Akira

Akira is arguably the most preeminent anime movie ever made. It was released in Japan in 1988 and then the world in 1989 and 1990. It is Katsuhiro Otomo’s masterpiece that helped launch anime into the world stage and has created hordes of fans. This post apocalyptic cyberpunk tale is based on the manga by the same name. It was released during the run of the manga which ends a little differently.

It is assumed that anyone and everyone has watched this movie, regardless I will continue with my format and do a brief synopsis of it.

    In the 80’s Japan’s government was secretly grooming children who had an affinity for psychokinetic powers for military uses. The most successful was a young boy named Akira, whose power grew unchecked. Soon that power ran out of control and took over his being. In the end he destroyed himself, taking most of Tokyo with him. This explosion triggered the third world war. Decades later Neo-Tokyo is a thriving and successful megalopolis, with the horrors of war a memory of the older generation. The city is not a utopia though and street gangs are a rampant and dangerous problem. There is also social unrest with the student bodies and protests are staged to fight the corruption of the central government. During a fight between two rival motorcycle gangs one of the hoodlums, Testuo, crashes into a boy on an abandoned highway. As other members of the gang come to his rescue they find him badly wounded and near unconsciousness. The strange boy remains unharmed but before they can find out who the boy is military helicopters arrive. They triage Testuo and load him and the boy onto a helicopter. The rest of the gang is arrested and handed over to the police.

    While in central booking, Kaneda, the gang’s leader, notices a beautiful young girl. He convinces that authorities that she is a part of their gang as they are let go. Outside of the station he finds out that she was arrested at a protest the night before and is part of a guerilla resistance group. This group broke into a top secret government facility that is still doing tests on children and kidnapped one of the original test subjects. This test subject is the same boy that Tetsuo crashed into. Due to both an interest in finding his friend and getting laid, Kaneda joins up with the resistance group. During another mission into the facility he finds that Tetsuo has become a part of their experiments. His powers soon grow out of control, like Akira’s, and everyone must race to stop him before Neo-Tokyo is destroyed.

    This movie is now over 20 years old. Yet I still think the animation can hold up to today’s standards. The amount of detail put into the creation of this film is astounding, even more so that it was done entirely by hand in Otomo’s modest production studio. While the character designs are not realistic they are still well done, classic Otomo style, like that found in his recent series Freedom. One thing that the movie was credited for at the time was that it utilized technology that matched the characters mouth movement to the worlds they spoke, lending it to a more realistic flow. The scope of the story was wholly original and unique; I have not really come across much that imitates the story. The soundtrack as well is creative and entertaining. Another soundtrack I can think of that is close to resembling Akira’s would be that for the Ghost in the Shell movies. This movie is truly one of my all time favorites, while it has been replaced at the top of the pile by other movies it is still the one movie, anime or not, I have watched the most. I have literally watched this movie over 200 times. It was my first introduction to anime as anime when I was lucky enough to see it in the theater. A few years afterward I bought the subtitled VHS copy. In the summer between 8^th grade and freshman year of high school I watched the movie at least once a day, sometimes two or three times, for lack of anything else better to do. This movie, like so many others from my anime generation, say that this title was the beginning of fandom.

    Even in Japan this is considered one of the important classics and is still highly regarded. While it is over 20 years old it is still viable and watchable today. There is some dating to it, linking it to the 80’s, such as some of the characters clothing and hair styles. More subtly it can also be viewed as a criticism on social excess in Japan in the 80’s. Yet the story is futuristic and can also pertain to societal excesses today. Otomo may have slipped into obscurity in recent years, only marginally successful with Steam Boy but his work is still no less important or incredible. He may not be Miyazaki but he can still be considered a creative force in the world of manga and anime. Take some time and rewatch this classic if it has been a while since your last viewing and remember what the industry and technology was like when it was created. Compare it to current films and decide for your self if it can compete with them. I think it does and I will always have a love for this movie, my baptism to anime.