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After seeing the Akira movie (directed by Otomo Katsuhiro) I later found out about the existence of the manga series on which it had been based.

Is the movie adaptation faithful to the manga, with only minor variations? Or will I get a lot more detail from the story by reading the manga (and if so, just how much more)?

Basically, how different are the manga and movie versions of Akira?

Meir Illumination
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JNat
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3 Answers3

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The manga is totally more extensive. The movie is generally based on the manga, and follows the same characters and themes, but severely shortens it (the end of the manga has "suffered" most). The film's makers didn't have much choice though: the manga is over 2000 pages long, so of course the movie lost some background.

There is a discussion on this matter on myanimelist. It is mentioned there that the movie covers the beginning and the very end of the manga, leaving behind some background and side-stories. The manga has a vaster range of characters, side-plots, and covers a larger timespan.

SingerOfTheFall
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There are many differences, but the most important one I believe it's Akira is alive and not a bunch of cryogenized body parts

Pablo
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Quite a lot of differences - Characters, events, motivations. The two biggest character differences (of characters still included in the film) are Akira is alive and a big part of the story, and Number 19 is actually important to the plot unlike in the movie.

user30084
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