Akira (1986)

[アキラ]

Volume 3

Author/Artist: Katsuhiro Otomo
Publisher: Kodansha

Synopsis:
Kaneda and Kay escape the facility, taking Akira with them, while three different factions are hot on their heels.

Story/Characters:
So we've got the Army under the Colonel, Miyako's disciples and Nezu's goons all after Akira this volume. I was kinda fuzzy on Nezu's motivations here. As near as I can tell, he's trying to get Akira for himself for a petty power play and, boy, does he ever screw things up. Him just keeling over from a heart attack in the movie is too easy. All this builds up to a big three-way confrontation where it really hits the fan.

The real MVP is Chiyoko, who turns out to be friggin' Rambo. I guess the reason she hasn't done field operations until now is because the war would be over by breakfast. Sakaki puts up quite a good fight too.

Art:
We get plenty of good action. You know we're going full throttle once tanks get involved. And as for the finale, it's the stuff of Devlin/Emmerich dreams.

Other:
We get a two-page spread to preview Volume 4 consisting of some Great Tokyo Empire ruffians with newspaper snippets covering current events (and the pending release of Volume 4).

Conclusion:
Even more so than the previous volume, if you're here for action, the story really delivers. Plotwise it's a bit messy, but by now that's par for course. It's definitely worth reading, though.

Rating:
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