Epic work of detailed cinematic art @ many frames per second.

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 2002)

I'll start out with this anime rant.
Most anime I've ever seen suffer from being overly stylized, corny, cheesy, melodramatic, and/or being in detail/fluidity. A few common flaws are the overly dramatic "freeze frame moments" and painfully common instances where the character shape, height, weight, and surroundings change inexplicably from scene to scene. Very amateur. Most anime you see in the U.S. is junk(ie: Zoids, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Dragonball (Z and otherwise), Gundam Wing).
AKIRA suffers from none of this. It stands up to the very best anime produced even today, almost 15 years later. This was not achieved through technology or any other shortcut. This was achieved through hard work. Painstaking concentration on detail kept the level of detail, character design, and surroundings seamless. The level of detail is every bit as high during the mundane or dialogue scenes as it is during moments of high action.
THE EMOTIONS of the characters are conveyed very well through their facial expressions. This was incredibly well drawn.
THE STORY could be called sort of a sci-fi take on Stephen King's "Carrie". Look at the synopsis or other reviews to see what I mean. It could easily have fallen into something typical, but it focused on the characters and their emotions and developments as human beings, never becoming corny or overly sentimental. Oh, and none of those stupid toony moments either.