Destruction of Tokyo in "Akira" Hits 20th Anniversary

Katsuhiro Otomo put December 6, 1992 date on the start of World War III

December 07, 2012 1:05am EST (12/6/12)

Hopefully you're reading this when it's still December 6th in your time zone. Older anime fans are sure to remember Akira's classic promise that "Neo-Tokyo is about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E." Well, the reason that there is a Neo-Tokyo is that the seminal sci-fi manga, first published starting December 20, 1982, opened with a notice that "at 2:17PM on December 6th, 1992, a new type of bomb exploded over the metropolitan area of Japan..." destroying the city that we know.