I've been a die-hard manga hater since I was a kid and was traumatized by the anime Unico --but I was recently clicking around looking for a new graphic novel to read and was at a loss. It seems I've read every western graphic novel worth reading. While searching a came across Akira again. I was coerced into watching the movie in cartoon-college and couldn't get through it - anime is unwatchable to me. I was aware of how great it was supposed to be ( and had always liked the cover and even chose Akimbo as a title for my own comics because it could be made to look kinda like Akira ) but had a heretofore insurmountable prejudice to all things manga. While re-reading the accolades and copious praise and with other options seemingly at nil I checked it out. Immediately I was impressed with the storytelling and the techniques used to convey the speed and excitement of the motorcycles racing down a deserted highway at night. It was pretty tight. The story seemed a little cliche -- the overbearing bad guy and legions of flunkies -- but the storytelling was really superb. I ate through all 360 pages of volume one in one sitting.