Akira, Volume 5

4.5

The return of Kaneda (having been absent for an entire volume), two attacks on Miyako's temple, Miyako's attack on Tetsuo via Kei as medium, the Colonel's attack on Tetsuo, Kaneda's attack on Tetsuo, the Americans' attack on Tetsuo, Ryu's attempt to prevent the Americans' attack on Tetsuo, Tetsuo's scarring of the moon (resulting in yet more destruction of Neo Tokyo) and Tetsuo's own power effectively attacking Tetsuo; expanding beyond the realms of his own body and pushing him to the brink of insanity.


While I think the pacing is a little weak in the first half, Akira 5 more than redeems itself in the last third (yes, most of the above occurs in the last 150 pages). A contender for the best volume so far, alongside 2 and 4. If my show more memory serves me though, the last volume is a whole other level... show less

Kanedaaaaaa's back! Where was he? Who knows! How'd he get back and how'd he survive? No idea! But he's just the thing to liven up the quiet life of Neo Tokyo with a bit of his healthy rebelliousness and undying thirst for revenge against his once-best-friend Tetsuoooooooo! But Tesuooooo wants to hit the moon's eye like a big pizza pie and also throw a few fighter jet planes around like toys and begin his disgusting mutation into a mindless blob of flesh and metal.

Things are stating to escalate as Tetsuo starts to mutate into grotesque monster. And in ever fastening spiral of craziness we have US military entering the fray with ever escalating approach - from biological t nuclear weapons - together with lady Miyako trying to use Kei as a weapon to subdue Tetsuo in order to defeat Akira.

Art as always is excellent, some frames are truly amazing.

Highly recommended to fans of SF and comic books.

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer Title: Akira #5 Series: Akira Author & Artist: Katsuhiro Otomo Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Manga Pages: 416 Synopsis: America prepares to invade Japan to kill off Akira and Tetsuo. Kei, Lady Miyako and the remaining 3 Special Children prepare to take Tetsuo over and use his power to kill Akira. Kaneda gathers the last of the biker gangs, gets some serious hardware [another laser gun] and prepares to kill Tetsuo show more to spare Kei from harm in her attempt. Tetsuo, clean from drugs, has his power soar. He goes nuts and puts a hole in the moon, takes over an American aircraft carrier and sets off some nuclear warheads. And he's losing control of his body to the power, which simply wants to use him as a conduit. And Akira. A silent young child who is totally enigmatic and who we still don't understand a thing about. My Thoughts: I didn't enjoy this volume as much as the previous one, not sure why though. This had more focused action, more plot advancement and Kaneda was back. I like Kaneda :-) Part of it was this was lots of setup for the final volume and I wasn't expecting setup. That's what Volume 4 was for. This was like a 3rd down in football where the ball is handed off and advanced 1 yard. Strategic, but not that exciting run down the field or the unexpectedly clever long throw. I will say that Tetsuo taking a chunk out of the moon was pretty exciting though! and seeing how using the power is affecting his body is just plain creepy. Speaking of creepy though, Akira, just sitting there looking through his almost slitted eyes. For a young boy who has said nothing in 5 volumes, he gives me the shivers. I felt sorry for him at first but after the revelations by the group of scientists on the aircraft carrier that he is simply a pure conduit for the Power, I wanted him destroyed as much as the Colonel wants him destroyed. Lordy, I want to read the final volume NOW! But delayed gratification, it is good too... " show less

This volume had a lot of action in it so not a lot happened. I think my favorite part of this book was Kaneda and Kei getting back together as well as the developing romance between Tetsuo and Kaori. There were no exploding heads in this one; again I am thankful. This story-line has gotten to the point where I can't tell who's going to win. But I am certain that there is no completely evil side. Sure Tetsuo's got a big helping of testosterone and super-powers but he isn't completely bad. I just hope he can gain control of himself before his powers go all out loco and he has to get killed.

I'm not even sure what to say about this... It's still complete insanity. Everyone is fighting everyone. I'm not sure if anyone knows whose side they're on. Tetsuo is completely bonkers, Kaneda is back and apparently Kei is a powerful medium. The power is overwhelming Tetsuo, and still mostly nothing from Akira. I'm seriously starting to wonder if he's actually a threat. One more to go and I guess I'll find out.

The one where Tetsuo goes to the moon. Kaneda, Kei, Kaisuke and Joker (the former Clown leader) plan an assault on the Great Tokyo Empire. An international team of scientists meet up on an American aircraft carrier to study Project Juvenile A(kira). Yamada plans to use biological weapons to assassinate Tetsuo and Akira with his commando team. Akira and Tetsuo demonstrate their powers to the Empire, when Tetsuo tears a massive hole in the Moon's surface. But Tetsuo's powers expand beyond the confines of his body, causing it to transmute inert matter into flesh and integrate it into his physical form. Tetsuo attacks the scientists and do battle with American fighter jets, launches a nuclear weapon and battles Kei who is controlled by Lady show more Miyako and the Espers. show less