“Akira” (アキラ), Original Japanese First Release Movie Poster 1987, Very Rare, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) ZA746

This is an original Japanese B2 poster printed in 1987 for the first Japanese release campaign of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo’s era-defining cyberpunk masterpiece. A landmark of Japanese animation and global pop culture, Akira (1988) is a post-apocalyptic, neon-drenched vision of Neo-Tokyo—directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, produced by Ryōhei Suzuki and Shunzō Katō, and written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, based on Otomo’s influential manga.

This is a very rare design variant, and it presents beautifully—an exceptional display piece for serious Akira collectors.

Poster design
A bold, cinematic composition built around scale and speed. The upper half plunges you into Neo-Tokyo from above—a vertiginous aerial cityscape rendered in electric blues, teals, and hot neon highlights, with architecture and light grids collapsing into a central vertical corridor like a futuristic canyon. Across this skyline, the famous tagline lands in Japanese: 「2019年ネオ東京—危険シグナル点滅！」 (“2019 Neo-Tokyo—Danger signals flashing!”), instantly placing the viewer inside Akira’s ominous near-future. The lower half detonates into motion: Kaneda leans hard into a turn on the iconic red bike, headlight blazing, the machine’s sculptural bodywork and “CITIZEN” detail reading sharply against the night highway. Along the bottom edge, a strip of character and explosion vignettes foreshadows the film’s psychic violence and societal collapse, while the massive yellow AKIRA title is slashed through in aggressive black brush-stroke typography—pure Otomo-era graphic attitude. It’s an unforgettable, display-forward design that feels like a capsule of late-1980s Japanese futurism.

Condition
Very Good / Excellent overall. Please review the photos as they show the exact poster for sale.

It is over 38 years old!

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.