Written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira has remain one of the landmark animated films that continues to dominate the Japanese film industry. Released in 1988, this Japanese animated film is famous for its epic animation quality, an elaborate plot and strong impact on Japanese pop culture and the international sci-fi scene. The film is based on Otomo’s own manga of the same name which started serialization in 1982. It focuses and compresses particular aspects of the much longer manga into a concise two-hour feature film that is rich in cyperpunk motifs, a dystopian landscape, and adrenaline fuelled action.
Synopsis
Set in the year 2019, Akira tells the story of the city of Neo-Tokyo after it was built in the aftermath of a cataclysmic explosion in 1988 which lead to the third world war. Nowadays, Neo-Tokyo is a beautiful yet flawed city plagued by corruption, gang warfare, and political struggles, where governments are frequently the targets of protests and rival motorcycle clubs are involved in violent confrontations.
The cornerstone of the narrative revolves around the two childhood friends: Kaneda Shōtarō and Tetsuo Shima. Shōtarō and Tetsuo are members of a biker gang called “The Capsules”, who are in conflict with another group “The Clowns”. During one of these brawls, Tetsuo loses control of his motorbike after almost colliding with an eerie childlike figure. This child is named Takashi, one of a group of children who are part of clandestine government testing, all of whom have extraordinary powers. Soon, Tetsuo is arrested by the army, under the command of Colonel Shikishima, who sees potential in Tetsuo and starts testing him.
During the examination of Tetsuo, he acquired astonishing psychic powers of his own. On the other hand, he also becomes very mentally disturbed which is directed by self-worth issues and an extreme hatred of Kaneda who he feels has always looked down upon him as a weakling. It is through these powers that he is able to access an energy source which was responsible for the horrific destruction of Tokyo several decades ago and is referred to simply as Akira.
With each passing day, Tetsuo’s powers become more difficult for him to control and he resorts to leveling anything that gets in his way. At this point, he is hellbent on finding Akira, a powerful entity whose remnants are said to be underneath the city and protected by a seal. Tetsuo’s obsession with Akira unleashes a chain of catastrophic events that embroils Neo-Tokyo in another apocalypse.
Kaneda cannot sit idly by watching for his friend to wreak havoc, thus he reluctantly works with Kei, an anti-government activist, and three psychic children called Espers: Masaru, Kiyoko, and Takashi. The authorities are so scared of another disaster owing to error from their end that they have no choice but to take drastic actions in order to prevent any incident from ever occurring again. Meanwhile, Tetsuo has gone so far in search of Akira that it takes him to the very edge of his humanity where a grand clash erupts in the middle of Neo-Tokyo.
Tetsuo reaches Akira’s cryogenic chamber to discover the true nature of Akira: Akira was not a person; rather, the akira comprised an incredible psychic presence, and so the subjects were experiments in the akira. The movie ends with a cataclysmic blast reminiscent of one that initiated the third world war as Tetsuo transcends to another higher plane of existence. Kaneda pulls through but is haunted by the fate of his friend while Neo-Tokyo is completely devastated and left with a precarious future.
Cast & Crew
Director:
Katsuhiro Otomo is a director and a manga artist who also wrote a screen play for the film. He is known for drawing best-selling manga Akira in Japan. thanks to the film, he had the opportunity to implement complex stories and vectors to the screen.
Producers:
Ryohei Suzuki conceived the film alongside other producers such as Shunzo Kato who helped them raise enormous funds to make the film a reality. At its time, akira was the first anime film with a high-budget enabling it to achieve the very best detail and animation fluidity.
Screenwriters:
Otomo worked with Izo Hashimoto trying to make the long manga into a reasonable movie script. Even though most of the intricacy and side-stories of the manga were lost in the process, the main plot of the story was there including the ideas of strength, evil, and willpower.
Voice Cast (Japanese):
Mitsuo Iwata as Kaneda Shōtarō, the temperamental leader of The Capsules who eventually becomes a hero but reluctantly tries to stop Tetsuo.
Nozomu Sasaki as Tetsuo Shima, a self doubting and a troubled boy who action that is psychic in origin instigates chaos.
Mami Koyama as Kei, an unwavering fighter of the resistance who helps Kaneda find him.
Taro Ishida as Colonel Shikishima, the harsh head of the army who acknowledges the threat Tetsuo poses and tries to restrain him.
Animation Studio:
All animation was created by the Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS Entertainment) with the assistance of over 1500 animators who together helped shape the intricately produced and fluid look of the film. This contributed to making Akira one of the most technologically advanced animated movies produced which transcended high levels of requirements through the use of fully animated techniques.
Impact and Themes
Aside from its revolutionizing animation, Akira is also known because of the topics that are relevant to Japan as well as the whole world. Some of these topics are the perils of pursuing science without restriction, the image of government bureaucrats, and the insecurities of Japan in the post-war period in relation to nuclear power and its destructive capacity. Even the name of the film in question depicts a reference to a supreme, ultimate force, which cannot be restrained by the government or technology and even mother nature.
The movie also goes on to depict the aspects of self identity, in which the character model of Tetsuo in the movie goes through the stages of child resentment. From being a shy and dormant yet suffering teenage boy, Tetsuo evolves into a magnificent creature that relies on power and authority to command respect. But this transformation into god-like power is melancholic since such transformations depict the sad reality of humanity where power never comes without a price, where victory creates uncontrollable devastation and grips the psyche of mankind entirely.
Images and Animation
In terms of Akira, its most tantalizing features would be none other than its animation that has not aged even to this day. It is reported that the movie was the first animated feature film that actually used pre-scored dialogues, meaning voice acting was done before the animation allowing the characters to move in a more real and dynamic manner. Every single frame of the picture is meticulously and carefully illustrated since particular attention is given to the depiction of the area in the neo-Tokyo urban expanse. In animation, the movement of the limbs of body was instantaneous and fluid, during the action scenes, lighting and color were used to enhance the visual display of the environment, that is, the city was dark and full of bright vivid lights.
The climactic sequence, in which Tetsuo’s body transforms uncontrollably into something monstrous, can be classified as an extreme form of body horror, making it clear that the animators have effectively synthesized sci-fi with something which is very grotesque and surreal at the same time. The final scene of Tetsuo now going up to another dimension may not have a clear plot but visually captures the audience, of course in a very symbolic way along with warped colored images.
Critical Reception and IMDb Ratings
Out of 10, Akira earns a solid score of 8.0 on IMDb. This attests to the high degree of interest that customers have for this film. Immediately after its distribution, the film received positive reviews especially about the animation and the overall plot outline. Also, there are those who appreciated those aspects and themes, which were in such great amounts in the narrative. However, some people may not have understood the plot explicitly if they had not previously seen the manga. In Tarantino’s words, Lost in Cyberspace is a standoffish film which is originally designed in 1988, however, “over time it has matured” which totally describes Akira.
This movie developed a great dance around its name. As David Lynch and Roger Avary equally stated, ‘the periscope of the movie is very comfortable but quite narrow, it’s all right’ explaining it is not an art-house project itself nor entirely comprehensive revolution. It was just about this movie that made prominent foreign audience acquainted with the anime culture as a whole.
Lastly, Akira is not merely an animated movie, but rather, a cultural phenomenon. It is an audacious, wonderfully animated, complex in themes, and narratively daring work of art that still speaks to millions today more than two decades after its original debut. Its prominence in animation and other neater remains unrivaled, making it a quintessential representation of the cinema’s cyberpunk subgenre, as well as being an essential film in the context of science fiction.
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