Two production animation cels and matching production drawings featuring Tetsuo from Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira.

Otomo's genre-defining masterpiece of Japanese animation, Akira, is considered one of the most important works in anime history. It is an outstanding piece for collectors, not only for its technical completeness and visual impact but for what it represents: a landmark in hand-drawn animation.

This lot includes an original production cel of a powerful Tetsuo mid-transformation, paired with its matching character drawing and a separate effects cel and drawing capturing the explosion and airborne debris behind him. Though not the keyframe for the sequence, this combination creates a visually complete moment from one of Akira's most recognisable animated passages.

Tetsuo's strained pose and expression are rendered with sharp precision and emotional intensity, his cape billowing against a backdrop of rising smoke and chaos. It is hand-painted in gouache on an acetate sheet labelled "D49". The accompanying hand-painted explosion layer, marked "A32" to match the cel number, adds motion and cinematic weight, evoking the escalating psychic conflict at the heart of the film.

The drawings are rendered in a combination of graphite and red and green coloured pencils. They are numbered "D49" and "A32", confirming their connection to the cels. Some of the red paint from the Tetsuo cel has transferred onto the explosion cel. There are some signs of discolouration around the edges of the drawings and a small hole in the upper left corner. Dimensions (each cel): 23 cm x 35.5 cm (9" x 14"); (each drawing): 23.5 cm x 35 cm (9.25" x 13.75")

Sold without copyright; see copyright notice in the Buyer's Guide.