After a long wait of more than a year, AKIRA Vol 4 from the Otomo The Complete Works is finally out ! Vol 3 was released in September last year; read my review here.

The choice of the cover art for Vol 4 is extremely iconic, an aerial view of AKIRA’s devastating psychic explosion engulfing Neo-Tokyo once again in utter destruction.

I’ve already talked about how this new release of the AKIRA manga ( Young Magazine Serialized edition ) differs from the older releases in my review for Vol 1, so take a read here.

Just like Vol 1. Vol 2 and Vol 3, the print quality here is fantastic on account of the better paper stock, as compared to the older Japanese tankobon edition, where cheap pulpy paper that yellows with age was used.

Drawn around the period from 1984-1985 when Otomo was about 30-31 years old, one can see the work of the master nearing the height of his powers, with the overall quality of the art work ( level of detail, complexity and scale as well as the very confident, polished framing/composition of the panels ) exceeding the previous 3 books.

(image below) The new edition is just a tad bit smaller in print size as compared to the older tankobon edition. Photo courtesy of Jona Sanpo.

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— JonaSanpo? (@JonaSanpo) September 1, 2024

As AKIRA unleashes his 2nd psychic explosion on Neo-Tokyo, the scenes of the epic chaos and destruction that follows is spectacularly realized by Otomo’s insanely good art, and every page of Vol 4 is packed full of meticulous and deliciously detailed drawings. Coupled with the aforementioned improved quality of the paper stock and hence the print, this comes highly recommended. I cannot wait for Vol 5.

“AKIRA 4 ( Otomo Complete Works ) Manga 大友克洋全集 コミック” details :

Dimensions – 6.93 x 0.87 x 9.84 inches
Softcover with dust jacket, 278 pages
B&W, In Japanese language

  
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