Tokyo suffered a nuclear explosion on December 6th 1982. A new Tokyo – Neo-Tokyo – has since been built and the year is now 2019. But Neo-Tokyo is a city filled with gangs and anti-government terrorism. When one of the gangs, led by Shoutarou Kaneda, rides through the ruins of the old Tokyo, the member Tetsuo Shima is in an accident. Tetsuo’s power now awakens from its slumber and is asked to joined the Akira project. Shoutarou, too, is dragged into this, but in the middle of a battle between military and a rebel group which both try to do what is the best for the world. But Tetsuo interferes in a way that could mean the end of the world at worst.
Akira is the work that made Katsuhiro Otomo a name in the west. I would say the world, but I honestly don’t know anything about how known he was in Japan before this piece. It’s been published twice in America – once coloured by Marvel and later on by Dark Horse Comics. I read the latter.
The entire work has a lot of sub plots that tie together at the end and I can’t remember any loose end, although the ending did leave me a bit unsatisfied as it was very open as to what happened to Akira. But this work from the 80’s kept me reading it and I had a hard time putting the comic down, even if it the genre was far from the kind I like. Therefore I am now saying that this is one of the classics that everyone should read. Because honestly, it’s great even when the genre sucks and the ending left me unsatisfied.
This post is available thanks to the love and support of my readers and patrons. If you want to support the blog, read this page!
If you want me to review your work, email theannyblog@gmail.com or send me a message on my Twitter for more information.
Buy this classic work and support the blog while at it!
The Anny Blog 