Not sure what all the fuss is about

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2020)

2019. 31 years after being destroyed during World War 3, Tokyo (now 'Neo-Tokyo') has been rebuilt and is a thriving metropolis. Shotaro Kaneda is the leader of a biker gang. His friend Tetsuo is injured in an accident and taken to a top-secret government facility. He develops telekinetic powers but decides to use them for evil rather than good. He has the same powers as Akira, the force that destroyed Tokyo in 1988, and now it appears that history will repeat itself.
Regarded as some sort of animation-drama masterpiece but it is far from that. The animation is great but the remainder is average, at best. The plot has potential but becomes quite random quite quickly. Stuff happens that seems tangential to the story. Plus, there's several strands of plots going on at the same time, adding to the complexity but detracting from the focus of the story and the engagement level.
The random, rambling, plot becomes quite tedious past a point.
However, the plot is not the worst if it: character engagement is where the movie falls flat. There's really nobody to like or care about. Characters are one-dimensional and appear to be constructed to appeal to kids.
Ultimately, it's mediocre.