A New Look at an Old World

Rating: 7/10 (31 March 2007)

First off let me say that I haven't watched Anime for over two to three years after probably Gundam. I used to watch Robotech(Macross), Gundam, etc... This is my first anime that I have seen in quite some time. I have aged significantly too, which means that I understand some of the conflicts that are brought up in some of the shows better than when I was younger. Recently Akira was brought to my attention as being the one of the best pieces of Japanese anime's ever produced if not the best. I was interested to see how well this would hold up to my film knowledge and criticism. To tell the truth, this would make a great live action flick if it could be done WELL. And I stress well, because there is also great potential to make this a piece of crap too. First off I found the artwork or animation to be quite refreshing. I haven't a good cartoon so wonderfully drawn in many years. I'm more used to crude animation like the old days. I only wish I could have seen this in theaters back in 89' or so. Sadly I wasn't born yet so therefore couldn't have possibly seen it. But I have the next best thing, a new clean DVD transfer that was done pretty well. The dub in English was pretty well done but I wish I could have had both the original dub and the new English one as well. I haven't listened to the Japanese language track because I never used to when I was younger. But hopefully now I have matured to the point where I will listen to it. The characters in the film feel and look very lifelike to me. Akria seems to borrow a lot from American films and throw them into a Japanses anime, which is very intriguing. I found out that the voices were recorded first before the animation, therefore; the lips would match the dialog perfectly. This is something that Disney has been practicing forever but that this was the first time it was used on a Japanese anime. Quite cool. Akira's story again is like a great director from the 20th century has created it. It has an essence that pull the audience into the world of Neo Tokyo 2019. A little Blade Runner, a little Children of Men and so on. The only nudge I have against the movie is not giving more insight to what Akira is. But I guess thats the great adventure to the film. That you really don't have a clue as to what Akira is, or who he is. I kept thinking that Akira would pop up somewhere and kill Tetsuo, and control Neo Tokyo once and for all. But this never happened and I'm glad it didn't. Just see the movie. I won't give anything away, but just to say that the end is a bit of a downer. Although, what great movie isn't. The film is immerse as it sucks the audience into a world that is dark and mysterious. It makes the viewer question his or her own life and choices we make in it. Although, I might only recommend this film for Sci-Fi, action people. Don't be put off by the fact that its anime. I was for a while but soon changed opinions and hopped on the Akira bandwagon.