Anime of DOOM: The BEST anime ever!!!

Rating: 10/10 (29 August 2013)

"Akira" is an Action/Sci-Fi/Anime feature directed by Katsuhiro Otomo 1988. Not common with animated movies generally, this film runs for about two hours. It is also based on a manga/comic which Katsuhiro Otomo made back in the early 80s.
The film starts out with Tokyo 1988 getting destroyed by a mystical power which looks like a "giant, glowing ball". Skipping straight forward to 2019 Neo-Tokyo is dominated by violence, especially gang violence. A biker gang called Capsules, lead by the films main character Shotaro Kaneda, fight an another biker gang called the Clowns. Kaneda's best friend Tetsuo Shima crashes into Takashi, a child who's face resembles an old guy. Later in the film Tetsuo gets to know that he has a psychic power similar to the one that caused the Tokyo destruction, which can even lead to the end of the world...
This film is no doubt a MASTERPIECE, well to say my favorite anime movie of all time. The animation, the music by Geinoh Yamashirogumi, well literally EVERYTHING. And it has load of action-scenes enough to keep you entertained, including biker chases, explosions, fighting and shootouts and a somewhat disturbing ending sequence. Not exactly a film to be watched by children.
The film might not be as great as the original manga the film is based on due to lack of character development, according to the fans who has read the manga and watched the film. But anyway, I love this film as it is. Honestly, I haven't read the manga.
Some extra story: I had a rare Norwegian VHS by this film, released in later 90s by Polygram Video. It was based on the original English dub by Streamline. The film was rated 18, exactly like "Shadow Skill", "Venus Wars" and "Ninja Scroll" were. When I was on vacation in Paris 2009, I bought this film on DVD, together with "Golgo 13" and "Venus Wars". Finally I got to watch this film with Japanese dub, so I got rid of the VHS. The DVD version I have now is based on the new English dub by Pioneer, hence a restoration credits, as well as the Pioneer logo (shamelessly) replacing the Toho logo.
Conclusion: Are you an Anime-fan, and still haven't watched "Akira" yet, then I highly recommend you to watch this at least once! :-)
Other violent, epic anime films include "Fist of the North Star", "Golgo 13", "Ninja Scroll", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "Wicked City" and the three "Violence Jack" OVAs.