AKIRA

AKIRA

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
6
RELEASE
June 25, 1990
CHAPTERS
120

DESCRIPTION

Welcome to Neo-Tokyo, built on the ashes of a Tokyo annihilated by a blast of unknown origin that triggered World War III. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, making him a target for a shadowy agency that will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like the one that leveled Tokyo. At the core of the agency's motivation is a raw, all-consuming fear of an unthinkable, monstrous power known only as Akira.

(Source: Kodansha USA)

CAST

Shoutarou Kaneda
Tetsuo Shima
Kei
Akira
Kai
Shikishima Taisa
Kaori
Chiyoko
Yamagata
Kiyoko
Takashi
Miyako
Masaru
Ryuusaku
Resistance Member
Nezu

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO AKIRA

MOVIE ActionAKIRA

ANIME ActionAKIRA (Shin Anime)

REVIEWS

ThyMrMan
90/100
An Incredible manga that everyone should read
From the first Volume 1 could tell this was a much better story than was presented in the Movie. Enhanced greatly not only by the amount of detail in the story and world, but also the incredible coloring done in the version I was reading by Steve Oliff. For the version I decided to read the Epic Comics version of the manga. While some might have issues with it being mirrored for a US audience, I found the coloring to add far more than reading it in the orignal form. And since Otomo was directly involved with the coloring and mirroring process, I don't really consider it a horrible sin or anything. And really incredible to read the story about the amount of work it was to color this manga.

Now onto the actual meat of the manga, the amount of extra content that was cut from the Movie is incredible. When I first watched the movie I was disappointed with how it progressed and what happened, but I feel I have a much better appreciation for the movie now that I have read the manga. It managed to compress a series of 2500 pages or so into a 2 hour movie. Now the manga really used this space to really build heavily on the world, characters, story, and lore of the world.

On the world building side, this really felt like it was a world experiencing massive changes and how many groups would grow from the destruction and changes occurring. Various factions working to embrace or escape appeared in the middle of the destruction, and they all had pretty well defined goals and reasonings behind their actions.

This applies nicely to the characters as well, with them all having a reason for their actions. Never did I feel like somebody was doing something that didn't make sense for them to do, it all just felt really natural. Even moments when the characters go crazy and insane, it makes sense based on what has been building and explained throughout the manga. They never had moments that I feel were out of place or completely out of place at all.

The story and how it built the lore of the world came together very nicely in something that feels satisfying. The powers that exist all make sense in the end, and things wrap up nicely into a package is rather neat. Some points I feel did get a bit rough, but that could also be me missing something while reading. Some I wish had gotten more development was the international reaction to what was happening. Some occurs at around the halfway point, but it is pretty much limited to a single faction that plays an incredible major role in the rest of the story and the occasional mention of the UN or scientific groups. But overall it kinda feels like the rest of the world wasn't really watching or worrying about what was occurring in the city.

One thing I didn't really care for though was the ending of the manga. It felt kinda odd to me that this is the choice that would be made, after all the destruction and ruin occurred. Sure you can show respect and care about the people who ended up being lost, but they really took an extreme reaction I feel that isn't going to end well. Why take a move that will cause more fighting and death after what occurred, instead of working toward peace and cooperation.

Overall by the end of this rather massive manga, I am really impressed by what I read. Thanks to the coloring it looked like something far different than I've really seen in other manga. Appearing more like a comic or graphic novel really than a manga. If you even enjoyed the movie a slight bit, I fully encourage reading the manga, just best of luck tracking down a legal version of the Epic Comics version.
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Yuseistar
80/100
A journey into Neo-Tokyo, filled to the brink with excitement, good art, and so much more!

Story: 8/10

Akira is not seen as one of the classics of anime and manga for no reason. When you read Akira and find yourself enveloped in the world, you’ll realize quickly why everyone raves about it. The manga opens up with the main character and his crew speeding down a highway on their bikes, whooping and yelling. From there on, the tone and pace for the rest of the manga is set. Just like their bikes, the story comes at you quick and never ceases to be exciting. It’ll keep the reader at the edge of their seat from chapter 1 all the way to the end at chapter 120. Climatic events and the downtime in-between are so well blended together that it’ll feel like your going from climax to another climax. It makes you feel that you are in the meat of the story, the heat of the action, almost through the entire read. Just when you think things have calmed down for a bit, every turn in the road brings about something new and exciting.

While the positives outweigh the negatives in terms of story in Akira. One aspect of the story that felt lackluster was the explanation of important themes in the story. In Akira, there are supernatural themes that play quite an important role in the overall flow of the story. Even though they play an important role in the story, there wasn’t enough explanation to fully grasp and understand these supernatural themes. In turn, can lead some readers to be confused at how certain plot events unfold. Even so, Akira’s story is dark and gritty and filled to the brim with underlying themes are lend itself to the storytelling amazingly well. The story takes the social and political discord of a city plagued by secrets and a devastating past and runs away with it. It takes the psychology of man when faced with near extinction and wonderfully implements it into its storytelling. All of this and more coalesces in a masterclass of storytelling.

Art: 9/10

I will start by saying that I think the art in Akira is amazing. Akira brings Neo-Tokyo to life. From its desolate highways to it’s beatdown buildings, the art fits the setting so perfectly that you can’t help but to be enveloped by it. The character art style is the 90s personified. All the characters have that 90s aesthetic to them that just brings you directly to the 90s. To top it off too, the body language of the characters, especially the expressions are done perfectly. Without reading anything and just looking at the facial expressions of the characters from panel to panel, you’ll without a doubt be able to decipher what is happening.

This feeling of immersion that the art gives off could only be achieved by attention to detail and Akira is sprawling with exactly that. Not only does every character’s body language feel real, but the background has so much detail that it’s appalling. Each billboard is drawn out, each window of a building is drawn out, each button on a control panel is drawn out. I could go on and on, but that is how much the background is detailed in Akira. All these small details all get overlooked because we unconsciously understand that buildings are supposed to have windows, clothes are supposed to have buttons, etc. But it’s because that these details are drawn out that make the world that much more realistic.

This all comes together inside the confines of each individual panel as well. The transition from page to page, panel to panel, is clean. All of the art stays within the borders of its panel and never bleeds out into the white space. And each panel is spaced out far enough that it doesn’t feel like the page is a mess nor too close that you feel the page doesn’t have enough content. You combine the art style of the 90s and the extreme attention to detail, and you have clear paneling on top of all of that. Akira is truly a masterclass of anime/manga art.

Characters: 7/10

The cast of characters are definitely the weakest point of Akira. While they aren’t necessarily bad, outside of Kei, Kaneda, and Tetsuo the remainder of the cast isn’t too important. That being said though, the characters, supporting cast included have a nice depth and complexity to them. No character does things for no reason or to simply move the plot along. All the character’s actions are brought about by the design of the character. For example, Kaneda only does the things he does so that he can see his friend Tetsuo again and bring him back. So, even though the supporting characters aren’t all that important, Akira does a good job still giving them a compelling enough design to warrant the decisions they make and how the story unfolds because of that.

One thing Akira excels at is establishing character development throughout the length of the story. Not only do the main characters get good character development but also some of the supporting characters, such as Ryu and the Colonel. The development comes at a good pace as well and doesn’t feel out of place. The character development doesn’t feel out of place. No character becomes unrecognizable, the progression that each character goes through is justified and warranted. Not to mention the relationships that are established throughout the story. None of them feel rushed or for the sake of the plot. The relationships between each character slowly builds upon time spent together and events experienced. All this makes the flow of the story and the world of Akira that much smoother.

Enjoyment: 8/10

Akira was an absolute blast to read. Going in, I already knew that Akira was a classic but I really never understood why. After giving it a read, I can see why people consider Akira a classic. The story is excellent, I’m always a sucker for a Cyberpunk/Post-apocalyptic world, and I think Akira brings that type of world to life. But even more than story, the art is what makes Akira for me. So much detail in brought into the world and it makes the world that much more real. All that combined with a good cast of characters and the manga is bound to be enjoyable.

Verdict

As a closing statement, I would recommend Akira to just about anyone. It is mostly an Action manga but just the world inside Akira can pull anyone’s attention. From its rich story to its impeccable art, Akira is a manga I think everyone should experience.

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Hachooo
90/100
Through its fast pacing at first, the Akira manga is a thorough story that shows the amazing themes of tragedy.
__Heya there! This is my review of the Akira manga, which I’ve read after I watched the movie to make comparisons and such. _This manga is much more gruesome and includes nudity, drug abuse, blood and death, so please read by your discretion._ Of course, it’s totally alright to not like this review at all, but regardless I do hope you enjoy it! //TW + CW: death mentions, blood, spoilers __ The Akira manga is a fascinating series, that delves into many themes and points that haven’t been shown in the anime film. The way it fleshes out more charecters, fleshes themes out, and shows a more grounded and gruesome portrayal is amazing to say! But with its many good points are also some bad ones, and though it’s an amazing series, it isn’t a perfect one. This is more of a comparison type of review, but hey, lets go talk about that. So before we talk about the overall themes and substance of the manga, I’d like to talk about the art. Each drawing in ever panel is absolutely etched in detail, wether it being shown when Tetsuo’s arm is corrupted, to the detail of every broken window and stone in the countless buildings seen. The art in this manga is very much phenomenal, and keeps me hooked even more to the plot. The artstyles for Akira is different, and it depends how you’ll think of it, but I sure adore it. And the coloring that’s featured back in the 2000’s seems to be done very well, and I respect it! But now, let’s get into the real meat of the review. So first off, I feel the pacing here in the manga is one of the biggest problems. If you’ve seen my movie review of Akira, I mentioned that pacing is a main problem that’s perfected in the film then manga. In the first chapter, we already experience the Capsules encountering Takashi and him destroying a few parts of Neo-Tokyo, and Tetsuo already crashed, entered the hospital, then escape and find his powers in the first volume. While the film gives us time to process these events at a reasonable time, the manga already puts it in our face that these events are happening. Heck, even Yamagata’s death happened in chapter 6, and I felt it was rushed. And now I’ll talk about the ending, which wasn’t as bad as I’ve read through! Akira and his imitation on Tetsuo when he’s hurt by his own power is so haunting, and gives this eerie feeling of the little boy. I kind of wished that Kei and Tetsuo’s fight could’ve been fleshed out more as it would’ve added more suspense and impact for the conflict. But overall these are the only problems I have with the manga. Continuing on, in the manga we’re introduced to more charecters, and some have been more fleshed out and developed which is very great! I’ll first talk about Chiyoko, and her relationship with Kei. Chiyoko is this broad muscled woman who helps Kei with her mission stated in the manga. They have a mother daughter relationship, which is endearing in moments when she tells Kei she shouldn’t fall in love so easily, and when they reunited for a short time, it’s really sweet! Next is Miyako, and she gets more time in the manga, who is the charecter that speaks on religion, and helps Kei to awaken her powers. There isn’t much to say but I really like how she’s more fitted into the story in a nice manner. Moving on is Yamagata, who has a bit more relevance here as a comrade for the Capsules, yet again he died way too soon. As for Kaisuke, he’s his old bubbly self, who I like is more connected with Kaneda and Kei, and when they reunited he was still so over dramatic. And now the main charecters! I can safely say Kaneda is a good and compelling as he is in the movie, and is more fleshed into a way more unexpected protagonist you’ll meet. And as for Tetsuo, he is much, MUCH more rude in the manga, giving the idea how much power gets into his head. He even has a relationship with Akira, and is basically his subordinate. I’d also like to mention his and Kaori’s relationship is more grounded, tragic, and changing, since she is the only charecter Tetsuo is gentle with and it makes Tetsuo realize more about the people he meets. I’d also like to touch upon the deaths in manga, and let me say they are very tragic and saddening. In Chapter 6, Yamagata dies from a blow to the head by Tetsuo, and instantly dies in Kaneda’s arms. While in Volume 5, Kaori dies from one of Tetsuo’s henchmen, and it shows the absolute rage that can come from him, and how sad her death was because she was the only person Tetsuo really cared about in the end. As for the themes in the manga, they’re very much gruesome, and includes drug abuse and overdose, the unbothered youth, Religion v Science, the path to heroism, destruction, and rebirth. The manga has much more time to include more horrifying connections, and develop relationships better. Even though the manga has its problems, its overall really great and I’d recommend it for the faint of heart! Again, this manga is very gruesome than the movie and won’t be it for everyone, so read it by your discretion. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this review!
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