1988 ‘アキラ’ Directed by Katsuhiro Ōtomo
Childhood friends Tetsuo and Kaneda are pulled into the post-apocalyptic underworld of Neo-Tokyo and forced to fight for their very survival. Kaneda is a bike gang leader, and Tetsuo is a member of a tough motorcycle crew who becomes involved in a covert government project called Akira. But a bloody battle ensues when Kaneda sets out to save his friend.
Haruyo Kanesaku Shunzo Kato Yutaka Maseba Hiroe Tsukamoto James Yosuke Kobayashi Sawako Noma Yoshimasa Mizuo Ryôhei Suzuki
Bandai Visual Company Toho Company Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) Kodansha Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS) TMS Entertainment Akira Committee Company Ltd. Sumitomo Corporation
Man, I watched this film so many times when I was younger.
In fact, you could say I watched A Keira Knightley.......
I'm sorry.
Thirteenth watch of Japanese July. A brief synopsis of Akira. It's 1988 and Tokio is destroyed. It’s 2019 and Neo-Tokyo is awesome. Kaneda yells: “Tetsuo!” Tetsuo yells: “Kaneda!” *Explosion* Tetsuo yells: “Kaneda!!” Kaneda yells: “Tetsuo!!” Some more beautiful animation. *Explosion* Kaneda yells: “Tetsuo!!!” Tetsuo yells: “Kaneda!!!” MIND BATTLE. Bodily mutations, so many bodily mutations. “Kaneda…” “Tetsuo!” *EXPLOSIONS* “Tetsuooooooooooooo!” MIND BATTLE. More stellar animation, yet another explosion, another mind battle and some more explosions. “Kanedaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
94/100
An aggressive tour de force of influential animation, tangible world-building, inferiority complexes, biker gangs, giant teddy bears, and overwhelming sequences of violence. It stays burrowed in your psyche, ruining a certain, seemingly simple nerve and, in the blink of an eye, shifting perspective and rendering previous knowledge meaningless. Strangely enough, this is only the second time I've seen Akira, with the first being my "initiation" (age 11) via a dubbed VHS copy, but I can't imagine spending more than a year away from this film ever again. It's a horrifyingly grandiose tragedy piece, melding flesh and metal, revolutions and minuscule angst, mind and body, rubber and pavement into a Nuclear aftermath of neon and rubble. In spite of its countless influences (Metropolis, 2001, A Clockwork Orange to name a few), there's nothing quite like it.
Neo-Tokyo. A giant-ass explosion. A crotch-rocket battle with the Insane Clown Posse. Suicide by cop. Ryu without Ken. Weird looking kids with cool powers. Student riots. Fuck is fuck in any language. Super-powers that make Carrie look like a Telekinesis Smurf. Oh Kaneda. Anime boobs. A barkeep's last pour. A determined general. Blowing a lot of shit up. Showdown at the Olympic Stadium with your best friend. A huge fuckin teddy bear. Attack of the giant arm. Becoming something you sure as fuck never dreamed of. A wild-ass visual adventure that is a must see for anyone who is Anime-curious.
"The future is not a straight line. It is filled with many crossroads. There must be a future that we can choose for ourselves."
Akira is one of the most important Japanese animated films of all time, and not simply because of the technical landmark it achieved in hand-drawn animation. It is an attempt to speak about one of the most unspeakable tragedies in human history, and to deal with the nature of atomic power and with historical change as such. The narrative begins with an image of a massive explosion devastating the city of Tokyo, but while the location is different and a title card claims that this is the beginning of World War III, there's no mistaking the…
probably the most galvanic and visceral example of a nation's collective psychic fallout since Honda's GODZILLA. simultaneously dreading and anticipating a return to power.
Watched for Scavenger Hunt #30 - September 2017
Task#13 An animated film that’s not for children
I was really lucky that I got to see this at an outdoors showing, right in the heart of my town, next to one of its busiest avenues. The combination of being in the city center, surrounded by the noise of cars and planes and just that feeling of being in the city, made it really special.
My surroundings kinda heightened my experience of the futuristic city of Neo Tokyo, which has a great design, but unfortunately fails to get more screentime.
In fact, I went into Akira hoping to get to see really cool biker gangs in a cyberpunk setting a la Blade…
Drags a bit at the end, but other than that it's spectacular. The detail to every frame of animation is fucking crazy.
Akira ist ein verdammt eindrücklicher Anime. Besonders die Animationen sind einfach atemberaubend! Man spürt die Arbeit heraus, die dieser Film gegeben hat. Dieser Film ist ein MUSS für jeden Animationsfan.
Die Geschichte ist sehr dramatisch und kaum in Worte zu fassen, ohne zu spoilern. Durchgehend fragt man sich:
– wer oder was ist Akira?
– was passiert da mit Tetsuo?
– wie eng sind Kaneda und Tetsuo wirklich?
– was hat es mit Kei auf sich?
Ein fantastisches Meisterwerk, nur zu empfehlen!
Akira didn't do it for me this time around. Some great effects animation of course. Usually if i'm going through a hard time, a good movie will 'speak' to me, even if it doesn't really have anything to do with my life or the things that are on my mind. the internal logic of the film should feel true to itself, and even if it's a depressing subject it usually eases the pain. this time, i didn't see any internal logic other than an overwhelming emphasis on visual density, lots of inbetweens, and sudden and random death (the only thing in the film that felt 'true' for me). i felt frustrated by the government roundtable scene; the governments lack of…
I saw this in a theater last night and I was fully crying for the last 15 minutes. That's never happened before with this one.
I've seen this movie a lot of times now and I'm still trying to get a hold of it. It seems to reveal new things to me every time I watch it. I don't have a strong enough brain right now to really fully articulate all of my thoughts on this viewing into a coherent essay/review so here they are in a sort of list form:
- I noticed that when Tetsuo is growing at the end he resembles a giant baby, working with the theme of growing up and childhood innocence. But he's a…
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