1988: A Year of Anime

Rating: 10/10 (8 December 2013)

The year 1988 will go down in film history as three major animation films from Japan were released and all three were critically acclaimed. One of those critically acclaimed films is Akira, which is probably one of the best films of 1988. The movie tells the story that is set in the year 2019, where Tokyo is built into a different kind of city called Neo-Tokyo. 31 years ago, an mysterious blast devastated Tokyo and now, the city is now being replaced by cutting-edge technology and warring political backgrounds. The characters in this movie are very interesting mainly because all of them, except for one, are teenagers. The teenagers are part of a biker gang and they roam the streets of Neo-Tokyo, looking for trouble. In the opening scene of Akira, we see them fighting with another biker gang called The Clowns. When one of the members of the biker gang is injured, he is sent to a hospital, where an government team is conducting an experiment on the injured boy. While the boy is being treated for his injury, the team gets a hold of a telekinesis power that is being put into the injured boy. But, there's more to that. That special power that the boy possess was the cause for the mysterious blast that occur in Tokyo 31 years ago. Even more specific, a young boy who was present in 1988 had that special power to ultimately destroy everything in sight, including the city. The young punk soon knows that he has the power to destroy anything that he sees and can only do it in his mind. He even uses it against the army that occupies the city by blowing up tanks and destroying an entire bridge. But, there's only one problem. If he overuses that power that has caused the blast in 1988, he will not have the ability to control it. That advice keeps popping up by the young kid who started the blast in 1988. Instead, the power will overcomes and destroy mankind as we know it. The punk doesn't realizes that because he thinks that having this special gift is fun. The real truth is that his ability to damage certain buildings and people can destroy his friends as well. While the boy uses the special power, an very aggressive Colonel gets involved with the young boy and he is also affected by this mysterious force. He also want to catch this kid before he even hurt or endanger the lives of others. Along the way, an government scientist teams up with the Colonel to find out the meaning behind this powerful, yet mysterious force. Akira has a lot of energy going for it. To me, the movie is a cross between Disney and the 1982 science-fiction thriller, Blade Runner, (it's ironic that both this movie and Blade Runner are set in the year 2019). The animation is very crisp and very colorful to look at. I also love the idea of having hell-raising teenagers as the protagonists, especially the young punk, who gets a hold of the supernatural power. The story of Akira is very well-told as we see this very imaginative metropolis crumbled as two-warring political parties and members clash against each other to win their independence and their freedom to express each other's thoughts and ideas. The story is also adapted from the manga of the same name. Add that and also the kid and you have a great anime movie. One of the things Akira does that other movies don't do is cast teenagers as the main characters. So many science-fiction films and anime involves adults and also older people. This movie doesn't fall into that category. I think that making teenagers interesting characters makes the movie work because as we see Neo-Tokyo develop, the entire population is swarming with warring political parties, government officials who are operating under direct orders from the military to keep everything in check and also the rebellious teenagers themselves. The main characters are almost like the kind of teenagers that bring out a lot of appeal to the audience. The action sequences is this movie are very gut-wrenching. We see in the beginning of the movie of the biker gang terrorizing the streets of Neo-Tokyo by assaulting each other while driving their motorcycles through the busy streets and highways, not even caring who gets in their way. The finale takes place in the Olympic Stadium, where the punk can't control much of what was given to him and he starts to develop into a giant moving mass, almost like a mutation of some sort. Even though he can't control the power, he doesn't even regret anything that he did wrong. We, as the audience feel his pain throughout the movie because this possession and obsession of using his power hurts him outside and inside. It even hurts and affect the people around him. The movie also tells us about how runaway technology affects everyday life like these kids that live in Neo-Tokyo. Akira is visually-stunning, packed with high-octane action throughout, and it is very violent. This movie is not recommended to younger audiences. All in all, Akira is one of the best films of 1988. It's style and action culminates itself into a anime classic. It's ground-breaking for its time and will not disappointed fans who love the genre. ★★★★ 4 stars.