Akira's story takes place in the futuristic city of Neo-Tokyo, in a dystopian version of 2019, where it shows the power breakdown or relationship and psychological telekinetic powers between the teenage Shōtarō Kaneda, leader of a bike gang known as The Capsules, and his childhood best friend Tetsuo Shima, the latter of which gains these supernatural abilities after a motorcycle accident during a gang rival battle. The film's plot deals with their friendship through these challenging times, and how militarism and dystopian society handles these events. Supernatural events, human experimentation, psychological trauma, and even fun laser beams are shown in this one-of-a-kind animated feature.
The anime revolves around two main characters, as stated above. First is Kaneda, a sixteen-year-old bike gang leader. While he acts cocky, tough, and rebellious on the outside, some find him to be quite a funny little dork a lot of the time, and grow to love his character in many ways. He's seen as facing the main problems, and the main antihero - his best friend - with bravery, but also determination - almost to the point of being plain stubborn about it. Also, the fact that he has that badass red leather jacket and everything else he wears is red, it's just such a cool look for his character.
Kaneda's best friend Tetsuo takes on as the film's antagonist. But really, he is more of an antihero, or, more of the unfortunate victim of the militarism and scientific experimentation of the anime, and the story's byproduct showed that through his character. He's an example of giving someone destructive power in the wrong hands. Pretty much, his ego boost doesn't help him, so he has to learn to play God in a different way. However, his character shows that he's impulsive, rash, and has a big superiority complex, showing he clearly doesn't like to be overshadowed by his best friend. The baby boy has a lot going on for him, and in the end, his character really does present itself very well, as you don't really know who you should be rooting for as the hero and the enemy.
Visually, the anime is absolutely beautiful. Even though it's not as fleshed out or lacks eye-popping colors, the contrast of the bright red of Kaneda's character, or the neon lights showing throughout Neo-Tokyo, or the absolute beauty of the animation is shown. Smooth transitions, complex styles in the telekinetic powers, the small details, emotions in the characters' faces, and let's not forget the infamous "Akira slide" that's been replicated throughout many media now, make the movie an experience that many never forget. I honestly wish I could experience this movie for the first time just for the animation and visuals alone.
Just like the animation, the voice acting is incredible. All the characters drive their lines with such emotion and have such an impactful voice that really adds depth and feeling to their characters. Akira is one of those few animes where I actually don't mind watching the English dub at all - however, we do not mention the horrible 1989 dub. Mitsuo Iwata and the 2001 counterpart of Johnny Yong Bosch deliver their lines as Kaneda very well, portraying him as the serious but dorky bad boy we all know and love. Tetsuo's voice actors of Nozomu Sasaki or 2001's Joshua Seth absolutely nail his character almost to the damn microfiber of his being. You can sense the rage, hatred, betrayal, and confusion in his voice, as well as the power that's gotten to his head, and not knowing how to handle things correctly.
In the soundtrack department, I think honestly is what makes this movie from amazing, to absolutely god-like. Shōji Yamashiro and Geinoh Yamashirogumi had this under control totally. Kicking off the amazing ten-minute start as the motorcycles race down the highways in a brawl as the theme of "Kaneda" starts playing, mixed with different soft drums and distant chanting really sets the ominous and mature mood to the movie. "Battle Against Clown"'s deep, ensnaring hyperventilating that comes after "Akira" sets the very serious tone to the first few minutes, and while some might find the music repetitive, I think it's more about adding the experience to the movie than the actual music itself. And even the well-known "Tetsuo", played at the hyper-most climax of the movie, with loud, impactful preaching-like singing that screams raw power really pulls the watcher deep into the immersion of the anime, and I think that's what was most important.
All in all, this work is not only an amazing anime, it's an important work of animation and cinema out there. It's known as one of the first animes in the West, and what really popularized anime in general for us here. For that, and it's amazing voice acting, visuals, soundtrack, and story, everyone needs to experience this movie at least once.
