Manga was something to read. Then it became something to wear.
Let's trace that story, starting from AKIRA.
1982. Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA begins serialization in Weekly Young Magazine. The serialization ran until 1990.
1988. The animated film is released.
From the late 1980s into the 1990s, official T-shirts and sweatshirts, licensed T-shirts, brand collaboration tees and exhibition commemorative tees were made. Some were handed out as prizes or magazine extras.
The early 2000s. At a shop selling band tees and posters in Nakano Broadway, Tokyo, an AKIRA tee sold for around 3,000 yen.
Around 2010. Auction prices were a few thousand yen. Over 10,000 yen was considered expensive.
The tide turned from the middle of the 2010s.
2014. Supreme sampled an AKIRA T-shirt. Attention turned to anime and manga tees.
2017. The Supreme x AKIRA collaboration is released. The same year, a commemorative tee for the Katsuhiro Otomo tribute exhibition also appeared.
2019. AKIRA ART OF WALL is held at Shibuya Parco. Trading prices of past T-shirts soar.
The heat did not end with AKIRA. It spread to Neon Genesis Evangelion, Serial Experiments Lain and Kyoto Animation titles.
Today, some rare AKIRA tees are said to trade for over 500,000 yen.
T-shirts that once cost a few thousand yen came to be treated as works of art.
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