
Language: Italian
Size: 19x28 cm
Retail price: L 4.500

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP:
Amazon US:
Amazon CA:
Amazon UK:
Amazon DE:
Amazon FR:
Amazon IT:
Amazon ES:

SPANISH EDITION ● AKIRA #21 La rabia y el tormento

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Dragón | Glénat
Release date: 1991-XI
Number of pages: 64
Language: Spanish

Size: 19x28 cm
Retail price: 450ptas
ISBN 10: 84-406-1940-5
ISBN 13: 978-84-406-1940-2

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP:
Amazon US:
Amazon CA:
Amazon UK:
Amazon DE:
Amazon FR:
Amazon IT:
Amazon ES: https://amzn.to/2J0r4LR

●TALK● CONVERSATION with HISASHI EGUCHI



Manga artist and illustraton Hisashi Eguchi (江口 寿史) had a conversation with Katsuhiro Otomo that was published in Monthly Bears Club (月刊ベアーズクラブ) magazine in august 1990 and was later reprinted in the book THIS IS ROCK!!  that collects articles by Hisashi Eguchi from that period.


BOOK DETAILS

Publisher: Kadokawa (角川書店)
Release date: 1994-VI-1
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 231
Size: 21 x 15 cm
Retail price: ¥950
ISBN-10: 4048524844
ISBN-13: 978-4048524841



AVAILABILITY

Amazon JP: http://amzn.to/29lx5TT
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/29nHNL5
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/29b8VYp
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/29mayaB
Amazon DE: http://amzn.to/29maw2p
Amazon FR: http://amzn.to/29ma18R
Amazon IT: -
Amazon ES: -


CONVERSATION EXCERPT 1

Otomo: People overseas know a lot about Japan.  I think that makes them fans.  They make magazines, special reports on Japanese mangaka, topics on HOKUTO NO KEN (北斗の拳) and so on.

Eguchi: Really?  Not pirated copies?

Otomo: Not pirated copies.  No, actually I don't know.  Maybe they don't know Shueisha there (laughs).

Eguchi: That wouldn't be terrible.  (laughs).  I heard they got a lot of our anime.

Otomo: In London, there's a famous comic book store called Forbidden Planet.  When you go there they have a manga corner.  They have Animage Newtype and so on.  Lots of people there watch Japanese stuff.

Eguchi: French children believe that CANDY CAND (キャンディ・キャンディ) is a manga from their own country, and if a Japanese child were to tell them that it was from Japan, they would be bullied.  "What are you talking about, idiot?"

Otomo: Yes.  Dragon Ball is going strong there.  They say the market share is 60%.

Eguchi: It's amazing.  I wonder if people here know that.

Otomo: I think it's only in Japan that people don't know about it.

Eguchi: YAMATO (ヤマト) and CAPTAIN HARLOCK (キャプテン・ハーロック), etc., everyone wants to see Japanese things and the Japanese completely ignore it. I heard you surprised your people there when you told them you were drawing 40 pages a month.  (laughs).

Otomo: Yes, yes.  Over there, it's more like four boards a month.

Eguchi: How can you live with that?  The cost per board is too high?

Otomo: No doubt.

Eguchi: Is comics recognized as an artistic field?

Otomo: Yes, yes.  You know Enki Bilal?  He wins prizes and receives money from the government.  In other words, organizations like the French Agency for Cultural Affairs provide money.  Unlike the Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs, which gives money to manga at large.  We are talking here about a very anarchic story of Bilal.  It's not like they give grants to Doraemon, they give money to something really cutting edge, which is totally different from the situation in Japan.  Everyone has a sense of pride there.  It has nothing to do.


CONVERSATION EXCERPT 2

Eguchi: Now this'd be a perfect opportunity to plug Rojin Z, don't you reckon (laughs)?

Otomo: Rojin Z (laughs)? Could you perhaps explain a bit more for our readers' benefit?

Eguchi: It's your new original animated video. You wrote the script, and I did the character design.

Otomo: As far as OAV (Original Animation Video)s go, I think this one's been made in quite an unusual way. That is to say, writer-led, if you like. Generally a proposal arrives from somewhere, and you have to come up with the goods accordingly. In this case the director and I also came up with the proposal, and the funds. It's not often that the makers get to make the thing they want.

Eguchi: The concept for the story is also totally different to most anime these days, isn't it?

Otomo: Completely.

Eguchi: Which is what makes it so interesting. Plus it feels like one of your short stories from way back, with its own unconventional sort of humor. Word has it it's about an elderly bedridden man?

Otomo: Well, I wouldn't class it as social comment. Ultimately it is really just a robot anime.

Eguchi: But for you, the animating comes first and foremost, right, the desire to make your own visuals move?

Otomo: Well, I was always mad about movies. So I guess over time I've ended up taking a movie sort of approach to what I do.

Eguchi: So is it about making something that you're 100% satisfied with? More than in the case of manga?

Otomo: ... Hmm, that's a bit of a tricky question actually.

Eguchi: Tricky.

Otomo: Yes. tricky.

Eguchi: Different, isn't it?

Otomo: You have to think of them as different. If you thought of them as the same, you'd have no choice but to do the whole thing by yourself. That is, it'd end up being private animation of the sort you often strike in Europe. But that's not what I'm aiming for. If that's the aim, even with manga. you might as well publish in Garo. It's that sort of world, for the most part. If you treat them the same.

Eguchi: Well, come to think of it, I suppose it's precisely because they were different that even Osamu Tezuka dld both (manga and anime) right to the very end.

Otomo: Exactly. There's something isn't there, about contributing to that kind of culture. A desire to utilize the animators, that kind of thing. The urge, instead of doing things the way you want to yourself, to pull that whole community up with you. You have to think that way, or you can't do it.