Akira vol 4 by Katsuhiro Otomo

Citizens of the Great Tokyo Empire are somewhat struggling to survive, and they violently take over rescue ships and any other humanitarian aide. It’s all in the name of their new savior and  emperor, Akira, who blesses them with his presence at least once a day. His right-hand-man, Tetsuo, is really calling all the shots as Akira doesn’t seem to care about ruling over tons of people. On the other side of the destroyed Neo-Tokyo is Lady Mikago’s temple, where she welcomes in refugees and all sorts of folk, and blesses them with her presence at least two times a day. Caught in the middle of these two factions is everyone else: Kei and Chiyoko, who are trying to keep Number 27 (Masaru) and Number 25 (Kikuyo) safe, the Colonel, who also wants the kids safe but is also trying to stop Akira and Tetsuo, and a number of other loose factions trying to keep alive in this barren, desolate city.

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There is nothing of this volume in the Akira film, so readers who have seen the film will be shocked and glued to this volume. The different factions are a little bit confusing because many of the people are drawn very similarly. Ryu kinda lets him self go in this one, and he's starting to look very similar to the Colonel. There are some pretty interesting dudes introduced inside the Great Tokyo Empire who are working directly for Tetsuo, but most of them don't have names. They are pretty distinct though, so they are a little easier to keep track of. Some of the former military people also look incredibly similar to one another, so any sort of recognition readers should have for these characters from previous volumes is probably going to be minimal.

There is full frontal nudity as Chiyoko cleans herself, and a LOT of implied and attempted rape of any female character, especially if they come close to the Great Tokyo Empire, which seems to be almost entirely men. Tetsuo also gets himself set up in an orgy with three other ladies, and there is some frontal nudity of them as well. During the orgy, he sort of mind-melds with Akira, so we don't see a whole lot of what's going on between Tetsuo and the ladies.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3
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Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: November 30, 2010​
ISBN: 9781935429067 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Action Adventure, ​Kodansha