Review of Akira (1988) by Sean D — 27 Sep 2013

Akira is on some greatest animated films lists online, so I'm going to say this. I don't think its as good of a masterpiece as the fans say. I know there's a cult following, but this my opinion, so if you disagree it's fine.

While there is the original manga, I'm just talking about the film. The story focuses on different charactors but a main part of the story involves a young phycic test subject akira. In neo-Tokyo in 2019, the city is corrupt and on the edge of collapse.

The is bike gangs at war, corrupt politicians wanting power, and reluctant scientist. During a battle between 2 bike gangs, a young man named Tetsuo accedently come to contact of another test subject named takashi who is trying to escape the research facility.

Tetsuo is taken to a hospital and it turns out he has the power of akira and goes on a rampage to find him. Tetsuos child friend kaneda at first wants to help him, but when Tetsuo goes over the edge kaneda is attempting to stop him.

Okay it is more complicated of a story then it seems, which is one of the major problems. The original manga was thousands of pages which benifets story and charator development, but the movie tries to compress it to 2 hours.

I know the creater Katshuhiro Otomo directed and wrote the movie, so there's scenes he put here that's not in the manga, like a nightmare Tetsuo has. But there's some plot points and charactors from the manga that either not seen as much, different, seen in the movie but put aside, or even not in it.

And as for the graphic violence, I think it's off the book. But with that said it's not that bad of a movie. The themes of the film is thought provoking, some of the main charactors are relatable,the English version is one of the best English versions of an anime in my opinion, and the animation is amazing for an anime from 1988.

If you're an anime fan check it out and see for yourself.