Akira: Book 5
No. 5 in the Akira series
by Katsuhiro Otomo
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Dark Horse Manga (Milwaukie, Oregon): December 2001. Trade paperback: 411 pages. ISBN-10: 1-56971-527-0 Suggested retail price: $24.95 (US) Tags: drugs; gangs; Graphic Novel; guns; Japan; made into movie; Manga; motorcycles; Tokyo Tactical strength: [7/10] |
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In Book 5, the action focuses on all the different factions getting ready to make an attack on Tetsuo and his Great Tokyo Empire. Kaneda has returned from some sort of limbo, and he immediately makes plans to kill Tetsuo. Keisuke takes Kaneda to see the Joker, the former leader of the Clown gang. The Joker has repaired a number of motorcycles and collected a large arsenal of weapons. Kaneda helps himself to a motorcycle and weapons.
The Colonel delivers Kiyoko to Lady Miyako's temple. Kei learns that the Colonel saved Chiyoko, but she lays injured back at the ruins of the army research building. Kei and the Colonel make their way back to the building, but troops from the Empire follow them and attack. Lady Miyako warns Kaneda about Kei's situation, and Kaneda races off with Keisuke to Kei's rescue. Kaneda drives off the Empire troops, but not before an Empire psychic tries to kill Kei by creating a brain hemorrhage. Kaneda takes Key and Chiyoko back to Lady Miyako's temple, where they both receive treatment.
The United States has a fleet just off the coast of Neo-Tokyo. A group of scientists on board the main aircraft carrier try to study the power from the "Akira events." Tetsuo senses their investigations and pays them two visits. The first time he just makes a small show of force. In response to the attack, the commanding admiral sends a special forces group into Neo-Tokyo to assassinate Akira. Tetsuo learns of the invasion and visits the fleet again, and this time he completely destroys the carrier by forting a fighter jet to crash into the carrier.
The Empire calls a mandatory assembly of all citizens, complete with rock band and electric lights. As part of the celebration and a demonstration of force, Tetsuo takes a huge chunk out of the moon. The meteor showers and tidal disruptions cause further destruction to Neo-Tokyo. Lady Miyako worries that such an enormous output of power by Tetsuo will cause him to quickly loose control over the power. Lady Miyako unites her power with Kiyoko and Masaru, and they use Kei as a medium to try to control Tetsuo. And as Lady Miyako predicted, Tetsuo starts having trouble maintaining a human form.
But the most pivotal event has nothing to do with Tetsuo. Just before Kei and Kaneda each take their own paths to try to destroy Tetsuo, Kei offers to sleep with Kaneda. At first Kaneda starts to kiss Kei, but he gets suspicious that she might have one of the psychics controlling her, so Kaneda backs off. Before he runs out, he does promise that he will return and consummate their acknowledgement of their love.
In Western tradition, we have a saying that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We see a little bit of this behavior in Tetsuo. We see him use his power to get himself pills and girls, but once he finds Kaori, he stays loyal to her and demonstrates love and caring for her. We can attribute Tetsuo's behavior more to the actions of a teenager rather than someone given unlimited power. In Akira, we have a different view of power. Lady Miyako says at one point that Tetsuo's power will grow to overcome his personality and that Akira has no personality -- he represents the embodiment of pure power without personality. This view of power that consumes personality seems very different to Western minds. In most of our stories, we have individuals who either use power for good or evil. In Akira the power takes over the individual, and the power doesn't seem to concern itself with the consequences to human life. Just before Tetsuo blasts a huge chunk out of the moon, he seeks permission from Akira. In a rare demonstration, Akira actually speaks his confirmation, "The moon." If Akira represents the power without personality, then the power wants to have part of the moon destroyed for its own purposes. Perhaps the power wants Tetsuo to evolve and doesn't care about the means, but whatever the case, the power doesn't care about its own effects on human life. In several places, Ôtomo describes the psychic abilities as a form of human evolution. It seems odd that human beings would evolve into a form that ultimately would eliminate human personality and place no value on human life.
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Akira directed by Katsuhiro Otomo
