AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames Vol 1 ( Otomo Complete Works ) Book Review

TLDR : This book is GOOOOOD. Get it !

When it was first announced by Kodansha, the publisher of Otomo’s Complete Works Collection earlier this year that they will be putting together a book/s showcasing genga ( key animation drawings ) and layouts from AKIRA, I was of course excited, but I had quickly assumed that it would merely be a souped up but otherwise similar book to the previously released AKIRA Animation Archives (2002).

I was wrong.

Yes, this book does indeed feature layouts and genga from Otomo’s magnum opus animated film AKIRA, but Otomo and the publisher made the excellent decision to also include high quality reproductions of colored anime cel frames in the book which are printed on glossy, transparent plastic sheets that layer up to illustrate just how the animation was actually put together during production. This adds an incredible sense of tangibility and tactile quality to the book and significantly increases immersion and appreciation of the art work. And they look so pretty ! You can see how this works in my flip-through video further below.

(image above) HOW TO READ THE BOOK – The first two pages is a visual guide/legend that walks the reader through the captions and anime semantics commonly found on genga and layouts as well as how to best read/enjoy the book. The book’s front cover and title is presented in portrait format to preserve consistency with the rest of the Complete Works books but should really be read in landscape format, and like a flip-book.

Consecutive frames of key animation drawings are arranged in order and can be enjoyed by flipping the the pages quickly to see them in motion. Because all the pages are printed with drawings on both sides, this process can be repeated again when you read the book from back to front.

(below) As with the AKIRA storyboard books and Domu, this volume comes with a nice little bookmark as well as forms for a special gift upon purchase of the entire collection, but this is only applicable for those residing in Japan unfortunately.

(above & below) This is the one of the most fun part of reading this book – reproductions of color anime cels printed on clear plastic that stack up to demonstrate how they were actually painted/layered and then printed frame by frame to create animation. The vibrant colors are splendidly re-created and really pop.

I count about 13 different sets of colored cels in this book, with quite a few of them up made up of 4 different layers.

(above) A reference drawing/chart that is used to identify the unique coded numbers of the colors that will be applied back in the day when anime production was done using traditional cel painting rather than digital painting with computers. When I was working at Sunrise I actually had the great fortune of knowing a colleague who was indeed such a color designer, and she worked such amazing films like Jin-roh : The Wolf Brigade.

So exactly which drawings are the layouts, and which are the genga ( key animation drawings ) ?

Most of the genga in this book are the ones drawn on the yellow graded paper. They usually only contain the characters and no background. The image above of Ryu’s “maintenance” crew is a genga.

The layouts are like the blueprints of the animation; they establish the mise en scene of the shot and often include not just the characters but also a rough background, and include written notes on layering, camera movement, what areas will be eventually background art, etc. Animation studios use specially printed layout paper, often with a big rectangular box printed. The drawing of the character Masaru below is a layout.

This very sumptuous volume exceeds all my expectations, and the delay and wait was totally worth it ( the original release date was actually in July 2022 ). Otomo had mentioned in one of his tweets that the printing progress was tricky and took much longer than expected; most likely for the reproduction cel frames.

At 7700 yen ( about $56 ), this is certainly not a cheap art book, but one must consider the sheer volume (650 pages) and the high quality of the prints, of all which give this volume fantastic value. My highest and unreserved recommendations; and remember we still have Volume 2 to look forward to !

Availability : At the time of writing this review this title is only for sale from Amazon Japan; hopefully Marketplace stores from other Amazon countries will eventually carry it too. In the meantime, Amazon Japan ships internationally; use my How To Order From Amazon Japan post for a step-by-step guide.

“AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames Vol 1 ( Otomo Complete Works ) 大友克洋全集” art book details :

Dimensions – 17.8 x 3.3 x 24.8 cm
Softcover with dust jacket, 650 pages
Full color with select pages of reproduction anime cel printed on glossy plastic sheet, In Japanese language

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