Japanese Government

Lore & Background

The administration of Neo-Tokyo is defined by its desperate attempts to manage supernatural threats after the 1988 destruction. At a secret government facility, Colonel Shikishima and his head of research, Doctor Ōnishi, discover that Tetsuo possesses psychic abilities similar to Akira, the esper responsible for the original destruction. Esper Kiyoko forewarns Shikishima of Neo-Tokyo's impending destruction, but the city's parliament dismisses these concerns. This dismissal forces Shikishima to consider killing Tetsuo independently to prevent a second disaster. The government's control is further strained when Tetsuo escapes from the hospital, leading to a scenario where military forces are directed to destroy him at any cost. Eventually, Shikishima stages a coup d'état against Neo-Tokyo's parliament, seizing direct command of military forces to counter the rising threat, highlighting the collapse of civilian authority in favor of martial law.

In Their Own Story

The situation escalates when Tetsuo, suffering from intense headaches and hallucinations after being re-hospitalized, begins killing any orderlies and militiamen blocking his path. Overhearing plans to rescue other espers, resistance members infiltrate the facility while Kiyoko draws Kei and Kaneda into Shikishima's futile attempts to stop Tetsuo. Kiyoko reveals that Akira is located in cryonic storage beneath the Olympic Stadium's construction site, a secret the government had kept hidden. When Tetsuo betrays everyone and flees to hunt for Akira, Shikishima takes drastic action. Mistaken for Akira by cultists, Tetsuo rampages through Neo-Tokyo, arriving at the stadium where he exhumes Akira's remains sealed in jars for scientific research. As Kaneda fights Tetsuo with a laser rifle and Shikishima fires an orbital weapon that destroys Tetsuo's arm, the government's conventional weapons prove useless. The climax sees Tetsuo mutating into a gigantic mass of flesh consuming the stadium, leading the espers to revive Akira to create a singularity that destroys Neo-Tokyo in a mirror of the city's previous destruction.

Reader's Guide

For those analyzing the political landscape of Akira, note that the government is characterized by its dismissal of critical warnings from experts like Kiyoko. The parliament ignores Shikishima's concerns regarding Tetsuo, leading to a breakdown in chain of command and necessitating a military coup. Key figures include Colonel Shikishima, who leads the Japan Self-Defense Forces' efforts to contain psychic threats, and Doctor Ōnishi, who heads research at the secret facility. The government's strategy shifts from containment to total elimination as Tetsuo's power grows, resulting in the deployment of orbital weapons against a single individual. Their operations are centered around securing the cryonic storage of Akira under the Olympic Stadium, a site that becomes the focal point of the final confrontation. Ultimately, the state fails to control the situation, with Shikishima and other survivors watching the singularity collapse into a flooded crater after Tetsuo transcends human existence.

Did You Know?

• Esper Kiyoko forewarned Colonel Shikishima of Neo-Tokyo's impending destruction, but the city's parliament dismissed his concerns.
• Colonel Shikishima staged a coup d'état against Neo-Tokyo's government to direct military forces to destroy Tetsuo at any cost.
• The government kept Akira's remains sealed in jars for scientific research beneath the Olympic Stadium's construction site.
• Tetsuo was recaptured by Colonel Shikishima and Japan Self-Defense Forces after crashing into an escaped esper named Takashi.