Plot | Indepth Opinion | Links to other Akira | Contact Me | Index of All Titles Reviewed | Conclusion

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If you are just getting interested in anime, any fan that you would ask for advice in what to see, Akira will be the answer. Unless you have a problem with ultra violence, the fans are right. Akira displays all the aspects of anime that makes many of the titles for the mature audiences only, so this is probably a great place for the curious to start their exploration into this animation genre. For being an experienced viewer, The Wings of Hommeamise and Princess Monoke are the only titles better than this 89' classic, but like The Beatles of rock n' roll, Akira is definately the greatest anime ever, so viewing it will be in no form a waste of time.

31 years (2019) after a nuclear holocaust, Tokyo has been rebuilt only to become a hate filled and vicious megalopolis. The army seems to be the only ones who can contain the violence of biker gangs, but a corrupt city council and underground terrorist acts prevent them from bringing order to the city. Through all of this depression, citizens are now trying to welcome in the age of the person or entity that brought the end of the original Tokyo, Akira, to bring order through destroying the evil that remains from 1988.

Despite the government's efforts to keep their experiments to revive Akira under wraps, an escaped test subject's run in with a biker gang may destroy everything they have worked for. On the other hand it may be a blessing in disguise, since a biker injured in the incident, Tetsuo, has the same energy patterns of the being of devastation. He becomes the new test subject, and with in days he has evolved into a stronger being quicker than any of the surviving, original test subjects.

Success for the project seems imminent, but is it safe to give a teenager this much power? To make matters worst, Tetsuo's has had a horrid childhood and has developed hate towards everyone including his best friend and gang leader Kenada. It may not be an issue of one's ability to control such a vast amount of power, but the army's ability to control the person with this power.

Plot | Indepth Opinion | Links to other Akira | Contact Me | Index of All Titles Reviewed | Conclusion

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We have all seen post-nuked society plots, but there are few better than this one. With the exception of some of the supporting cast, all the characters involved with the story hold a huge responsibility for the tale's success. Not much exposition is given about the characters, but their well defined attitudes and their reactions to variables which make the situation worse gives them a great deal of depth. The head scientist and the original test subjects are the only static characters to represent both extreme views about the scenario. These character give the main cast a range of emotion to roam through as they change. Since none of them will ever totally be for or against the development of Tetsuo's power, the characters seem like real people which is the goal of any greater writer.

When it comes down to it, one of the only flaws with the film is that it has a smaller climaxes that could be the show stopper in a great deal of films in the post-nuke genre. After this, I felt that my viewing appetite was fulfilled, but I get another helping of dessert shoved in front of me. Probably my other key complaint is a lot of the imagery seems to be a tribute to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is not the tribute image wise that bugged me, but it was the length of the scenes. Sorry to sound inattentive, but when I go through 36 oz. of cola watching the film, I will eventually start thinking with my bladder.

While I am discussing the 2001 style images, I might as well discuss the animation and art aspects of the film. After 11 years, the animation has definitely aged when compared to Ghost in the Shell or Perfect Blue, but the film's style's sense of reality is still great. If it was not for Akira, I doubt we would see the styles of GitS or PB. The same statement can also be said about the remaining visual aspects of the film.

As for the audio half of the sight sound experience, the dubbing may not be timed well, but it seems true to the original Japanese. Probably the biggest problem I had was with the soundtrack. It is not bad, but the chanting aspects are so ridiculous it is difficult to take it seriously. I think the chants can be equal by any of my friends in a half-drunken state.

With great and unique animation and one of the finest post-nuclear apocalypse plots, Akira is a film that should be recognized as one of the top Sci-fi classics. As long as one is willing to pay attention to this film, I would imagine only the weak of stomach are the only people who could not take this masterpiece. It may not be the best, but it is the film that started the whole flood of cartoons from Japan which scare the crap out of Hollywood, so any anime fan should show respect to Akira.

Plot | Indepth Opinion | Links to other Akira | Contact Me | Index of All Titles Reviewed | Conclusion

Sailor Moon Super S | Evangelion | Ranma 1/2 | Slayers | Ghost in the Shell | 801 T.T.S. AirBats Sites |

Plot | Indepth Opinion | Links to other Akira | Contact Me | Index of All Titles Reviewed | Conclusion

Sailor Moon S | Evangelion | Ranma 1/2 | Slayers | Ghost in the Shell | 801 T.T.S. AirBats Sites | Armitage III | Battle Angel | Toshinden

Reviews and opinions expressed on this page © 2000 Russ Stevens