Akira Review

Akira is the story of two friends, Kaneda and Tetsuo. It takes place in Neo-Tokyo in the year 2019 after World War III when there was apparently a huge bomb that devastated Japan. Tetsuo and Kaneda are in a bike gang that runs into a young boy. Tetsuo, unable to stop in time, gets into a wreck on his motorcycle and is hurt. Before Kaneda is able to find the little boy, he disappears. Then the military come to the scene of the explosion and ask a lot of questions. Tetsuo is taken to a government research lab where they experiment on him and his underlying physic abilities begin to awaken. He is more powerful than any they have seen before and more dangerous because he does not know how to control it. The friendship between the two teenage boys is put under a lot of strain as Tetsuo learns more about his powers. Kaneda, meanwhile, is having a relationship with an anti-government woman named Kei. Tetsuo is confused by his new abilities and starts to learn that the force behind it all is the mysterious Akira.

Akira was an amazing read. The art work was incredibly detailed and emotional for a graphic novel. There was a lot of action in the book and while sometimes that can be hard to follow, it was very clear in Akira. You could see exactly what was happening as well as feeling it. I think that is an incredibly admirable skill to have. The author Otomo Katsuhiro is also a very good story teller. He did a great job at developing his characters and their motives. You understood all of the characters at a very personal level, which made it possible to understand their actions and see where they were coming from. Although a pretty long novel, it read quickly and felt almost like watching a movie. The depiction of Neo-Tokyo may have been my favorite part. Katsuhiro really made the future city come alive and it sort of reminded me of A Clockwork Orange. I think because it had to do with teenagers doing bad things, but there was something very similar about the two.

I really enjoyed reading this book and am definitely going to continue with the series. I don't understand how anyone could stop after just reading the first one! I need to know what happens and what this elusive Akira is!