Ah-ha! You and I both, for that very reason I limit myself and searches for complete novels or anime. Akira is on my list as well as quite a few more (as if the list seems to end, ha!). OPM is one of the few I would put on the list of worth keeping current. Agreed! Since I can gush a bit seeing as you're already into the genre, an epic - in the classical sense, not alluding to works like Naruto, Fairy Tail, etc. - that I cannot promote enough is Gantz the manga. It's about 384 chapters, very action packed, seinen for spotty romance, but an ABSOLUTELY amazing exhibition and plot progression of the Hero's Journey with an underlying stream of Sci-Fi engendered philosophy.I have a harder time getting into graphic novels, only because I don't like having to keep up with issue after issue. So it's more a logistical thing than anything.
Ah yes, I'm familiar with that one, but haven't gotten to it yet....