This month we examine what is hailed by many as the best anime ever: Akira. Where to start, where to start. It has a very bizzare storyline that jumps around alot, but that is one thing that makes this anime so great! Variety! The setting is post-apocolyptic Earth in a city called Neo Tokyo, Tokyo rebuilt with amazingly advanced technology. We join Kaneda, leader of a local biker gang, as he leads the gang into a high-speed battle with the Clowns, a rival gang. During the course of this struggle, a few bikers see what looks like a young child with blue, wrinkly skin. When the cops bust up the fight, one of Kaneda's friends, Tetsuo, gets injured and is taken away-along with the "kid"- by the paramedics to a hospital. However, A lot more than simple medical procedures are performed on Tetsuo at the hospital. Something inside of him that was dorment before is awakened, and Tetsuo gets some bizzarre powers. These powers are somehow linked to the "kids"(there are now 3, the previously-mentioned one, a boy who rides in a floating chair, and a girl who predicts the future.), as the fluctuations of their inner energies form similar patterns. At first, Tetsuo cannot control the actions of this energy, and nearly kills a Clown after escaping the hospital, where, after this little ordeal, he finds himself in once more. This time, as he lays in bed, the "kids" use random materials to make themselves suits of armor(that look like giant stuffed toys, of all things) and try to kill him. However, he has learned to control his powers, and after smashing their plushy manifestations, he goes after they themselves. Before he can do them in, though, the scientists in charge arrive and explain everything to him, and invite him to further participate in their research. Tetsuo decides it isn't for him, and takes off. Meanwhile, information on what's happened to Tetsuo has reached the public, and it's caused fanatics to say that the coming of "Akira" is upon us, and that this "Akira" shall kill us all and start things over. What is Akira, you ask? Well, think of it this way: All living things have an energy inside them. That energy can be used in several different ways, for example, invention, scientific discovery and ultimately, evolution. Another example is the way Tetsuo uses it--for destruction and pain. Akira is a huge concentration of that energy, given a mind. (Though its mind is very amoeba-like). A few years ago, research was done on Akira, and ancient DNA samples from that research is said to remain somewhere. After Tetsuo leaves the hospital and goes off on a rampage through Neo Tokyo in search of this "Akira" which everyone seems to think is so powerful,, military action is taken to stop him. When it becomes clear that tanks and the like can not stand in his way, A last-ditch attack is made to stop him from reaching the Akira DNA: after a distraction by Kaneda, SOL, a huge sattellite cannon, is fired at him twice. However, SOL does little more than sever Tetsuo's arm, which he replaces quickly with random machinery. He proceeds into a giant stadium, under which the Akira DNA is stored, and waits. His body, in reaction to Akira, begins to act strange, ballooning to huge proportions, engulfing and killing several bystanders, including Kaneda, who is saved at the last minute when Tetsuo returns to normal. After this, There is a huge flash of light, the "kids" appear, and we finally get to see Akira. Now, for those of you who haven't seen this, I wont spoil what Akira appears as, but I will say that it is a huge surprise.
And there you have it: What may well be the best anime to date: Akira.
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