There was a heck of a lot to say about the initial collected volume of Katsuhiro Otomo's legendary manga, 'Akira'. Of course, it was a beginning, the first of six such volumes in my Kodansha edition, and as such, set up everything. So I talked about the heady backdrop of World War III, Neo-Tokyo and weaponised psychics; an array of characters, including Kaneda and Tetsuo, meeting some of those psychics, who appear to be wizened children; and a plot involving the mysterious Akira of the title, who's sought by the underground organisation for whom Ryu and Kei work as agents and now into which the other characters are hurled.

There's not a heck of a lot to say about this second volume. A lot happens, don't get me wrong, but the plot, as it manifests here, is very simple. In fact, it could be condensed all the way down to the characters trying to get to Akira and then getting back out again. We do learn plenty more about Akira this time, but then we learned almost nothing about him in the first volume, so plenty more doesn't necessarily translate to a lot. He's one of those weaponised psychics, presumably number 28, and he's now sleeping deep below ground in a high-tech bunker complex, whose cryogenic core is kept close to absolute zero. While Akira is clearly incredibly powerful, he's also clearly not easily controlled.

My favourite scenes come early and feature Kei in custody, after the events of the first volume. It seems that we're going to get far more of her than her brother Ryu, which works for me. She was entirely human in the first book, just like Kaneda and Tetsuo, but, just as the latter has become a lot more than that, reluctantly taking on the mantle of number 41, she appears to have become a lot more, too. Initially, we think she's trying to escape, which is understandable enough, but she's walking through walls now and teleporting from one place to another. Gradually, we realise that she's hunting Tetsuo, freeing Kaneda in the process, and it's not her doing it. She's temporarily a puppet for Kiyoko, number 25, using her psychic powers.

Eventually, Kei regains control of her own body and directs her own actions as the story moves on. Tetsuo continues to grow in his powers and certainly directs his own actions too. The Colonel, still a character without a name, plans to add Tetsuo to his string of psychic human weapons, but he's without any means to enforce that. The longer this goes, the more powerful Tetsuo becomes and the less likely he's willing to do what anyone else wants him to do. He hones in on Akira early and spends most of this book trying to reach him, however much destruction his quest causes. Kaneda, however, continues to be caught up in everything without having much, if any, control over any of it.

That makes for an interesting dynamic. Akira is the MacGuffin, at least at this point, moving more into focus but not yet a worthy character of his own. Tetsuo is the primary protagonist, the driver of almost everything that happens this time out, and Kei could easily be considered his opponent. Kaneda, his former friend and rival, becomes his enemy and he bounces from one situation to the next, trying to obtain a level of control, to survive and to charm Kei as he does so. I don't know yet if he'll manage any of those things long term, but right now survival is about all he can handle. In the background, the Colonel and the Numbers and other characters, have moments of power but never manage to maintain them.

If this sounds like the framework isn't much developed from the first volume, you'd be right, but it does move forward, especially with what we learn about Akira. The bunker is a wonderful location too, a worthy successor to the laboratories, warehouses and industrial complexes last time out. It often boils down to conflicts that are relatively easy to define. There's Tetsuo vs. Kei (who's under the psychic control of Kiyoko). There's Tetsuo vs. the three Numbers, Kiyoko, Takashi and Masaru. There's eventually Tetsuo vs. Kaneda and Kei. On a less personal level, there's Tetsuo vs. SOL and the Colonel, SOL being a satellite laser system.

Framing everything as Tetsuo vs. whoever isn't remotely difficult to do and it highlights just how important he is at this point in the story. Sure, he's a dangerous wildcard who rebels against any attempt at control, but Dr. Onishi finds himself approving an attempt to send Tetsuo over to the Olympic Stadium and underneath it, into the Akira bunker. Maybe he can control Akira, he thinks, and Tetsuo, bursting with power, is eager to give it a shot; on his own terms, of course. What feels odd is that the previous volume was called 'Tetsuo', while this one is called 'Akira I'. I'm sure we'll learn why in 'Akira II', which is up next. Right now, Akira doesn't look like much at all, but I'm sure that'll change in the next volume. Let's find out next month! ~~ Hal C F Astell

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