Domu, much like Akira (the film?I haven't read the manga), begins its climax early and continues escalating in a trajectory similar to the stifling apartment high-rise in which it's set: straight upwards and explosive. There isn't much character development or psychology to speak of, here: it's all about the spectacle of a psychic powers showdown, although not without a grounded, humanist touch and sympathy for the hopeless impoverished.

Long ago in the USA there was a great outbreak of science fiction stories and novels written by names like Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and A. E. Van Vogt. ESP powers were a big subject in the output of those and similar writers, and some titanic struggles were fought with those powers in the stories and novels I read back then. This short manga might have been one of those short stories, and in it's simplicity and concentration on the basics of the powers and how they are used it would have been a topnotch one. When a creator doesn't feel compelled to string out a story to maximize his profit from publication, he can focus like a laser on the essence of the conflict, and that's what has been done here.

As I was reading Domu I couldn't help but notice how much BETTER this kind of story is in manga than written. The imagery here adds so much! -- especially to the characterization and emotional content, as conveyed through the excellent art of Otomo Katsuhiro depicting facial expression and body language.

It's a small jewel.

Recommend to anyone planning on reading akira later. it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. the art is great and it is structure beautifully. so never gets boring.

... Last updated on February 28th, 2010, 11:45am

i liked the story...it was nice...not something mindbending but a nice story nevertheless...i can't wait to start reading akira! the winning point of this manga for me, was it's art...the art was absolutely magnificent,of epic proprtions. It made the story feel larger than life...the illustrations of the sprawling complex were awestrucking...the destruction and the debris oh my god...the art was simply flawless and startling...i can't believe this was created in 1980...it must have set whole new standards for manga artists...it can't be compared to any of the manga published at the time...it was far above and ahead of anything published until then (always talking about the art!) truly glorious

Though the short length of the story prevents Otomo from developing the sort of epic story present in Akira, Domu still manages to create compelling characters and a fair adrenaline rush.