Akira 35th Anniversary Box Set

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Breathtaking in scope, and utterly fascinating. As a long time fan of the film I finally broke down and bought this boxed set so I could read the source material. Someone wrote in a review I read that the movie is more of an introduction to the story in the books, and boy were they right about that. There is so much more to this story than the movie ever touched on. Kurosawa’s first film was such a success that the studio leaned on the director to make a sequel. The result is a hugely entertaining adventure, reuniting most of the major players from the original and featuring a two-part narrative in which Sanshiro first fights a pair of Americans and then finds himself the target of a revenge mission undertaken by the brothers of the original film’s villain.

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a "proper" samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character's return is a masterpiece in its own right. Donc, je sais qu'Akira est un classique, mais je n'ai pas le bagage pour comprendre en quoi cela a pu être une oeuvre révolutionnaire pour le genre. What I found out, ironically enough, is that the film adaptation and the source books are vastly different stories. The manga series is rather large, so one would obviously think that many subplots and miniature story arcs would need to be condensed or altogether scrapped, like many films need to do. But no, this is an entirely different story. Same beginning, similar climax, but virtually every plot beat that happens in the book is completely different than the film. Where the film "ends" is approximately 40% of the way through the story, but it uses the same climax that the series has. Odd. This article has been updated since its original publication. Wait, what is Akira about? Image: Madman Sweet Dreams Are Made Of The Huge Sandman Box Set Being Over 50% Off So what makes this box set so special? Image: Kodansha

Digital goods, open DVDs and Blu-rays, smart art prints, mystery bundles, and final sale items are excluded from the return policy. A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, Throne of Blood, directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare’s definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience. The series starts with these words: "At 2:17 P.M. December 6th, 1982, a new type of bomb exploded over the metropolitan area of Japan. Nine hours later World War III began." Then the story moves forward to 2019 and ends in 2020.

As someone who owns multiple versions of the series (did I mention I’m a huge fan?), this is the definitive version of the manga. By turns tragic and transcendent, Akira Kurosawa’s film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their circumstances are, each of them—the homeless father and son envisioning their dream house; the young woman abused by her uncle; the boy who imagines himself a trolley conductor—finds reasons to carry on. The unforgettable Dodes’ka-den was made at a tumultuous moment in Kurosawa's life. And all of his hopes, fears, and artistic passion are on fervent display in this, his gloriously shot first color film. Absolutely incredible! An astounding collection of one of the most important works in comics ever. This anniversary box set is nothing short of beautiful. Every volume in a hardcover edition - I've never seen a set this well done before. The publisher has outdone itself with this set. An all-new, complete 35th anniversary hardcover box set of one of the most acclaimed and influential comics of all time, with the original Japanese art and right-to-left reading format for the first time!

Kurosawa’s effortless debut is based on a novel by Tsuneo Tomita about the rivalry between judo and jujitsu. Starring Susumu Fujita as the title character, Sanshiro Sugata is a thrilling martial arts action tale, but it’s also a moving story of moral education that’s quintessential Kurosawa.

Also, the collected version of the printed story was completed two years after the movie, allowing the reader and viewer to experience the (similar) stories to a different effect. I also like how the movie feels so different, less personal and way more nuanced and political, it really makes both these works unique and worth consuming, over and over. J'imagine sans problème comment le film a pour devenir un chef d'oeuvre en ne gardant que l'essentiel. (On m'a dit par exemple que le personnage d'Akira lui-même n'est pas dans le film. Ça m'amuse d'imaginer le personnage éponyme absent, mais je comprends parfaitement le choix : Akira est inutile.)Published just over 40 years ago, it’s nothing short of a masterpiece. I can only think of a handful of manga and anime that have influenced pop culture the same way Akira has. It’s a sprawling sci-fi epic, a watershed moment for the cyberpunk genre and was a pivotal influence in introducing manga to wider Western audiences. A handsome, suave Toshiro Mifune lights up the screen as painter Ichiro, whose circumstantial meeting with a famous singer (Yoshiko Yamaguchi) is twisted by the tabloid press into a torrid affair. Ichiro files a lawsuit against the seedy gossip magazine, but his lawyer, Hiruta (Kurosawa stalwart Takashi Shimura), is playing both sides. A portrait of cultural moral decline, Scandal is also a compelling courtroom drama and a moving tale of human redemption.

The families of the victims are baffled. The police investigating the deaths don't know what to make of it all, but as they follow the bizarre trail of clues, they get closer to a killer they're incapable of stopping. But when a little girl moves in with her family, the old man is suddenly confronted by someone determined to stop his malevolent games, a child with powers that might exceed his own. The town-sized apartment complex becomes a battlefield between two psychic juggernauts, and the old man's malicious games unleash a storm of telekinetic fury that threatens to kill hundreds of innocent people. The story decides to focus a bit too much on too many characters, making the important moments for the ones who really matter hit way less. The positive and weirdly nationalist ending is also very hard to believe and take serious. Is long been a fan of the movie but not read the source. My boss lent me Vol 1 recently and I devoured it. The panel work in this is incredible to this day. A must for anyone into graphic art.

On a Technical Note: While I prefer the original right-to-left orientation of the 35th Anniversary box-set, Kodansha is still using the Dark Horse translation that appeared before Japanese formatting surprised the hell out of US publishers by catching on. It's only as big a deal as you make it, in my opinion; but if you can't stand the R-to-L format, and don't give a shit about 'preserving the artist's original vision', or whatever (does that sound right?), you can still find the Western oriented format in print, for a while, anyway. This affectionate paean to young love is also a frank examination by Akira Kurosawa of the harsh realities of postwar Japan. During a Sunday trip into war-ravaged Tokyo, Yuzo and Masako look for work and lodging, as well as affordable entertainments to pass the time. Reminiscent of Frank Capra’s social-realist comedies and echoing contemporaneous Italian neorealism, One Wonderful Sunday touchingly offers a sliver of hope in dark times. One of the greatest achievements by Akira Kurosawa, Ikiru shows the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an explora­tion of death. Takashi Shimura beautifully portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer who is impelled to find meaning in his final days. Presented in a radically conceived two­part structure and shot with a perceptive, humanistic clarity of vision, Ikiru is a multifaceted look at what it means to be alive. Immediately after finishing the film adaptation of Akira I knew I wanted to dive into the source material and glean what I could glean to learn more about such an incredible film. This portrait of female volunteer workers at an optics plant during World War II, shot on location at the Nippon Kogaku factory, was created with a patriotic agenda. Yet thanks to Akira Kurosawa’s groundbreaking semidocumentary approach, The Most Beautiful is a revealing look at Japanese women of the era and anticipates the aesthetics of Japanese cinema’s postwar social realism.