All style with little substance.

Rating: 4/10 (6 December 2019)

The film's artwork may be incredible, but Akira is held back by a weak plot in which I could find very little meaning. Tetsuo, portrayed as a kind of tragic character, never really has an arc until the final few minutes where he acknowledges Kaneda's efforts to protect him. He begins the story as someone angry at other's attempts to protect him, and, for the bulk at the film; remains essentially the same character, only with newfound power.
The science-fiction/fantasy elements of the plot seem desperate to be perceived as profound in some fashion and just come across as forced as a result.