Hi this is Steve. Anyone who's listening to the Cinephiles knows how important comics were to me growing up.

After all, Superman, Batman, and the Legion of Superheroes practically taught me how to read.

Of course, at that time, comics and cartoons were thought of as kid stuff and by the time I was in high

school I was starting to agree.

Then in 1986 Frank Miller and Alan Moore exploded into my world, proving that comics could actually

be profound, moving, brilliant.

In other words, this wasn't just kid stuff.

This was art.

By 1989, I was working in a comic book store where I learned that while comics might have been invented in the US,

there were a lot of other places that knew this was an art form long before we did.

The first Japanese manga I read was Lone Wolf and Cub. The second was

Katashura Ottomo's groundbreaking work of post-apocalyptic cyberpunk, Akira. This was like nothing I had ever seen before. The comic and even

more so the movie was gorgeous, challenging, confusing, abstract, violent, funny, and in the end, fundamentally mysterious.

In other words, Akira is a masterpiece.

Not just a masterpiece for a comic book or for an animated movie,

but a work of true genius, a work of art.

With incredible visuals and one of the most original soundtracks in the history of cinema,

Akira is as compelling and influential today as it was 31 years ago.

And to make this week's episode even more exciting, we'll be joined by host, pundit, and

anime expert, Emma Fife.

So if you haven't seen the film, the best way to prepare for this

week's episode is a journey to Cinefiles.net where you can buy or stream Akira, along

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