#### **2x upscale of all 38 issues of AKIRA by Epic Comics**
***These are considered to be the first digitally colored "comics", by colorist Steve Oliff.***
In the late 80s, editor Archie Goodwin came to Katsuhiro Otomo and asked him to localize Akira in English. It would be published by Marvel Comics' imprint Epic Comics. Otomo said yes, but then came the frustrating task of localizing it.
Jo Duffy wrote the localization, Michael Higgins did the lettering, and Katsuhiro Otomo himself redid the art so that it would make sense in English.
***
![](https://i.imgur.com/goVvsz6.png)
***
#### Upscaled with ```4xRealWebPhoto_v3_atd``` model based on the recently released [**Adaptive-Token-Dictionary**](https://github.com/LabShuHangGU/Adaptive-Token-Dictionary) Network.
The model does a great job of removing compression artifacts, keeping the line art from getting wobbly, and preserving most of the screentone patterns. Out of all the models I’ve tried, this is probably the only one where the output doesn’t look like a smeary mess. The only downside is a slight color shift. Considering how fried the original scans are, I'm actually quite content with the upscale.
#### **Comparisons**: https://slow.pics/c/ERsXxXO7
***
***Resulting images were downscaled to 2200px then saved as **q97(4:4:4)** jpegs, encoded with*** **```JPEGLI```**
Link to the model used:
**4xRealWebPhoto_v3_atd**: https://openmodeldb.info/models/4x-RealWebPhoto-v3-atd
#### **Reading Direction**:➡️Left to Right
### [**DDL**](https://mega.nz/folder/MscXlAiZ#36OTlE6mhZVDqWXrO86Xgg)
[@TheOtakuX](https://nyaa.iss.one/view/1860517#com-5) Pretty sure there aren't any. The Italians raws that I saw once were also formatted left to right. The new German imprint probably also isn't flipped. Even the Japanese 6 volume book set compilation of these 38 issues is in the same format. Anyways, unflipping the scans would also require manual redraws of majority of the signs and even readjustment of some speech bubbles, as Otomo himself redid the art to accompany the English localization.
For further explanation read this: https://ia601404.us.archive.org/13/items/akira_202408/akira.pdf
>The new German imprint probably also isn’t flipped
Certainly*
It's also colored. Carlsen's chief editor implicitly stated he wanted the version that "introduced Akira to the Western public", namely the mirrored, colorized version.
@Hououin I'm just surprised nobody has scanned the unflipped Kodansha release. I think it was only the box set, though, individual volumes I've seen are flipped.
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TheOtakuX
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TheOtakuX