Akira Vol. 4: Akira 4
- ISBN
- 9781935429067
- Publisher
- Kodansha
- English release
- Pages
- 392
A ruined Neo-Tokyo is the setting of Akira 4, where the Great Tokyo Empire gives catastrophe a government. Akira is king and Tetsuo prime minister, with followers gathering around them in the isolated city. This 392-page paperback moves the run from attempts to prevent destruction into the problem of living under the power that caused it. Continue here after Vol. 3; the ruined setting is a consequence of the earlier story, not a fresh introduction to the cast.
Spoilers — why this volume matters. Tap to reveal.
The empire gives the same destructive figures political titles. That is the important change in this volume: Akira and Tetsuo are no longer only people to imprison, locate or stop. Their followers can organize a state around them. Kodansha pairs that development with Lady Miyako as a possible source of help against Akira, leaving authority divided between armed devotion and another kind of psychic knowledge. The city has lost its buildings without losing the desire for rulers. Calling Tetsuo a prime minister makes his position legible, but a familiar office does not make the person holding it governable.
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