From May 2017 to August 2019, 4 different sets of giant murals featuring the art work from Otomo Katsuhiro’s groundbreaking manga Akira were displayed outside the construction walls of Parco Shibuya as it underwent renovation. 2019 is a year of special significance as it is the year where the events of Akira takes place.

I visited the location a couple of times since 2017 and the photographs I took can be seen here, here and here.

To commemorate the completion of the newly renovated Parco Shibuya shopping mall, a special exhibition Akira Art Of Wall was held at 2 galleries located in the building, as well as the release of this special art book.

The book set comes delivered in a shipping cardboard case (above), and the books themselves are housed in another thick cardboard slipcase as seen below. The whole package was quite a bit heavier than I expected, which is a nice surprise.

(above) Design on the back of the cardboard slipcase. (below) The 4 volumes as housed in the case.

The contents of the box – 4 hardcover volumes and one A2 foldout sized poster.

(above) The A2 size poster. This was the first mural that was put up on the construction wall of Parco Shibuya back in 2017.

Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the books collect artwork from the 3 different sets of murals that were on display at Parco Shibuya from 2017 to 2019.

(above) The full spread of the pages ( front and back ) come up to a whopping 9 metres in length for Vol 1 ( 7 metres for vol 2 & 3 ). There are art work printed on both sides of the paper.

(below) My room isn’t nearly big enough to take a picture of all the art work fully spread out, so these are truncated views. If one is big enough of an Akira/Otomo fan, they can purchase two copies of this art book ( since the pages are double-sided ) and them assemble all of them to reproduce a sprawling wall of Akira art.

Vol 4 is the “making of” book, and includes interviews ( in Japanese only ) with Katsuhiro Otomo and Kawamura Kosuke.

This Akira Art of wall book set is a spectacular, larger than life collection of some of the most iconic images from Katsuhiro Otomo’s groundbreaking manga. The print quality of the images are exceptionally crisp, sharp and full of contrast, and the paper stock used is thick, which explains why the whole package is pretty heavy.

This would make for a most excellent gift any day for any manga fan, especially if one enjoys Akira. The price is not cheap, but in my opinion a fair price to pay for a high quality collector’s item. If you’re keen on obtaining a copy, I suggest purchasing one before it goes out of print. My highest recommendations.

“Akira Art Of Wall” art book details :

Dimensions – 30 x 18 x 5 cm
Full color, In Japanese & English

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