Ranked #18

Akira (Manga)

Both manga are set in post-apocalyptic settings and show the aftermath of rebuilt society and all the corruption and violence that entails. Full of visual detail and cyberpunk depth, Eden and Akira are great companion pieces.

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I know, it may not seem similar but again looks may be deceiving. On a surface level, Akira and Nausicaa were the two momumental animes and mangas of the 1980's with their historical importence almost eclipsed only by the rise of Gegika, Osamu Tezuka, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. On the story, both are layed with socialogical and political themes imbedded into the story. The themes are different, but that really doesn't matter sense since mangas with social commentary are few and far between. The scale of both of them are epic with headscratching ending that are surprisingly dense and the culmination of all of the subtext. On the actual stories, they are very well thoughout and crafted, so everything happens for a reason and nothing comes out of the blue. Artistically, they are both almost unparralled yet share one very rare similarity that few mangas share. Both are profoundly influenced artistically by the french comic artist Moebius (the setting and world of Nausicaa is heavily influenced by Moebius' Arzach and that is where the her glider comes from (I have the picture that is on the cover of one of the editions on my profile page if you don't believe me)). From him, Otomo takes the staggering amount of detail and the emotional moments while Miyazaki takes the surreal world and atmosphere and what Moebius described as quality (see Moebius vol. 4). Overall, both stand at the pinnacle of all of manga. It will be a long time before either of them are ever surpassed.

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