Akira

Writer: Katsuhiro Otomo, Izo Hashimoto
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Production House: Tokyo Movie Shinsha (distributed in Japan by Toho)
Review Type: Anime Movie
Status: Completed
Genre: Cyberpunk, Science Fiction, Seinen
Vintage: 1988 (Japan), 1991 (US)




*Neo Tokyo is about to Explode*


Synopsis

The time is in the middle of the 21st century, and the place is Neo Tokyo. Due to an unknown force of explosion, Tokyo was destroyed a few years ago, sparking World War III, and subsequently gave birht to the construction of Neo Tokyo. Infested and pillaged by mostly aimless youths and bike gangs, Neo Tokyo is a harsh place, with the presence of cults and revolution coupled with political intigue. Somewhere in the underbelly of the city, a young bike punk named Tetsuo runs into a strange boy. The boy turns out to be a part of a military experiment that includes psychics, and a mysterious project named AKIRA. Tetsuo later begins to manifest his own psychic abilities, and was experiencing bizarre hallucinations, consequently becoming the target of a secret government organization that dedicated itself into stopping a repeat of the incident that destroyed the city once, by any means necessary.


Chibi's Neo Comments

AKIRA. What can I say? The one movie single handedly responsible for the influx of anime in the international market, and also the one responsible for revolutionizing the innovative layered, modernist animation technique. The one movie that brought the anime medium to the public consciousness, and still the only Japanese anime that could be seen, standing proud, at DVD shops that don't even stock anime in the first place. The one anime that converted millions of people into otakus (myself included, though I was a casual watcher of anime even before this), and also the one movie responsible for the wave upon wave of cyberpunk themed animes that followed in its wake. The one movie that till this day is the most widely available form of anime outside of Japan, and is the introductory material for noobs everywhere. Truly a classic then as it still is now, a re-watch of it still confirms my confidence in it.

I first came across the movie during my secondary school days, way back in 1992, as it was shown in our boarding house by a friend back then. Recalling the time, I was so taken by Akira that I bought a video (yes back then we were still VHS friendly), and proceeded to watch it at least 15 times since. Due to the complex plot and my attention problems in my youth, it was only until the third sitting that I was able to grasp the plot entirely, and upon reading the manga soon after, I was finally well versed in all things Akira.


While the story might leave you a little confused at first, it is quite well written provided enough focus is given. The gist of it is basically WWIII has destroyed Tokyo, and 3 decades later a new city, dubbed Neo Tokyo has been built on top of the ruins of the old. The new city is anything but a pleasant metropolis, with corrupted government officials in office and bike gangs creating havoc on the streets, and somehow one of the gangs has gotten itself involved in some secret military project involving a mysterious entity known as 'Akira', subsequently heating things up and eventually all hell breaks loose. This is not your typical cyberpunk fare, with a good mix of fast-paced action and slower intriguing plot points, balancing each other out well. The whole mystery to Akira is well played, drawing you in as the events unfold, and its un-traditional ending might leave some viewers confused or disappointed, but it made me ponder the possibilities.

The moods of the characters vary, and sometimes makes it hard to tell who's side each is on. We have our somewhat protagonist Kaneda, who in my opinion is one of the most memorable and instantly identifiable characters in anime ever. One look at this guy and people would almost always go 'Isn't that the dude from Akira?', and along with his equally awesome bike (I'm still very fond of it after all these years) makes him one of the most popular anime icons on the planet. Then we have Tetsuo, a member of Kaneda's bike gang, and to me is the real protagonist in this movie. After the military discovered Tetsuo's psychic abilities, he was then captured and turned into an unwilling experiment. This is where Tetsuo gets really interesting, and we would be treated to pretty disturbing scenes when his power finally manifests itself, and it really captured my imagination witnessing them. On the military side we have the Colonel, who at times seems like a decent enough guy, and it's kind of hard to tell which side he is exactly on as he seems to be sympathetic to both in the conflict. In a way, that is sort of the clincher for me, where there is no textbook good guy in the movie, everyone is flawed, making the characters even more believable.


As for the animation and art quality, Akira does not show its age, with production being so well done the animation is considered smoother than a lot of more recent animes. Some cool visuals such as the light trails from the bikes to the brilliant scenery of Neo Tokyo, this movie looks and probably is a labor of love, as the details in it are just a joy to watch.

I actually watched this on dub and never saw the subtitled version, but I can honestly say that after watching various horrendous voice acting on animax (Hayate the Combat Butler comes to mind), Akira even excels in that department. Although some of the supporting cast do have really eardrum grating voices, the leads are quite excellent in portraying their characters' emotions.


In conclusion, Akira is one of the most well written anime movies in history, and I would be hard-pressed to find any other anime film just as good, save Ghost in the Shell. With Otomo-sensei taking roughly 10 years to complete the manga, and using what was then the biggest budget in anime history in terms of the movie's production, Akira is one of the most painstakingly complex animes ever made, and also the most well documented. Chances are if you were already watching anime during it's release, or even just started 3-4 years after, you would have already seen Akira, and probably would be as opinionated as I am on the subject. If you have not, I would advise you to do so, as this is one of the true classics of the medium, and you would only truly gain otaku status after watching it.



Chibi's Review



Storyline: 5/5
Character Development: 5/5
Art: 5/5
Originality: 5/5