Akira, Vol. 2

Akira, Vol. 2 by Katsuhiro Otomo
Translated by: Yoko Umezawa
Series: Akira #2
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Published: 1984
Length: 301 pages

This second volume really ramped up the action. The entire thing was basically a string of action scenes connected with short bits of dialogue. It made for a very fast and exciting read, while still moving the plot along. In the first volume, we were left with a lot of questions, but this did a great job of answering a lot of the big ones while leaving more to discover, so it didn’t feel like the reader was being teased along continuously as can happen sometimes in some serialized stories.

I love Katsuhiro Otomo’s art in these. He really was the master of the cityscape. Some of these panels have an unbelievable amount of detail in them.

I’m wondering if the rest of the volumes will continue at this breakneck pace or if it will slow down a bit. There was enough setup in the first volume to carry this one through, but there wasn’t much in the way of character development in this second volume. On one hand, I’d be interested in the story slowing down for the characters to connect a bit more, but on the other hand, he does action so incredibly well. Reading this feels like watching a movie. It is just so cinematic. Some comics, particularly older comics, can feel like each panel is a static pose with minimal implied movement, but in Akira, the panels just flow together so well. It really struck me while reading this just how far Katsuhiro Otomo was ahead of his time. This just doesn’t read like most 80s comics.

Four more volumes to go and looking forward to it.