Katsuhiro Otomo's manga epic Akira began publication in 1982, continuing in serialized form for ten years. Among the most famous and acclaimed manga ever, it was Otomo's last major work before moving to film, beginning with his movie version of Akira (1988).
Dark Horse Comics published an English-language edition of Akira in 2000 and 2001. Though some foreign editions of the Akira manga have been colorized, Dark Horse kept the original black and white art, though it was mirrored it so that it could be read from left to right by Western readers.
Volumes 1 and 2 of Akira introduce the main characters, including former teen friends Kaneda and Tetsuo, resistance fighters Kei and Ryu, and the Colonel, head of the sinister Project Akira.
The Hunt for Akira Begins in Volume 3 of the Akira Manga
After the Colonel's attempt to kill Akira and Tetsuo at the end of Volume 2, Kaneda and Kei lead Akira away into Neo-Tokyo. Tetsuo, meanwhile, disappears after tending to his blasted arm. Kaneda and Kei seek refuge with Chiyoko, a hulking woman who works with the resistance.
All the city's factions begin searching for Akira, anxious to destroy him or harness his power. Lady Miyako, head of the resistance, sends her servant Nezu, as well as other psycho-kinetic children like those from Project Akira, to find the boy. The Colonel's forces are in hot pursuit too.
Kaneda and Kei take Akira to Nezu, but he betrays the resistance, wanting to control Akira for himself. Reversals follow as each side battles the others through the streets of Neo-Tokyo. Eventually, the Colonel and the other children corner Akira.
But Nezu, trying to shoot Akira, hits one of the other psycho-kinetic children instead. The murder of his friend causes Akira to unleash a psychic explosion which lays the city waste once more – and signals the return of Tetsuo, more powerful than ever.
Akira Overshadows the Ruins of Neo-Tokyo in Volume 4
As the fourth volume of Akira opens, Neo-Tokyo is in ruins, and the survivors have banded together into factions. Tetsuo, with Akira as his figurehead, has set up "The Great Tokyo Empire," a rag-tag army of zealots who try to consolidate their power and prevent outside forces from gaining a foothold in the city.
Lady Miyako's temple is another refuge for Neo-Tokyo's battered inhabitants. After clashes with Tetsuo's followers, Kei, Chiyoko, and the Colonel all head toward Lady Miyako, bringing the surviving children of Project Akira. Meanwhile, Tetsuo, still drug-addled, teleports himself to Lady Miyako. She reveals more about Tetsuo's powers, and the fact that she too was once a subject studied by Project Akira.
Elsewhere, Ryu joins forces with Yamada, a lone survivor of an American force that has infiltrated the city in an attempt to stop Tetsuo and Akira. As Tetsuo isolates himself to wean himself off his drugs, his followers launch attacks on Lady Miyako's temple. But Tetsuo, mad from withdrawal pains, brings an end to the fighting in another demonstration of his growing powers.
Only the power of Akira reins Tetsuo in. As the volume ends, Kaneda, thought killed in the destruction of Neo-Tokyo, suddenly reappears.
Echoes of the Akira Manga in the Anime Version
There are a few elements in Volumes 3 and 4 which did find their way, albeit briefly, into Katsuhiro Otomo's film. For instance, Kaori, who in the Akira movie is simply Tetsuo's girlfriend from his biker gang days, has a greater role in Volume 4. Brought in as a concubine for Tetsuo after the rise of the Great Tokyo Empire, she instead becomes his confidant and a nursemaid of sorts to Akira.
Also, flashbacks of the beginnings of Tetsuo and Kaneda's friendship, crucial at the climax of Akira the movie, are present when Tetsuo rages before returning to Akira at the end of Volume 4 of the Akira manga.
Some other motifs of the film, such as Tetsuo's mutation at the Olympic Stadium, also occur in the last volumes of Akira. But on the whole, the plot of Akira, Volumes 3 and 4, marks the point where the manga and anime versions of Katsuhiro Otomo's epic part ways.
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