First exposed to the anime as a young teenager, and later reading the manga in college, Akira had a profound impact upon me. I was (and still am) completely floored by Katsuhiro Otomo's magnum opus. How did he brainstorm such a unique, profound, and accessible storyline? And that art. How in the world did he accomplish it? And the movie? OMG.... (though the manga is a much more nuanced and "complete" story) Having recently moved to Guelph, and finding/re-reading the collected works from the main public library, I was motivated to hide our first "series", each cache dedicated to a unique character from Akira.
Birdman - Such a cool character! But also such a terrible one! How could you not love to hate him, as well as his friend Eggman? One of Tetsuo's imbued minions (i.e., a quasi-Esper?) in post-Neo Tokyo. He liked to perch up high so to "see" intruders into the Great Tokyo Empire.
Bee Bait