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Three years had passed between the release of the third volume and this one here in 1987. And it shows.

The first three books are full of exceptionally fast paced action. And they were fun to read. But they're also lacking in terms of depth and likeable characters.

With this volume, now set in a Neo-Tokyo that's lying in ruins, Otomo adds several layers to his storytelling. But unfortunately those are more on the weird rather than on the conclusive side.

He traded action for mythology and a grim view of society in a post apocalyptic world. It wasn't a good trade. While the addition of nudity, violence, drug-induced fever dreams and several attempted rapes might be fitting for such a scenario there's just no exploration of human behavior, no deeper meaning, nothing that makes the reader really think about it. It's all just there and it doesn't mesh well with the still somewhat juvenile dialogue in this series.

On the plus side, he has a strong main character now with Kei (thank God) instead of Kaneda. I just wish he would have made more of it.

And Akira basically doesn't do anything in this one. That was a huge letdown.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the previous three volumes were better books. But they were better executed and certainly more fun to read.

Only two stars this time.

Two more books to go.