Akira

Akira, though long, was a surprisingly quick read. I found it entertaining, certainly, and quite action-packed. I don't really know what to say about it in the way of analysis. The story progression is engaging because the author provides the major details about the huge bomb but the reader is gradually informed about the government endeavors and the anti-government gang. It is still unclear what exactly is going on at the end of the first volume, however this entices me to keep reading and purchase the second volume. I wonder, especially, what the number means that they assign to Tetsuo, and how he is related to those strange old-baby creatures (reminds me of Benjamin-Button!). Kaneda, as a character, is controversial because I like him but he is very frustrating. Kaneda is constantly taking risks, not obeying and even harassing Kei, he is very cocky and self-involved and I'm not sure what his goal is exactly. Especially when he finds out that Tetsuo is the new leader of the clown-gang, did he want to rescue him or destroy him? 

I like Kei, I wish we knew more about her and that she had a bigger presence in the story. Perhaps she will in later pieces.  There is a lot about the revolutionary group that I still don't know about and look forward to understanding. 

In terms of the pictures, I don't entirely understand why the first few pages are color and the rest is black and white. Despite that, the drawings lend a lot of action to the story. Akira seems to have more action than Watchmen, which may be because of the physicality of the illustrations. Yet, sometimes it was hard to determine what was happening, especially in some of the chase scenes and fight scenes. This got a bit frustrating. 

Over all I enjoyed Volume 1 of Akira as my first experience with Manga.