Akira

1988 ‘アキラ’ Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo

Neo-Tokyo is about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.

A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.

Mitsuo Iwata Nozomu Sasaki Mami Koyama Tesshou Genda Hiroshi Ohtake Kōichi Kitamura Yuriko Fuchizaki Masaaki Ōkura Takeshi Kusao Kazuhiro Kamifuji Tatsuhiko Nakamura Fukue Itô

Alternative Titles

AKIRA, Акира

animation science fiction

124 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by dEL ★★★★★ 51

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.
Review by Dirk van Eck ★½ 59

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!”
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 10

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.
Review by matt lynch ★★★★★ 2

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.
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★★ 26

"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…
Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★ 16

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.

Recent reviews

Review by Waris ★★★★

Suffering is knowing nothing will top an opening motorcycle chase backed by frantic traditional Japanese drums.
Review by Kahl Mathews ★★★★½

僕は哲夫。。。
Review by yeezusistheone ★★★★★

Great animation and story
Review by Trevor ★★★★

would be a five star rating if kaneda and tetsuo kissed at the end
Review by leonnseth ★★½

one of my most hyped movies ever, and sadly did not meet expectation. this was number one on my list and I absolutely loved this aesthetic and just absolutely loved everything about this movie, without knowing anything about it except its poster. I still respect this film immensely, because the animation is absolutely phenomenal and what it did for both anime and sci-fi in the 80's, but this pacing was something.....weird. the first ten minutes feels like an hour, not because its slow but because SO MUCH HAPPENS. the one hour mark feels like the finale, and just how things progress is very jarring. I did watch this movie in intervals, which probably didn't help its case. another thing that…
Review by Sweetcolt ★★★★★

An animated classic that deserves it's representation. The story is great, the characters are interesting, the animation and design for everything is beautiful, and the soundtrack is addicting. A must watch for all anime fans
Review by glitterglue ★★★★

I don't have anything intelligent to say. There was so much forehead in this.
Review by Gabriele Maccauro ★★★★★

History of animation movies, history of cinema. Quoted everywhere, from the tetsuo trilogy to ready player one.
Simply history.
Review by ynohtnA ★★★★★

I think it's my favorite movie!

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