Anime for Adults

Rating: 8/10 (11 September 2017)

Akira. Every anime fan worth their salt knows the name, many have seen it, and some understand the legacy it has. Akira came out in 1988 to critical acclaim and may be considered one of the first truly mainstream anime successes. Its success was enough to open the gates to the golden age of cyberpunk anime, paving the way for Ghost in the Shell and a slew of mostly forgettable 90's OVA's. With the majority of anime of the period being cast aside or forgotten, especially by casual anime fans and mainstream audiences, Akira has had a stranglehold on pop culture for years. But nearly thirty years after its release does Akira hold up? The year is 2019, thirty years after a giant explosion wrecked Tokyo during the Third World War. Neo-Tokyo is now home to motorcycle gangs, such as the one led by the teenaged Kaneda. During a battle between his gang and an opposing group of clowns (seriously), Kaneda's friend/rival Tetsuo gets into a crash caused by contact with an escaped psychic child. Tetsuo is taken in by the government where it is discovered that he has powerful psychic abilities. From there, Tetsuo and Kaneda wind up meeting for a violent and disturbing fever dream of a confrontation.
The plot is very reminiscent of Philip K. Dick and the idea of using psychic children is interesting. The problem with the plot is that despite the iconic biker gangs and general scenario, the actual story we follow is not exceptional. The mean rival becoming super powerful and facing off against his former teammate has been done before and done a million times after. The story that we follow is bare-bones.
And the same can be said of the characters. Tetsuo and Kaneda have taken on a life of their own because of how iconic this film is but I can't help but feel they are pretty underwhelming as a pair. Neither gets a lot of development, something that makes the final scene less emotionally impactful than I thought it should be. There aren't any extraneous character moments to show the camaraderie between the two. Instead, we're tossed right into the story and denied any real depth.
The same can be said about the relationship between Kaneda and Kei. The implication is that they are in love or have some sort of romantic bonds growing, but the majority of their time together is in the heat of action. I understand that compressing a large manga into a two hour movie requires cutting away the fat and the director would rather have a comprehensive story than well-defined characters. That's fine. And truthfully, the lack of real character depth in no way detracts from this film since the story is interesting and the world and design are fantastic.
The art of Akira is what is, for me, the most memorable part of the movie. Painstakingly hand-drawn with multiple layers for even the most mundane of shots, Akira is gorgeous from start to finish. The city is dour but feels lived in and the movement is ridiculously smooth. The color scheme reminded me very much of The Watchmen. It wasn't very anime-y in palette. In fact, given the fact Watchmen and Akira share some themes and have a very similar ending, I wouldn't be surprised if that graphic novel influenced some of the design choices for the Akira film.
Adding to the ambiance is an absolutely stellar soundtrack that doesn't feel like background noise but integral to the entire design. The use of music and the sound effects on top of the cinematography and direction shows that the production team busted their asses to make as good looking and technical a product as humanly possible.
Akira has aged well. It's prettier than most of its contemporaries and the plot, characters, and especially the world are still engaging. Pulling out from the nonstop praise and love it receives and looking critically, you can see Akira's armor is fairly hollow. But that armor is way too beautiful to be left to rot and belongs in a display case and revered if not for its substance for its craftsmanship. Akira is a movie well worth your time and should be a must-watch for all anime fans. Even if you're not into it, you should still be able to appreciate what it brought to the table and how it evolved the medium, showing that anime wasn't just for kids and teens, but for adults as well.