{"id":473,"date":"2011-04-02T16:53:38","date_gmt":"2011-04-02T15:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/?p=473"},"modified":"2011-05-03T11:02:34","modified_gmt":"2011-05-03T10:02:34","slug":"book-battle-3-akira-book-5-vs-adrian-mole-and-the-weapons-of-mass-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/book-battle-3-akira-book-5-vs-adrian-mole-and-the-weapons-of-mass-destruction\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Battle 3: Akira Book 5 vs Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nAfter allowing weapons in the previous battle<\/a>, it only seems natural for these books to properly tool themselves up. I’ve written about the first 4 Akira<\/i> books before (part one<\/a>, part two<\/a>); they’re written by Katsuhiro Otomo, and volume 5 is the penultimate book in the series. Adrian Mole and the WMD<\/i> is, clearly, the latest in the Adrian Mole series by Sue Townsend; I read the first one when I was about 13\u00be myself, so I remember very little of it, and I probably didn’t get most of the jokes. As in previous book battles<\/a>, it is the books themselves, rather than the eponymous characters, that square up, and the rounds are decided using the ‘All Adjectives’ list from my random word generator<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\nRound 1: Defiant<\/b>
\nAdrian Mole and the WMD<\/i> pulls a bazooka from its pages and fires off a missile that perversely represents it’s defiant anti-war stance. But the anti-establishment tone of Akira 5<\/i>, and Kaneda’s complete lack of compromise, allow the book to leap out of the way while pumping a few rounds from a machine gun into its opponent.
\nVerdict: Akira 5<\/i><\/b>.\n<\/p>\n

\nRound 2: Gentle<\/b>
\nThe gentle humour at the start of Adrian Mole and the WMD<\/i> allows it to rally, and it aims a rifle squarely at Akira 5<\/i>; but Gielgud the swan and the steeliness of the novel cause the gun to jam. Equally, Akira 5<\/i> has little to offer in this round – the romantic(ish) scenes with Kei and Kaneda, and Kaori and Tetsuo provide some gentle relief from the action, but this a sci-fi, action-filled, brute of a book
\nVerdict: Draw<\/i><\/b>.\n<\/p>\n

\nRound 3: Sharp<\/b>
\nThe nimble, perceptive narrative of Adrian Mole and the WMD<\/i> allows it to attach a bayonet to its rifle, while Akira 5<\/i> fiddles with a bio-dart gun. Akira 5<\/i> sustains a few lacerations before it fires off a bio-dart, and the needle-sharp detail and precision of the drawing, and the book’s wonderfully honed characterisation ward off a groggy Adrian Mole and the WMD<\/i>.
\nVerdict: Draw<\/i><\/b>.\n<\/p>\n

\nRound 4: Elegant<\/b>
\nThe stylish Akira 5<\/i> capitalises on its advantage, and it bombards Adrian Mole and the WMD<\/i> with elegantly depicted visions of destruction. The broad satire of the latter causes it to stumble, and Akira 5<\/i>‘s graceful lines carry the round.
\nVerdict: Akira 5<\/i><\/b>.\n<\/p>\n

\nRound 5: Outstanding<\/b>
\nAkira 5<\/i> tugs a small trigger from a hidden recess, carefully points it at Adrian Mole and the WMD<\/i>, and squeezes. In orbit, a satellite whirrs, its base glows phosphorus white, and a brilliant laser arcs down from the heavens. Akira 5<\/i> literally blows Adrian Mole and the WMD<\/i> away.
\nVerdict: Akira 5<\/i><\/b>.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe winner: Akira 5<\/i><\/b>. Adrian Mole and the WMD<\/i> is very funny in places, but is ultimately no match for the remarkable Akira 5<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After allowing weapons in the previous battle, it only seems natural for these books to properly tool themselves up. I’ve written about the first 4 Akira books before (part one, part two); they’re written by Katsuhiro Otomo, and volume 5 is the penultimate book in the series. Adrian Mole and the WMD is, clearly, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-book-battle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":621,"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions\/621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monkeyshines.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}