Mar 11, 2019
Akira is my favorite movie of all time, including non-animated movies. I will be up front and say this is not my reaction from watching this movie for the first time. Watching this movie for the first time can be confusing and when the movie ends you might be asking yourself what did I just watch or what just happened? I think that's a reasonable response. Not everything about Akira makes perfect sense. I think to really appreciate this movie more though you have see it a few times and understand the context around the making of the film. When Katuhiro Otomo made this movie
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he was in the middle of writing the manga of the same title. The two works are connected in that the movie is a cut version of the manga. Key characters and subplots are missing from the film entirely. I think if you've read the manga series and seen the movie a few times you can really appreciate the movie more for what it is.
First and foremost Akira is a work of art. The lighting and backgrounds are so incredibly detailed for an animated piece from the 80's. The coloring is vibrant when it needs to be and perfectly drab when the scene calls for it. A different reviewer called the whole movie drab but they must color blind so I'll let it slide. Neo-Tokyo (the setting of Akira) is supposed to be a drab place. It is a city that was built on the ruins of Tokyo and then consumed by technology available is a cyberpunk version of 2019. The city is in turmoil due to protests and rioting and I think the coloring and lighting really highlight the city that is falling apart.
The sound is superb in this movie. The original score ranges from epic to haunting at times. Each track matches the scene it goes with very well and helps set the mood perfectly. The opening scene with the motorcycle chase through the city has fast paced music that helps intensify the excitement of gangs tearing through a city and causing chaos. Outside of the soundtrack the sound is great as well. Motorcycles, gunshots, and psychic battles all sound great no matter how you're watching the movie. I'll briefly mention the dub and sub here as well. Personally I like both and will choose the dub or sub depending on the mood I am in. Overall I'd say the sub is better. In the dub a few lines in particular come off as jarring and unnatural but not badly enough to ruin the experience of watching the dub. As you can guess I don't care much for the sub vs dub debate.
Most of the characters in this movie in my opinion are memorable even if I don't always remember their names. Obviously if you've read the manga a few times then you'll be very familiar with all of the characters present in the film as they do get more development in writing. The characters probably suffer the most in the movie because Otomo is trying to cram 6 mangas into a two hour gap. I think with what he had he did a great job. Do I think Akira should've been split into two movies or even a trilogy? No, while overall it would've been better it also would've lost the charm that the standalone movie has. Akira allows us to really focus on Kaneda and Tetsuo who are the most important characters to the story. We get the most development out of them and we come to understand why they behave the way they do throughout the film. As far as character design goes I think people are used to modern animation will find the people to look a little strange and a bit samey. I'd say this was probably done to save money because it looks like the budget really went into coloring, backgrounds, and lighting. It seems to me that Otomo wanted to show the audience what the world of Neo-Tokyo was like. Neo-Tokyo is a dangerous and frankly disgusting environment and you see that it creates delinquents like Kaneda and Tetsuo so what they look like doesn't matter as much.
This is a movie that gets better with each viewing which I know can be difficult if you really didn't like it on the first viewing. I urge those who didn't like it to watch it again or read the manga. Say what you want but Akira was ahead of its time and would go on to inspire creators to make many more fantastic cyberpunk works like Ghost in the Shell.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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