Akira (1988) Streamline Pictures/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 124 minutes Rated R (graphic violence, language, brief nudity) Director: Katsuhiro Otomo Screenplay: Katsuhiro Otomo and Izo Hashimoto Music: Tsutomu Ohashi Cinematography: Katsuji Misawa Release date: December 7, 1990 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast (English language version): Johnny Yong Bosch, Joshua Seth, Wendee Lee, James Lyon, Simon Isaacson, Robert Wicks, Sandy Fox, Cody MacKenzie, Georgette Rose, Dylan Tully, Tony Sarducci, Ray Michaels. Box Office: $439,162 (US)
Rating: *** ½
Many Americans, myself included, never even heard of anime until Akira made its way here. Up until that point, my experiences with adult-oriented animation were limited to Heavy Metal (1981) and Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat, American Pop). That all changed on December 8, 1990, the day I went to see Akira with two of my friends at a small theater in Philadelphia (the Roxy) that specialized in arthouse films and weird movies that appealed to limited audiences. This was the only theater in the area that showed The Rocky Horror Picture Show (every Saturday at midnight) at the time. It was the perfect place to see Akira.
It’s a sci-fi piece set in 2019 Neo-Tokyo. It seems that old Tokyo was annihilated in 1988 during WWIII. Thirty years later, Neo-Tokyo is a dark, crumbling metropolis plagued by gang violence, civil unrest and student demonstrations. Biker gangs roam the streets at night, racing and fighting each other. During a brawl, a boy named Tetsuo (Seth) is severely injured when he swerves and crashes to avoid hitting what looks like a small boy. It’s actually a psychic esper named Takashi (MacKenzie) who escaped from a secret government laboratory. The police, led by Colonel Shikishima (Lyon), show up and take Takashi and Tetsuo away while the other gang members, led by Kaneda (Bosch), are arrested.
Kaneda meets a young revolutionary named Kei (Lee) while in custody and helps secure her release by claiming she’s with him and his friends. Meanwhile, it’s discovered that Tetsuo possesses tremendous psychic abilities equaled only by Akira, the esper that destroyed Tokyo. Another esper, Kiyoko (Fox), foresees the destruction of Neo-Tokyo at the hands of Tetsuo whose powers continue to increase until he finally escapes from the government facility. Kaneda joins up with the rebels in hopes of capturing Tetsuo and stopping him from destroying the city.
The imagery in Akira is awesome! The visuals bring to mind movies like Blade Runner and Escape from New York. The storyline gets a bit convoluted, especially near the end, but there’s so much action that it really doesn’t matter. Also, there’s not much in the way of character development but I hardly think that matters either.
In the end, Akira is really cool! It’s adapted from the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo who also directs the movie. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Izo Hashimoto. I’ve never read it, but from what I hear from fans, he does a good job of adapting it for the big screen. The animation is top of the line; it’s both dark and colorful. There’s plenty of action and violence; the climax is especially cool. It’s also an intelligent movie; it has some pretty big ideas. If you’ve never seen an anime film, Akira is a great place to start. There’s a reason it attained cult status. I hate to be redundant, but I’ll say it once more. It’s cool!
