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Reviewed by Michael Aronson “In the 21st century, the glittering Neo-Tokyo has risen from the rubble of a Tokyo destroyed by an apocalyptic telekinetic blast from a young boy called Akira – a subject of a covert government experiment gone wrong, now imprisoned for three decades in frozen stasis. But Tetsuo, an unstable youth with immense paranormal abilities of his own, has done the unthinkable: he has released Akira and set into motion a chain of events that could once against destroy the city and drag the world to the brink of Armageddon. Resistance agents and an armada of government forces race against the clock to find the child with godlike powers before his unstoppable destructive abilities are unleashed!” So you’ve seen the movie but want to know if the manga’s worth following. It definitely is, not only because it goes into more depth and detail than the movie could cram into an hour and a half, but because the plot spins off into completely new territory that the movie didn’t cover, starting with this volume. Unfortunately, it’s also a fairly weak volume since not too much really happens. Mysterious agents of Lady Miyako grab Akira from Kaneda and the gang, who have to struggle against the forces of the government and the Colonel, not to mention a traitor among them, in order to keep Akira away from everyone else. It’s a long sequence of chasing and action, and it’s quite riveting as key characters get blown away in the conflict, but the result of their efforts – and the last fifth or so of the book – are where things really get intense. It’s mostly just setup for the drastic turn of events that occurs at the end and launches the second half of the series into dire straits. The narrative, while a bit shallow, is nonetheless engaging as ever, as is the incredible artwork. It’s merely a necessary stepping stone to get to the real meat of this manga classic that should line everyone’s bookshelf. Think you could have written a better review of Akira v3? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
17 March 2010
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