"Akira" launched in 1982, serialized in Japan's "Young Magazine", and concluded in 1990, two years after the film adaptation of the same name was released. The work, totaling more than 2,000 pages, was collected and released in six "tankōbon" volumes by Kodansha. Concurrently with working on the series, Otomo agreed to an anime adaptation of the work, provided he retained creative control. This insistence was based on his experiences working on "Harmagedon". The film was released theatrically in Japan in 1988, and followed by limited theatrical releases in various Western territories from 1989 to 1991.