Skateboards and motorbikes: Supreme’s adoption of Akira

Banfi, Ryan

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132441 Copy

Description

Title

Skateboards and motorbikes: Supreme’s adoption of Akira

Author(s)

Banfi, Ryan

Issue Date

2025-12-16

Keyword(s)

• Akira
• Skateboarding
• Supreme
• James Jebbia
• Subcutlure

Abstract

This essay examines how Supreme reimagines skate culture and subculture through its adoption of Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s Akira. In doing so, this paper argues that Supreme manufactures subculture via reimagining established subcultural texts to further their concept of marginality– hypermasculine angry youth who rally against the mainstream by indulging in radical street skating/racing and dangerous drug use. By examining the relationship between Supreme and Akira, this paper offers an academic interpretation of a prominent understudied brand and a reading of Akira to suggest what the manga can mean in the current era of subculture.

Series/Report Name or Number

The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, volume 6 issue 2

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

Articles

Language

eng

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jams.v6.1875

Copyright and License Information

• Copyright 2025 Ryan Banfi
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0).

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