Gunshot

This is a collection of 11 short manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, who was 17-19 years old and still a minor, between 1971 and 1974, from the period when he was a student contributor to his professional debut.

The mangaka made his official debut at the age of just 19 with "Gunshot" in the August 4 supplementary issue of Weekly Manga Action in 1973, and none of his first seven short stories have been published in any previous tankobon. They are literally "phantom early works".

This compilation includes all of these works for the first time, as well as four completely unpublished manga, which were studies and submissions made before the Otomo's debut.

It is a miracle that the originals of these works still exist, but the mangaka's permission to include these unpublished works was also a special measure taken for the "complete works" project, and the realization of this release is truly a "once in a half-century" miracle.

It is up to the reader to decide whether to dismiss it as a collection of crude, poor, immature works or to be horrified by the expression of a "terrible child" with fresh sensibility and a maturity that is hard to believe for a teenage boy.

The value of this tankobon is immeasurable as a "one-of-a-kind record" that shows the moment when a creator who would later make a name for himself in the world was born, as well as the moments before and after.

Only 10 years after his debut, in 1983, the still unknown "monster" began to make "AKIRA". Finally! They are now being brought back to life!