Akira

I was probably around 8, when I first saw Akira. It was my step dad who asked me if I was interested in watching this Japanese cartoon. I expected something like, my favorite children movies like The Lion King or The Land before Time.

Akira however, was something else. At the time I was to young to understand English, since it was a second language for me. But I remember what kind of an affect it had on me. It was brutal, it was hard, it was edgy. The drums and Neo Tokyo lights flew through my little body as butter, as I witnessed death, gore and sadistic killings. Something my pure and innocent eyes had never seen before. And yet I was strangely excited. I was never tough as a kid. I was a afraid of the dark and often had nightmares about all kinds of things. But Akira, despite it's mature nature, just had me in awe. When I finally re-saw it many years later, when I was an old teenager, I was still in awe.

Akira is simply a wonderful and entertaining sci-fi movie. It was what introduced me to anime, and innovation in a hole new way. If you want to start watching anime or see, what all the fuss is about, then Akira is a good place to start. Even though it's over 17 years old today, it is still a fantastic and visually stunning animation. Even if you don't appreciate animation you owe it to yourself, to check it out. It has spectacular action, motorcycle-chase-sequences, mad scientists and tons of blood and shooting.

8/10

When I first grabbed the cover box for AKIRA off the shelves of my local video store, I had never heard the word "manga," (Japanese comic book) nor "anime" (Japanimation) for that matter. Back then I would have given that movie a 9 (excellent), since it was like nothing I had ever seen before, was true graphic violence, but was still a bit too long and too hard to understand. Ten years later, having watched a slew of other anime productions, I would have given this movie an 8 (very good) from memory had I not seen it again yesterday. After seeing AKIRA for the first time in the original Japanese language, I have come to fully appreciate its cultural and artistic merit.

Ten years ago, I watched the English dubbed AKIRA and understood absolutely no Japanese. Ignorance of the language made for funny jokes with my brother ("Just as my bullet was reaching the red line! You think you're so tough") but added nothing to the movie. Ten years later I understand both the language and the country, thanks in part to AKIRA, and I have finally realized that Katsuhiro Otomo had created a classic. While critics may know the director Kurosawa, it may take another 10 years for the name Otomo to make its way to the forefront of American cinematic consciousness.

From here on out, I have nothing but praise for this historical milestone. No other hand-drawn movie I have ever seen is done as meticulously. The pillar lined coliseum comes to mind. It's apparent on first viewing that an immense amount of effort was put into the hand-drawn animation. It seems as if every detail within the frame is in motion. This stands out in the ANIME industry, where so many directors don't bother with effort and instead choose to have a still frame frozen over five seconds. In my mind AKIRA's animation is peerless on an international scale.

Second, the Neo Tokyo depicted in AKIRA is definitely the one that should exist today. Nightlife is dark and violent. Fundamentalist Buddhist sects roam the streets chanting dogma and searching for answers. And most importantly, the medicated punk teenagers speak a crooked, thuggish Japanese slang that I haven't heard in any movie of recent memory. 1988 was Japan's heyday, what with the bubble economy and all, but since then the artistic vision of Otomo's AKIRA seems to have gotten stuck in an economic recession. I feel as if modern Tokyo and its Anime has diverged quite a bit from the Neo-Tokyo depicted in AKIRA.

My final comment is DO NOT rent the English dubbed version, as I did long ago. If by chance you've developed a familiarity with Japan's language and culture, AKIRA makes so much more sense, as it was animated for the Japanese language. The poor English dub job does nothing but distract BIG TIME. As Japan's economically exuberant and excessive 80's heyday fades further into the past, AKIRA will prove to be a relic of a cult imagination that may be fading as well. To watch it in English would be sacrilegious.

In homage to this classic, I've titled my homepage AKIRA-TETSUO, which is named after that demonic anger and guilt you feel when you fail -- the emotion that you can harness to wreak atomic havoc upon this green planet earth. No happy ending with this cataclysmic movie.

JY

Jimboduck-dot-com

Oozing with metaphorical messages and warnings, as relevant today as when it was first released, this apocalyptic take on a future world takes place in 2019, some years after an Armageddon event in Tokyo. Often as confusing as hell, a little bit all over the place at times, if you manage to make it to the end you may need to pause for thought to consider what you have witnessed, which can only be a good thing with the shallowness in so much of what we're served up these days. Definitely worth a visit.

Without a doubt the necessary injection of Manga culture Western audiences needed. Personal objections (or should I say appraisals) aside, Akira deconstructs the form of narrative and character development that we had all become accustomed to through Hollywood and produces a reasonably honest translation of Katsuhiro Otomo's Manga epic, with mass deletions of unnecessary characters and plot avenues. The story is complex enough to keep western audiences attention, yet simple enough to digest whilst taking in the wonderfull animation and excellent soundtrack (a collection of traditional Japanese instruments and modern day synthesised electronica that allow for elements of cinema to establish themselves for the audience) The conflict between the two main characters, Tetsuo and Kaneda is ultimately superceded by the films namesake, the mystery of the boy Akira, and as with very few films Hollywood produces it leaves it's more labour intensive thinking until the end. A delight to follow, with periods of intense action and thought provoking predictions of a neo society, one would like to think of the film as the pipe dream of one who predicted such tragic events as of September 11. Akira, whilst violent for the medium, is a lush metropolis of gang warfare, a psuedo examination into the possible, and a fantasy tale of elements long lost in modern cinema. A cool, entertaining piece littered with cult visions and awesome bikes.

I only recently watched Akira (though I have heard a lot about it) and I must say I am impressed (so much that I bought the DVD). This is, beyond any doubt, one of the best animated films in existence. Visually impressive, solid direction, with a compelling story (if a little complicated), just the right amount of character development, good and very appropriate soundtrack and an extensively detailed New Tokyo, Akira manages to be as groundbreaking as it was when it was first released.

It's only drawback is that most people (including me) will probably have to watch it again (and again maybe) to completely understand the full story. Highly recommended (especially to anime fans). I give it 8 out of 10.