Akira is a Japanese cyberpunk manga series written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo. It was initially serialized in the pages of Young Magazine, a seinen manga magazine, from 1982 until 1990, and then collected into six tankobon volumes by its publisher Kodansha between 1984 and 1991. It was published in the United States by Marvel Comics under Epic Comics, becoming one of the first manga ever to be completely translated into English.Otomo's art is considered outstanding and a watershed for both Otomo and the manga form.The manga is also famous for spawning the seminal 1988 cyberpunk anime film adaptation of the same name.