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A SECRET MILITARY PROJECT ENDANGERS NEO-TOKYO WHEN IT TURNS A BIKER GANG MEMBER INTO A RAMPAGING PSIONIC PSYCHOPATH THAT ONLY TWO KIDS AND A GROUP OF PSIONICS CAN STOP.Artist-writer Katsuhiro Ôtomo began telling the story of Akira as a comic book series in 1982 but took a break from 1986 to 1988 to write, direct, supervise, and design this animated film version. Set in 2019, the film richly imagines the new metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, which is designed from huge buildings down to the smallest details of passing vehicles or police uniforms. Two disaffected orphan teenagers–slight, resentful Tetsuo and confident, breezy Kaneda–run with a biker gang, but trouble grows when Tetsuo start to resent the way Kaneda always has to rescue him. Meanwhile, a group of scientists, military men, and politicians wonder what to do with a collection of withered children who possess enormous psychic powers, especially the mysterious, rarely seen Akira, whose awakening might well have caused the end of the old world. Tetsuo is visited by the children, who trigger the growth of psychic and physical powers that might make him a superman or a supermonster. As befits a distillation of 1,318 pages of the story so far, Akira is overstuffed with character, incident, and detail. However, it piles up astonishing set pieces: the chases and shootouts (amazingly kinetic, amazingly bloody) benefit from minute cartoon detail that extends to the surprised or shocked faces of the tiniest extra; the Tetsuo monster alternately looks like a billion-gallon scrotal sac or a Tex Avery mutation of the monster from The Quatermass Experiment; and the finale–which combines flashbacks to more innocent days with a destruction of Neo City and the creation of a new universe–is one of the most mind-bending in all sci-fi cinema. –Kim Newman
March 4, 2010
#1
It just makes it old, and retarded looking. Ok when I first got into Neon Genesis Evangelion half a year ago, I wanted to buy the best anime on par with Neon genesis and I heard this was an classic movie and was great. So I bought it and watched it and I was embarassed. The age of the movie shows so bad in this one. Like Nausicaa and the valley of the wind was a 1980s movie, but it took place in a fantasy world so It didn’t look old. but this movie takes place in the city so it looks too crappy. Let me explain what I mean. Ok those little kids with the blue skin look like something from a 1980 animated show like thundercats or something. It’s not the anime I know and love. just look at the anime in Neon Genesis or Elfen Lied. It’s bright and the girls are hot and it just looks plain cool! but this animation looks retarded in my oppinion. like come on the girl in this movie, Kai, looks like a guy. There is just something I can’t stand. like how the main character has a big picture of a capsule on the back of his jacket. like why would you wear something like that?? Is he like 3 years old?? Stuff like that just bugs me to no end. like Tetsuo looked AWESOME with his red cape on and his metal arm, fighting the army. but that was the only thing I liked in the movie. The story also, is very confusing. Neon Genesis is just as confusing but NOT this bad! I am so lost at the end of this movie! I don’t even know why this movie is called anime, it doesn’t look like anime. It looks like crappy 1980 american crap animation. Go watch Neon Genesis or Excel Saga or Ghost in the shell or Elfen Lied to see what anime (adult animation) should look like. Not this kiddy looking animation. I bought this movie, like I said, and I actually threw it in my garbage. Maybe someone who likes bad movies will find it at the dump and love it.
March 4, 2010
#2
the animation is excellent, and if you’re an anime fan then do it. this is the beethoven of anime, but anime in itself doesn’t have a lot to offer. if i had to recommend one anime movie though, it would be akira
March 4, 2010
#3
akira this anime movie is not the greatest thing i’ve ever seen in fact it’s probably one of the most confusing i’ve seen. i’ll start with the story which is my biggest problem with the movie because it makes no sense why certain things happen they seem to just happen and for no reason and no explanation as to why they happened. the characters do all kinds of random things as well that you never understand why they act the way they do like when one of the main characters start going on a killing spree or those weird people that look like kids with powers that pop up outa nowhere start trying to stop the guy killing everyone and you never understand why those things happen. it’s not like i have only seen the movie once i’m a huge anime fan and wanted to know why people liked it but everyone i asked to explain the movie couldn’t they just liked it because it was the popular thing to do. i had a pretty big problem with the animation with the characters and their weird lips and mouths other than that it was ok as far as the rest of the animation was concerned. my other gripe with the story was what akira was because they never really explained what it ment or did i’ve seen this movie 4 times and still don’t like it or understand it it might be because i didn’t read the mangas if that’s true then i just don’t care and will continue to spread the word that AKIRA [is bad]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and for those of you that disagree well you just don’t want to admit it’s lame and are therefore lame yourself
oh and by the way for thos eof you docking points because of the new “versions” of the english dub THERE’S NO DIFFERENCE GET OVER IT there never was a difference i’ve seen the original and the new versions they are the same neither made more sense than the other so stop writing about those things cause it isn’t true the movie sucks accept it
March 4, 2010
#4
Heh heh heh…I’m sure you diehard Akira fans are wondering how your precious anime commodity would deserve anything less than a 5 star rating. Well I have news for you; Akira is one of the biggest overly acclaimed garbage anime out there. To even compare it to some of today’s greats is a total waste. Face it, Akira had it’s chance to shine in the 80′s. It’s over man, game over. Why is it in the related matches with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust? I still don’t understand that one. I mean, Akira is not a benchmark in anime history. It’s actually pretty funny. I mean, when that girl gets hit in the face by those bikers…That to you is the stuff of greatness??? And that one part where he crushes his girlfriend on accident; that is one of the funniest scenes in anime. This anime deserves no accolades; only a throw away. Don’t add this to your anime collection and feel proud. You are shaming the rest of your collection. If you want a great anime from the 80′s, get some Voltron or something.
March 4, 2010
#5
Although the only people who click through to this will be fans, so I’ll be derided for all time, I have to say that there was a point in this film when I woke up and still wasn’t interested.
Remember Astro Boy? I do!