Akira, Vol. 4

Another action packed Volume! In volume 3 we see Akira show off his power by leveling Tokyo... again. In Volume 4, We pick up a little while after, where we see the people of Tokyo divided in 2 factions, those who worship the mysterious number 19 and those who worship poor little Akira and his maniacal assistant Tetsuo. Luckily, it seems all the major players survived the destruction except poor Kaneda. Kei really shines in this volume and goes from being a pretty solid character to probably being my favorite character yet. She is tough and ready to take command, even willing to stand up against the wise number 19's direct orders. Chiyoko is, once again, one of the toughest characters and the source of a lot of the volumes action. The Espers also survived the destruction but are in critical condition (a lot of the volume is devoted to getting them to a safe place or getting them the proper medicine they need). Tetsuo seems to have a firm grip over his fanatical followers and also seems to speak for Akira... although cute little Akira seems to just want to live the normal life of an average child. In one of the more interesting aspects of the volume, we see Akira mentally abuse Tetsuo and force him to confront his addiction to the pills that suppress his power. He tries to kick the habit but it is evident that this could mean bad news for the survivors of Neo-Tokyo. Other characters like the Colonel, Ryu and a very welcome survivor from Kaneda and Tetsuo's biker gang all get plenty of screen time (or panel time, I suppose?). We are introduced to many new and interesting characters as well, like, the mysterious psychic with the eyeball on his head that seems to show up at all the wrong times. Tetsuo's personal assistant whose stupidity will ultimately trigger the volume's explosive climax. Plenty of new psychics and a couple 'tough as nails' members of the American Naval fleet, sent in to investigate the chaos. But perhaps most interesting of all is a motherly character that is introduced, she is caring and seems to have the ability to calm both Akira and Tetsuo when their powers start to overtake them. There are plenty of battles, revelations and of course, massive scenes of destruction that have become a staple in the series by now. I have said more than I should have so I will leave it at this... This is the best volume so far!. any lack of plot/character development from volume three is made-up ten fold in this edition. There is lots to take in this volume, not only in the fact that so many new characters and plot points are introduced but also in the fact that this volume seems to change the tone of the series entirely, but Mr. Otomo makes it so its easy to follow and never feels overwhelming. To me, the series just keeps getting better and better, I cant wait to see what insanity is introduced in the next to volumes!

Got it for my husband as a gift. According to him it’s amazing. The quality was really well, nothing was damaged so thank God

They definitely don't make anime or graphic novels like this anymore, or quite as good as they used to in the 80s and 90s in my opinion. There are some series that will come out every now and then and catch my attention, but other than that, everything seems like a repeat of itself. The Akira series is one of those graphic novels that I really do enjoy and this is a 6-part series. The movie is good too, but the graphic novels give you a more in depth understanding of the story and the characters and what's going on with the plot (in the movie they cut a lot out of the story). The series deals with political aspects in a post-apocalyptic Japanese society right after a major disaster, and scientists experimenting on humans for psychic abilities/powers to try and understand them. If you are into that kind of thing, Akira is a great series and I read all six books in two days, highly recommend this series!

First off, Akira was one of the first few animes I've ever watched (Hokuto no Ken being one of my top tier favorites) and it's without a doubt a true classic. Secondly, I knew the manga would show at the minimum 50% more than what the original video animation showed and I was VERY satisfied with the original story development and conclusion. Finally, I bought all 6 volumes and it was one of the best purchases I've ever made online. I highly recommended that you own this very unique and awesome manga collection that's easily a top 10 of all time in my opinion. And also, in my opinion, nothing beats Berserk as far as Seinen manga is concerned ;).

This book was huge for me as a teenager. I was introduced to Akira in movie form, and when I realized there was more to the story after the disaster at the end of book 3, I couldn't wait to find out more! The story takes a dramatic turn here. I don't want to spoil it, but you get to see what happens in the wake of disaster. The art still inspires me to this day. Otomo's ruined cityscapes are amazing to see. His technical chops with all the urban landscapes really shine in this volume, especially since they have been so devastated. If your a fan of distopia fiction, you need to check out Akira, and in this volume you finally get to see how people "move-on" so to speak, and that master plan is just beginning to unfold.

I ordered this for my son after ordering the first 3 for him. He absolutely LOVES Akira! He isn't typically a reader, but he is completely obsessed with this Manga. I'll definitely be getting Volume 5 before he finishes this one.💜💜💜

Very good read. I have been a big fan of the movie for a long time. Now I finally get a chance to read the entire story. The story has so much depth and interesting plot twist. The complexity of the characters is amazing. On to Vol.5

Couldn’t so proud on having this on my collection came fast packaged good with no dent or any scratches

Una increíble continuación de la parte 3, muy recomendable, es súper ágil y los dibujos son increíbles

If you only read one Manga Akira is THE one to go for. All six volumes are awesome. The amazing detail, flawed characters, the sense of movement in the action and the frankly HUGE story. The anime is a masterpiece but only really scratches the surface really. All six volumes are to be devoured then reread annually! I always get something out of each revisit whether it's just flicking through or reading properly. Otomo is a true auteur. Love it!

This is a great story and the art is very good. I really enjoyed this series when I was younger and it still captured my attention as an older person. I have all of the books from Marvel/epic comics which are colorized. I bought these big books for the nostalgia of the comic and I wanted to see it in black and white and if it was a direct port of the Japanese versions but alas it is still the same mirrored version that Marvel/epic put out in the late 1980s just black and white. The mirrored version has all the drawn panels reversed meaning that characters are holding weapons in their right hand or other items which is somewhat annoying as every one in this story is left handed, that’s also a mistake in my own opinion by the artist/author Katsuhiro Otomo, I’m also not a fan of the black and white as it is hard to truly get a feel of the visualization of this book. Marvel/epic deserve praise for doing a great job colorizing it way back when and it’s very beautiful to read it that way because you actually see the finest details of the drawings. The volume format is beautiful to hold with a smooth hard poster type cover. All in all this is a great book to have.

Wow i didn't know that the movie was only half the story. This is the second part, so weird! recommend!

Esse volume é simplesmente espetacular. Caos, confusão. A ambientação da história mudou radicalmente, algo corajoso, mas Katsuhiro fez isso com maestria. Sem falar da qualidade do desenho... Impressionante.