Akira (1988) Reviewed By Anubis Cast & Crew credits World War III has come and gone with the majority of the planet bombed all to fuck as a result. The Geiger Counters dance around like ballet school dropouts on PCP and things are generally in an unhappy state. 30 years after the last last great war, Tokyo is now Neo-Tokyo (cuz in the future everything needs to be proceeded by “Neo” to make ‘em sound all futury and shit), where everything is corrupt and violent, from the political figures to the motorcycle riding delinquents… so basically nothing’s changed. The shit hits the fan though, when one such gang’s members get wrapped up in a big deal top secret government experiment called “Akira” that deals with wrinkly little kids with grey skin, white hair and a tendency to do crazy shit with their irradiated super brains. Tetsuo, the gang’s runt, finds himself overcome with crazy powers of his own as a result, and lashes out at everybody in his wake, whether his former chums, random pedestrians or military meatheads wielding bazookas, tanks and all manner of hardware that mean fuck all to the crazy mental powers of Tetsuo and his outbreak of big throbbing tumors! Can Kaneda, the gang’s leader and the object of Tetsuo’s eternal envy and hero worship, talk his amigo down and help him control the psycho powers thrown into his lap, or will Neo-Tokyo wind up razed from it’s foundations and burned to the ground? Akira is touted by many as being the alpha and omega of anime. Way back in “the day” (which was the early ‘90s for me), you couldn’t get your grubby mitts on Japanese animation without knowing a shady bootlegger (paying his way through NYU likely) and covering a $50 price tag. I had neither of these things, so I had to watch the castrated stuff on TBS and the Sci-Fi Channel. However, dickless versions of Vampire Hunter D and Dominion Tank Police are better than no version at all. But, when Akira was released to American theaters to heaps of critical acclaim, it opened the flood gates for Japanese animation. The shelves at major chain rental stores like Blockbuster were suddenly devoting special sections to “Japanimation” as it became popularly know and people who’d been otherwise denied the concept of adult themes animation started to realize that cartoons were no longer being coupled with Trix™ as “for kids”. Shit, I still remember the little “Not for Kids” sticker on the boxes that had a sad little cartoon guy’s face and that big red “No” insignia across it and loving the fact that something I had once been relocated to only watching on late night Friday cable was now all mine. On this note, I of course have to give Akira the so-called “mad props”. There’s no denying that without it, much of the lesser loved anime probably wouldn’t have made the kind of full market penetration that the genre enjoys now. Of course, there are some problems with that, as about 80% of the anime on store shelves is either pointless or entirely unwatchable, but you have to take the good with the bad and accept that the reason certain things are so good is because all the crap they’re surrounded with make them much more appealing by comparison. Going back and watching Akira now, when it’s no longer the only flavor of ice cream on the menu, isn’t in it’s benefit. There are those that will love the flick till their dying breath and insist that it’s only anime they will ever love, respect or sacrifice their children to, but I am not one of them. Though I think it’s a groovy movie and it’s owed all the aforementioned respect it’s rightfully earned, the movie itself puts me to sleep. I just think the story could do with a little editing. It seems to drag at parts and without good pacing, my attention wanes and I’m out like the proverbial light. My futon is dangerously comfortable and it doesn’t take much for it glue my eyelids shut. I’m not saying that movies have to be all explosions and plot twists, but for a movie that’s just a little over 2 hours long (which is almost routine in today’s standards), it feels almost twice as long. But, good visuals, flawed characters whose human traits help us relate with them, a little “who’s working for which side” intrigue and big deal action sequences (when they come up) help overshadow the slow parts and story elements that seem to just try too hard to be complicated. Overall a solid blueprint for what mature animation should be and will always have a guaranteed seat at the “movies that changed cinematic history” table. If you haven’t seen it already, give it a chance. If you’re too “grown up” to watch a “cartoon”, no matter how mature themed or cool it may be, then I feel sorry for the inner child you so callously smothered years ago when you became a raving dickface. Moral of the Story: "Kaneeeeeedaaaaa"! "Tetsuoooooooooooooooooo"!

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