Hey, from what I've seen of Akira (that's the "15b", right?), it's not contrived at all. It's a route that starts in the back of a cave and climbs out and up a headwall. He was roped in and all, but didn't clip any bolts til turning the roof; why bother if you're only ten feet off the ground? I suppose one might simplky call it a boulder problem and end it at the lip, but the headwall would continue to call out....
And yes, that's what I heard: He simply reinforced a flake with epoxy. No holds were added.
I personally have to consider it the hardest sport route in the world until repeated. No one else has even done the moves, even though it's been tried by other strong climbers. This can't be said about Realization, which really is like running a marathon with a hard sprint at the end, in comparison.