Akira – Shotaro Kaneda’s Motorcycle Comes To Life

For all the Akira fans, short of an actual production run, this is as close as they'll get to a dream ride come true...

"In Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 Japanese anime classic Akira, Shotaro Kaneda rides a very awesome, very custom motorcycle through what is now a classic post-apocalyptic world. Now the only officially recognized replica, built by Shinji Tejima from the Showa Studio over the course of seven years for approximately 10 million yen (about US$121,000), is currently making its way across Japan to raise money for children’s autism research. Tejma started his journey in Fukuoka where he lives and traveled south through various cities, including Osaka, Nagoya, and through Shodo Island. You can now find the motocycle at the Katsuhiro Otomo GENGA Exhibition in Tokyo, which is being held from April 9 to May 30. Visitors to the exhibition can have their picture taken while sitting on the bike with all donations to the exhibition itself going to support the reconstruction efforts in the Tohoku region after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster. Click after the jump to check out more looks at the ride in real life." - Freshness

via Freshness