I've noticed Akira seems to be out of print here in the US. I looked and found a nice steelbook version from the UK store zavvi. Unfortunately, it looks like this blu-ray is region locked. Is there a way around this?

Umm.....region free blu ray player? Before you ask if you don't know....just Google it.

Yeah, you need a Blu-ray player that can switch regions with a remote code (I don't think there are any that are specifically "Region Free" that remove the need to 'switch')

That, or a HTPC with Blu-ray playback software and a region-switching program.

edit: I think all of the above have been discussed in the International forum here.

And in the DVD & Home Theater Gear section. Question pops up from time to time asking what's the cheapest one availible. OP, you may want to try there as well and use the search function to see what threads have discussed this.

If you're not leery of refurbs, for $50 you can get a good region-free solution with an Insignia player. I picked one up from bestbuy.com, did the firmware change and voila DVD and BD region-free from the remote. I don't use it for my main BD player, but it works great for my handful of region B discs.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=190357

^^ I concur, I bought this as well a few months back. Damn good for the price.

I modded my Oppo BDP-83 with a $60 mod kit so I can use my primary and best player as my import player as well. This mod is independent of firmware updates so I can update firmware as necessary and not affect it.

BD Region Tray + PC Blu Ray Drive = Heaven

I have an Insignia in my bedroom that is region free and I recommend it based upon the fact I scored it for under $80 a year or two ago.

It's not the quickest or the greatest Blu-ray player in the market (far from it), but I can confirm I've had no issues playing region-locked and PAL-based content on the machine.