involvement with Akira but did not tell the Colonel the full story right away. She is also shown to be a mother figure and leader of the other Espers for decision making. Takashi (born 1980) is the first Esper to be introduced when he causes Tetsuo's accident in self-defense. He has the power to use psychokinesis and communicates with his fellow psychics telepathically. Takashi is a quiet, softspoken boy who has conflicting thoughts of the government and the people who had sheltered him and his friends, which was why he escaped the Colonel's facility; however, Takashi is concerned for Kiyoko's safety, and that forces him to stay. Takashi is accidentally killed by Nezu in his attempt to assassinate Akira, and the psychic trauma revolving around it afterward caused Akira to destroy Neo-Tokyo with his immense powers. He is revived along with the rest of the deceased Espers near the end of the series. Masaru (born 1980) is overweight and confined either to a wheelchair or a special floating chair as a result of developing polio at a young age. He has the power to use psychokinesis and communicates with his fellow psychics telepathically. He is braver than Takashi and is the first to attack Tetsuo when he tries killing Kiyoko. Masaru looks after the well-being of his friends, especially that of Kiyoko who is physically frail. Akira is the eponymous character of the series. He has immense psychic powers, although from outward appearances he looks like a small, normal child. He is responsible for the destruction of Tokyo and the beginning of World War III. After the war, he was placed in cryogenics not far from the crater created by him, and the future site of the Neo-Tokyo Olympic Games. Shortly after being awoken by Tetsuo, he destroys Neo-Tokyo during a confrontation between Kaneda and the Colonel's forces. Later in the story, he becomes Emperor of the Great Tokyo Empire. When he first appears, Akira has not aged in the decades he was kept frozen. Akira is essentially an empty shell; his powers have overwritten and destroyed his personality, leaving someone who rarely speaks or reacts, with a constant blank expression on his face. In the end, he is shot by Ryu while psychically synced with the increasingly unstable Tetsuo. It is at this moment he is reunited with his friends and regains his personality. Kai (born January 8, 2004)