Anime at its finest

Rating: 10/10 (29 February 2000)

When I first saw Akira, I was new to the anime scene. I had seen the few cartoons that had been on here("Voltron" and "Dragon Ball Z"), but those in no way prepared me for Akira. Right from the beginning of the movie you are thrown head first into a Blade Runner like world of future Tokyo. This film is extremely violent. It is not just a cartoon; certainly not anything you would want to show your kids. Its grittiness makes it more real and adds to the fact that this is a bleak distopia that the Japanese now live in. Although action or sci-fi enthusiasts would enjoy this film for what it offers them, the film's message would escape someone just watching it for the gore factor. Its more a film about what is wrong with society and less about killing and cool animations.