This story starts with a 15 year old idea by a man named Joe (the) Peacock…

What was that?  Yes, his name is Joe Peacock.  No, not the plumber.  No, he’s not in the mafia.  Yes, he has a really nice tattoo.  No, he didn’t get it when he was 15… jeeze, can I continue now?

Now Joe is a true jack of all trades; programmer, writer… snazzy dresser.  He is also an idea man.  If you haven’t guessed by now, the idea I’m going to share with you was his grand tattoo.

Joe’s tattoo is an homage to Akira, the 1988 anime film by Katsuhiro Otomo.  Completed in sections, the tattoo tells the story presented in the movie.  It also covers events in the manga works that the movie was based on.

Here is a composite of the sleeve he had done (some distortion due to unwrapping the arm based on his photos):

The tattoo breaks down as follows:

The large glass shard with the Japanese script is the name of the anime “Akira”.  Surrounding that is the ruins of Neo-Toyko, the setting for the story, which Akira destroyed.  Above the shard are the pipes leading from the cryo-chamber that housed Akira (Akira is pictured on the lower shard of this image).  Below that second shard are the remnants of military tanks.

Around to the front of his arm exists another shard, this one featuring Kaneda.  Below him are the remnants of his bike, scattered around a tagged pillar with additional scenes of a destroyed Neo-Tokyo.

On the back side of Joe’s arm is a shard dedicated to Tetsuo, tying back around to Kaneda’s bike and the military forces present in the tattoo.   Scenes of the surviving city stand behind him.

You can view more of Joe’s Progress shots and additional details at his website.

This tattoo is a great example of how an image can be crafted to show both interesting imagery, and preserve qualities of the story, mood and style.