at the time it was ground breaking in its overall quality of production

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2006)

when compared to some of the digitally edited anime on offer nowadays AKIRA seems almost antiquated with its soft hazy backgrounds and over emphasised facial expressions but if you look at the work as a whole, taking into account the staggering amount of man hours involved in each scene (there is almost constant movement in every shot, especially the traffic scenes!) and the ease with which the audience empathises with the characters, then you have to consider it to be the benchmark for future anime to be judged against. I love this film because it got me into anime! And it was one of the smartest films of it's genre, somehow adding acceptability to an otherwise entirely implausible plot. I love it, and I prefer the original to the anamorphic!