Akira

Katsuhiro Otomo, Japan, 1988, 124 minutes

Welcome to Neo Tokyo, 30 years after World War III, within the cyberpunk metropolis there's a gang war on the streets and a political war in the parliment, the depressed populous have turned to drugs and religion, and the army are testing human psychic weapons. Akira is set in this, the urban wasteland, a high tech chrome plated vision of the future, expertly realised by Katsuhiro Otomo. Our hero Kaneda is leader of a biker gang, living a life of school romance and street violence, all of which is thrown into turmoil after his lifelong friend Tetsuo Shima is snatched by the military.

Adapted from Katsuhiro Otomo's manga comic book (originally published in a teen magazine) Akira, this film closely follows the original stories. It involves action, violence and a plot which is truly engaging and attention grabbing.

Akira was the first piece of Anime that I ever saw, and was the one of the first to be recieved with critical acclaim in the west. The quality is, even today, unrivalled; this is one of the best animated films films ever made, mainly due to its dealing with adult themes without falling into the usual trap of losing plot to overblown scenes of violence and sex, as many of the Japanese animations do. The quality of the animation is incredible, the characters look and feel more realistic than any of todays big budget supercomputer CGI movies, faces show emotion, people drip with perspiration and the backgrounds are always moving. Along with the work of Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Laputa, Nausicaa) it is one of the best examples of the genre and is essential viewing.

Anyone who is interested in either animation or science fiction will love this movie and probably has already seen it. For anyone who isn't a fan of either then I recommend you see it so that you can be converted.

Review by George Williamson
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2002

Akira's vision of a futuristic Neo-Tokyo beset with problems is a telling warning of what may befall us if we continue to destroy our tomorrow. A young biker fleeing from another gang becomes entangled in a complex military project intent on harnessing the human mind to produce a weapon of unbelievable powers. However this inevitably gets out of hand and in the uncontrollable chaos that ensues the destruction of the world can only be stopped by a few.

Costing over £4 million to make and requiring over 150,000 cels of animation, this ambitious and ultimately successful translation of the famous Akira comics comes to the screen courtesy of their author, Katsuhiro Otomo - widely regarded as the "God of manga". This film effectively heralded the invasion of Japanese animation, or anime, into western culture and was the flagship for the flood of (mostly inferior) videos that now inhabit the shelves of the stores. However Akira merits its classic status because it sticks with the basic elements of cyberpunk, relying on single-minded characters, visual flair, a mindblowing soundtrack and extraordinary images to carry the story rather than descending to the level of gratuitous sex and violence.

"A remarkable technical achievement in every respect" - Variety

Review by Neil Chue Hong
Taken from EUFS Programme 1996-97