A surreal future out of control.

Rating: 9/10 (12 October 2007)

Anime is an underrated genre in the world of cinema. Unlike the American animators who either take cover for princesses/talking animals, and whose major attempt at branching out to an older audience include (pre)teen action adventures or cartoon adaptations of comic books (perhaps the sole exception to these rules is Ralph Bakshi), Japanese animation has the potential to leap to adult, mature-minded audiences, exploring fantasies and futures that, no matter how many times Hollywood tries, they simply can not replicate. However, Japanese animation was fairly overlooked and undervalued for a very long time in North America.
In 1988, Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" was released to instant classic status in Japan and still managed to find a small following in the Western world. However, its popularity was so infectious, that its appeal spread throughout the Western world and created a new generation, and legion, of anime fans. They soon wanted more, and the rest was history. It was a global cultural landmark. But I digress.
Many others have said it before, and I'll say it again - "Akira" ranks amongst the greatest animated films. Amazing that a story about an out of control psychic can be transformed with such Gothic and macabre detail, yet visually it is still utterly mesmerizing; how everything falls into place, how it looks, how it sounds, how it feels. It has been said that Otomo animated the voice actors' lips and synchronized it by hand onto the characters. The film also reportedly used over 160,000 animation cells. When put together it forms a gripping effect, we see the characters are hand-drawn, yet the super-fluid motion and good voice acting says otherwise. Groundbreaking stuff. The US$ 10 million (yes it was that expensive) budget had been put to supremely excellent use. tell the creators put a lot of effort and determination to give the public what they want.
In the year 2019, youth culture, delinquency, social unrest and future uncertainty are abundant. The city of Neo-Tokyo is weighed against the historical spectre of nuclear destruction and Japan's post-war economic revival. Otomo and his animators realizes this scenario with some jaw dropping sights, the encompassing metropolis of Neo-Tokyo fills up the screen, the streets filled with neon lights, chaos by oppressed citizens, and a shroud of gloom and despair throughout. You can tell that the look and feel of Neo-Tokyo has been inspired by, perhaps even modeled after many film noirs or neo-noirs more than science fiction. "Blade Runner" is probably the biggest influence on the film's look (the year 2019 should be the biggest clue).
Despite the futuristic elements, the city surprisingly shows a lack of technological progress as oppressed citizens take to the streets to overthrow the corrupt government. Amongst all this, the main story involves teenage delinquents, which looks like a cross between Hells' Angels and the delinquents in "The Warriors". One of them, Tetsuo, begins to harness supernatural powers after a freak accident, and he begins to lash out at anyone who opposes him - all while his best friend Kaneda tries to stop him/save him. Kaneda is the typical male anime hero, cocky, hilariously arrogant/ignorant at times, but desperately determined. Tetsuo, the villain, slowly descends into insanity and we watch as his design also changes along with his character. It's a solid tale of good and bad, the future, abusing power, friendship, and surprisingly, the introspective near the end of the movie, which is enough to make Kubrick proud.
I love how the film is put together and arranged at the right moments. Crisp editing makes the fluid animation smoothly glide by. Otomo's masterful direction of not only the heavy material and spectacular visuals accompanies the slick, ambitious and thrilling action sequences, more than complementing the visual world that he has created. The violence in said action sequences are shockingly graphic, but not overly grotesque like many other animes before it - it's just the right amount. This is not a movie for young children to watch, unless you feel they are mature enough to handle graphic violence and some introspective scenes. Rounding up everything to come into fruition is the atypical anime, or film, music score. Composed by Shoji Yamashiro and performed by his musical troupe the Geinoh Yamashirogumi, haunting visuals of the city and the graphic action are accompanied by surreal sounds of traditional Japanese chimes, chants and drums, giving it a wholly cultural feel to the film and seemingly making it exist in a truly different world than the one we know.
This film is excellent, simply excellent. An event of gargantuan proportions. Run out, buy this, see this yesterday, and preserve it for generations to come. Some films can be forgotten - this film will stay with you. It's a shame Otomo's next directorial feature was to become the disappointment that is "Steamboy". He should have another go for ambition.