Rating: 
Summary: The Middle-Chapter Blues
Review: Volume Three of Katsuhiro Otomo's epic sci-fi saga finds the newly awakened Akira being pursued by Kei and Kaneda, the Army, Nazu's militant faction, weirdly-powered flying children, strange Government robots, etc. After being freed from his cryogenic sleep by Tetsuo in the last volume, Akira is still groggy, and so we really don't get any insight into his character, and he doesn't become an active participant in the story until the very end of the book. What an ending, though! After this, the series spins off into totally unexpected territory. This volume seemed like mostly filler, though. The story is basically just a lot of people playing "keepaway" with Akira; He's stolen from Kaneda by the flying kids, Nazu snatches him from the flying kids, etc. Like most long stories (In any medium), the middle lags. Otomo's art continues to be mind-boggling. The amount of detail in every panel is incredible, and you could just linger over the art all day. Even at three stars, Akira 3 is better than most other comics....
Rating: 
Summary: A Masterpiece Continues to Unfold...
Review: Why on earth are people so concerned with the number of pages? Who cares?!! This third installment of the series is by far the most emotionally and graphically charged part of the story to date. The characters and the complex web of fate that entwines them are explored in much greater depth. The political factions and their agendas are brought to light. Relationships develop between the characters and new characters shed a whole new light on understanding the world of Neo-Tokyo and its political climate. In general the story takes focus and burns a hole right through to the last page as Akira and his devastating power "awaken". Graphically stunning. An epic story that continues to grow in scope. Unbelievable. Otomo is an unrivaled master of the medium.
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