Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Beautiful set. This exceeds my expectations. Take note, the books are presented in the original right-to-left reading format (as it is in Japan). There is a lot to say about this wonderful story and the set itself. First, the box. The box cover/slip cover is well built and the graphics are crisp and the colors are deep. The cardboard is thick and sturdy. The lid opens on the top by splitting open down the middle (see pictures). The two parts to the opening (door?) have magnets in the cardboard so the two halves stay closed tight. The novels are all hardcover. Six of them are the six volumes of the Akira story, and one of them is a hard-bound book called "Akira Club" that has loads of what could be called bonus material. It is filled with behind the scenes renderings and art from Katsuhiro Otomo. And the whole book has glossy color pages. The novels are all black and white pages, with the first several pages of each book in gloss color. The books are all sewn bound. The content of the books is, of course, the reason you are buying this stunning collection. The story of Akira is a science-fiction adventure that is fast-paced and thoroughly illustrated. There are plenty of existential concepts for those who are looking for that sort of thing, but for the most part this story is straight forward. The plot is thick, be ready for two thousand pages of story development. Also, this edition has all of Katsuhiro's original hand-drawn sound effects, which is pretty cool to see in an English edition, and they add to the feel of the futuristic Tokyo scene. Overall, incredible collection.