Akira vol 6 by katsuhiro otomo

Tetsuo is starting to lose control on his power, and it's causing his body to bulge and grow exponentially. Kaneda and Kaisuke pilot a modified robot with lots of guns on it; Joker pilots his flying scooter also with lots of guns; Kei has been imbued with the power of Lady Miyako, Kiyoko, and Masaru; The American soldiers arrive and use an airborne chemical to take out anyone with psychic powers; and Kaori continues to worry about Tetsuo's state, but is powerless to help him. As Tetsuo is attacked from the multiple fronts, his body expands to absorb the bullets, Kei's psychic attacks, and the America's poison gas. The Americans also start to drop bombs on the city from their jets. Tons of destruction rains all around our characters as they have a final psychic showdown that pulls in Kaneda and Kei, threatening to wipe them from existence.

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This is a gigantic volume compared to the other 5 in the series, but most of the pages are full of textless panels showcasing the destruction to the already decimated city of Neo Tokyo. These pages pulled me in as I looked at just how detailed everything is, and I was caught wondering if every panel was drawn from scratch every time. It's a wonder that there was anything standing at the end of the story, but there are still plenty of tilted buildings and lots of territory that is left untouched by the psychic show-down and the carpet-bombing. I'm left with some questions at the very end of the volume (spoilers ahead!) when Kaneda declares the sovereignty of Neo Tokyo and kicks out all aid workers - where the heck are these crazy kids going to get food? Are they going to continue the anarchy that ruled Neo Tokyo before? And one last dissatisfying note, that plot-armor is very strong in this series to have so many people survive such an intense amount of destruction. Overall, this was a satisfying end to a very intense series, and now I have this fundamental work under my belt to see where it influenced so many other works of Japanese and American science-fiction.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: April 12, 2011​
ISBN: 9781935429081 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Action Adventure, ​Kodansha