All my scores/reviews are subjective/personal af so feel free to agree/disagree! Your opinions are valid!
NON-SPOILER SECTION
Plot (+0.5):
Considering all the production limitations, I’d say its very well crafted. You gotta pay attention to each and every line because its so condensed. When I was younger, I’d zone out because of the boring talking and talking, but I got older and realized that set ups are important and ya gotta listen to what is being discussed to understand wtf is going on.
Characters (+0.5):
For a 2 hour movie, they had to make sure characterization had to be shown through each movement, each expression and line of dialogue and it works! Of course, the characterization had to be condensed anyways, so it doesn’t get a full point.
Tone (+1):
The first five minutes tell you what you’re in for: violence/gore, rebellion, angry teenage boys and mysterious government operations…
Consistency (+1):
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “dat animation doh.”
Did it well? (+1):
Uh, yeah. I mean the fact that many people (including me) have seen this multiple times means that its done things right
Characters (like/love?) (+2):
I find Tetsuo to be a really tragic character and I sympathize with him. Kaneda is pretty fun to watch (even though he is a simp). Again, their characterization had to be condensed due to the run time. I would have loved to see the film explore their relationship more.
Soundtrack (+1.5):
Many songs in the soundtrack only get like 20 seconds in the film but if you take the time to listen to the actual soundtrack of the film, get ready for some spooks. I definitely was not ready for that, ngl. I thought I was done with this film spooking me when I was in middle school! Guess not! Explained more in the spoilers section.
Engagement (+2):
DAT ANIMATION DOH. I’m an artist myself and I just marvel at all that hard work they’ve put into this film. So much appreciation. I get that not everyone will see it the same way, but this is my review :3
Ending (+0.5):
Eh. Explained more in the spoilers section.
Overall: 10
SPOILER SECTION
Tone:
Lemme just say there’s a reason why scenes like the hospital daydream/hallucination scene is iconic/memorable asf
Characters:
Kaori deserves better. She didn’t deserve any of the crap she got in the movie omfg. Kaneda's a big simp. Kei got sidelined as fast as Kaneda simped for her. For a movie called Akira we only see Akira for like 5 seconds. Enough of the negative. I really enjoyed and rooted for Colonel Shikishima. I would’ve loved more backstory to the Espers since I found them interesting. I found all characters interesting tbh, just not fleshed out, which makes sense because of the run time. So that’s why I didn’t give it a full point score.
Soundtrack:
Tetsuo’s Theme is the one that haunts me. I think it’s because its lyrics are so sad…
Engagement:
I’ve seen this movie as a kid (mistakes have been made) and images like Tetsuo hallucinating that his guts spill out on the concrete, Tetsuo rebuilding his arm, Tetsuo’s transformation scene… (poor guy) all stuck with me. I was able to remember it as I got older and did some research to find the movie again and re-watch and experience and actually grasp wtf was going on. Not only that, but I’ve since revisited it multiple times! (Which I rarely do for movies EVEN with the nostalgia factor). If a movie can do that for me…its engaging asf.
Ending:
Not a fan of Deus Ex Machina sorta endings. But I get it, Otomo hadn’t written the ending for the actual manga yet so he had to pull something. Tbh I wouldn’t even know how to end this kind of story, but what we got was still iconic.