Akira explode with a lot of high energy action! The results from that, is some highly acclaimed praise! It's well-deserved. Still, it has some miss points

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2016)

While, this movie wasn't a success, when it first came out during its limited U.S theatrical release, this film has garnered a large following as a cult film since then. Akira led the way for the second wave of anime fandom outside of Japan and is a major influence on live-action films. Now, it's widely considered to be one of the best anime to come to the United States. In Japan, this movie is considered by many critics to be one of the greatest animated and science fiction movies of all time. I wouldn't go that far, into the praise, but I do love the way, Akira use imagery and themes regarding revolution, teenage delinquency, and political/religion incompetence, to show the deep clashes of cultures, between the new age beliefs and tradition values. It all build up to the inevitable destruction of the old and the rebirth of a new society. However, the film relies so heavily on symbolism, surrealism & absurdism, that it fails to connect with everybody. Some people might get lose, with some the film's many motifs, such as the image of a capsule that repeated throughout the story or the double helix shows up several times. Since, most of the character designs and settings were adapted from the original manga, the restructured plot of the movie differs considerably from the print version, toward the last half of the film. Without spoiling it, just note different characters dies and lives than the manga. So don't worry, if you get confused by the odd visuals, because I was also asking 'WTF', was I watching, even after reading the manga novels. Lot of the character development and back-story was left out from the novel. Even, the majority drug abuse concept of the manga seem, to non-existed, here. Instead, it focus on an evolution theory that doesn't really go anywhere. Then, there is the fact, that a lot of the flashbacks, they did use, were edited in the film in the wrong spots. It made the film, so much more baffled. It's doesn't help, that the science-fiction manga in which, it was based & named after, is indeed a long read, so not everything about their world, can be put in the 121 minutes, run-time of the film. No matter if you're a first time viewer or a fan, the film does get a bit messy at times. Directed by the same author, and artist from the manga version, Katsuhiro Otomo; the film depicts a dystopian version of Tokyo in the year 2019, call Neo-Tokyo with cyberpunk tones. It's here, where the odd plot comes into play, focusing on teenage biker Tetsuo Shima (Voiced by Nozomu Sasaki) and leader of his biker gang, Shotaro Kaneda (Voiced by Mitsuo Iwata) being expose to psychic powers from the government, that would wipe out, their world. What a lot of western viewers like myself, was surprised by, is the amount of violence and adult-driven themes. It was very rare to see that, in animation, at the time. The body horror in the night was and still is, visually haunting for me. This Japanese anime film contained some of the most kinetic sequences in animation history as well. All of the action scenes, were really made well. It gave the film, an epic scale of detail, movement, and fluidity. Akira has often been considered the greatest animated film of all time, with advanced technical features, such as highly-detailed scenes with textures, shadows, unusual colors, and seamless animation with over 160,000 animation cels. Computer-generated imagery was used in the film, primarily to animate the pattern indicator used by Doctor Onishi, but it was additionally used to plot the paths of falling objects, model parallax effects on backgrounds, and tweak lighting and lens flares. At its time, it was the most expensive film ever produced in Japan with $8 million. It's kinda cool that movie had the destruction of Tokyo occur on July 16th, 1988, the day that the movie had its Japanese theatrical debut, it was the same way; the manga told their story in 1982. The film has also been dubbed twice into English — once in 1988 by InterSound & later with Streamline Pictures and Geneon AKA Animaze via Pioneer in 2001, leading to a misconception that they produced it themselves. In my opinion, I like the Japanese version with the subtitles than the English version. There is just something, not right with the English dubbing. With the English editions, some of the original Japanese dialogue is lost or mistranslated. I also not a huge fan of the movie's soundtrack by Shoji Yamashiro (pseudonym of Tsutomu Ōhashi). Some of the music on there is very unlistenable. I can hardly stand the heavy breathing mixed with pounding of the drums. It hurts my ears, so much. Overall: While, a live-action film adaptation version might or might come, one day to renew fans, for the most part, this movie will be best known for its sharp animation. Still, the confusing plot and downer feel of the movie, doesn't make it, a great watch. It's still one of the most memorable anime of all time. However, I can't recommended everybody to see it. In the end, if you're a fan of anime, check it out. If not, there is better anime films to introduce you to that genre.