As it was said: classic/legend/masterpiece. Nothing to add.
This film is a masterpiece. Every few years I look to see if there is any new Anime out there of equal scope and quality, and am completely disappointed.
To the haters who watch Akira and didn't "get" it, you shouldn't mistake your own lack of comprehension for a lack of meaning. One needs to watch Akira a few times to really piece together what is happening.
This is not a Hollywood film. It will not spoon feed you a convenient plot with happy endings. But if you put a little effort into it, this movie will deliver.
Pro-tip: Don't watch the English overdub, do subtitles. The Japanese voice actors deliver powerful performances. Also the subtitles make a lot more sense than the English overdub, as by necessity, the writers must hack on a script quite a bit to make the voice over fit into the pace and rhythm of the film. This is why overdubs almost always lose meaning, in addition to making the lips look silly.
Akira turns 25 today and if you havn't watched it already, please do :o!
The difficulty in watching classics is to judge them fairly in the time they were released.
The positive side is, while I have limited knowledge of 1980s animation, it is not too hard to see how the Akira excels in the animation quality, even today, particularly in the very first sequences with Kaneda's Capsule gang driving though the city night lights, and the climax with Tetsuo's blowing up to a gigantic mass and the extradimensional inflection with the ESPs.
The excellent animation is used masterfully for conveying the atmospheric world-building: the sky-high lives of Neo Tokyo with a drab scummy lives of its citizens, brutal police forces, and economic insecurities painting the world bleak. Perhaps the strongest aspect of this film that I wished they could've took us a walk a little bit further like the politician Nezu took us in a stroll around the city. And like Blade Runner, watching through the film I recognised how the plot points and the themes raised in this film would later be used very familiarly in many other science-fiction films, thus setting up the cyberpunk genre in the years to come.
However, speaking of plot and story, I would say that perhaps writing is not the aspect this film shines on. Characters leave much to be desired. They feel like devices for the plot to move forward, even with our main characters Kaneda and Tetsuo, and even the McGuffin Akira.
While I appreciate the film doesn't blurt out everything and treat the audience as smart, some genuine questionable plot points left me wondering: why did the ESPs lure a certain character? What was really the reason of the rebellion? What's the point of the last sequences with politician Nezu and the opposition Ryu? The film seems to save some points for a future setups (that seem to be never realized) and the awkward fade to blacks between scenes and unexplained sequences made me feel like I'm missing out something and have to check Wikipedia - something that I realize later that I have to find out in the source material (manga).
As the credit rolled, my mind wander, not unlike Tetsuo's, the possibility of remake (even a live action one) that could amplify the excellence of this film and connect the half-painted tods. That being said, Akira is still a masterful cornerstone of science fiction/cyberpunk material that deserves at least a watch in a lifetime.
I really liked the environmental design and the animation, they look great even after 30 years, but I just could not get into this movie. I tried to watch it twice and both times I fell asleep.
[8.4/10] The hardest thing for a movie to do isn’t to convey an idea or to convey a feeling; it’s to do both at once. There’s the rational part of our minds that ferrets out plot and theme, and there’s a more instinctive side that connects more closely to the feel of a given moment or story writ large. The two bleed into one another, and influence one another, but it’s hard to blend them together without losing something in the mix.
Akira achieves that blend with an impressive force. It seems odd to say given how opaque and liminal the film is at times, but it combines palpable notions of the costs of unrestrained progress and scientific advancement, with more primal and societal anxieties about overwhelming power and dalliances with self destruction.
It calls to mind two other works that wade through the same waters: 2001: A Space Odyssey and Twin Peaks: The Return. It shares the former’s concern with man dabbling with forces it can neither control nor comprehend and its ties to the creation, destruction, and transcendence of our species. It shares the latter’s nuclear fears and sense of a people still reeling from the demonstration of the devastation we are capable of, mixed with a more personal disorientation and loss. And it shares both’s trippy and elliptical sensibilities, where impressionistic sequences convey the things which cannot be articulated in dialogue alone.
It’s the images in that vein that are going to linger with me the most. I will remember the nightmarish childhood playthings garishly reconstructed from a mass of swirling detritus, looming over Testuo’s hospital bed. I will remember the bulging grotesqueries as Testuo’s organs swell and expand, creating some ungodly fetal creature consuming and destroying everything in its path. I will remember the scenes of citywide destruction -- practically a currency in modern day blockbusters -- made all the most ghastly and visceral in context and with the films impossibly great visuals.
Akira can lay claim to being one of, if not the, most stunningly animated features of all time. There’s a fluidity and realism amid such a heightened atmosphere, made manifest in the artwork and aesthetic that suffuses the film. While some of the individual character designs are a little too odd or caricatured, the lighting, framing, movement, and use of color throughout this film are all magnificent. The grit and grime of Neo Tokyo, the visceral unrest as a city unravels before it explodes, the neon lights in dingy industrial hovels come together to catch the eye at every turn. Even for those who understandably have trouble connecting with Akira’s somewhat opaque narrative, the visuals alone are worth the price of admission.
Those visuals convey the sense of an abject, unnameable sort of fear. I’ll admit to getting lost in moments where the film’s characters discuss essential energies and memories coded in the fabric of the universe, with a human’s powers being imbibed by an amoeba. But particularly in the turbulent year 2020, it’s not hard to connect with and relate to a persistent sense of a people on the brink of something beyond their control, half hoping for some kind of salvation and another half ready to wipe the slate clean. There’s a simmering anxiety beneath everything that happens in Akira whether you’re girding for war or trying to tear it all down. That comes through loud and clear.
It is not, however, an aimless fear. I can’t claim to have an intimate knowledge of Japanese culture or history, but it’s hard not see the lingering scars in the national psyche left by Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Akira. That’s easiest to see in the imagery of mushroom clouds and boundless destruction. But it also comes through in the combination of awe and terror over “Akira” and what his power represents over the course of the film, and the steps various individuals take to contain, unleash, or understand that power.
It also connects to the notions of science and its pursuit going too far, leading to a pushing of limits that threatens to rend humanity itself in twain. The heroes and villains of Akira are hardly clear cut, with almost all of them having understandable motivations and flaws. (Some, like Kameda, are actually flat out annoying.) And yet the film seems to pin some particular blame on not just broken institutions, but on the quest for academic and scientific knowledge for its own sake with destructive ends and consequences left ignored. I’m apt to grouse about the anti-intellectual fervor that reflects, but it’s churlish to complain about that perspective for a film produced in a country who were the “beneficiaries” of some of the greatest scientific minds devoting themselves to the Manhattan Project.
In that vein, Akira does not skimp on the violence. Its plainest point is that there is a cost to this sort of power. The energies, the kind at the core of life which Kei waxes rhapsodic about, harken to the atom itself, and with it, the decimation when it was split. With that spirit in mind, the film does not shy away from bullet-ridden revolutionaries or bystanders taken apart with a mere thought. It is startling and graphic, but not gratuitous. The concept of collateral damage, lives lost in the wake of such forces, are endemic to the movie's themes and its choice not to flinch from such violence grounds the idea.
Nevertheless, for as haunting and disturbing as the imagery of loss and devastation here are, and as potent as the film’s themes of pre- and post-nuclear annihilation are, its ending is strangely hopeful. Despite the massive casualties, it closes on a sense of renewal, redemption, and most of all transcendence. I couldn’t begin to explain that ending to anyone, or account for the cosmic mechanisms and rebirth that it suggests. But I can tell you how it feels, to see a friendship vindicated amid horrors of both body and mind, to see self-sacrifice by child-like gods to demigods protect the innocent, and to see the chance to move on from the end of the world. For a movie so rooted in terror and destruction, it feels strangely but movingly optimistic.
Well I just watched this for the very 1st time and I can already tell that this is a film that needs to be watched more than once to be fully understood and appreciated. When you watch this you really have to make sure that you're completely focused on it. Honestly from the moment the plot starts to pick up I already felt like if you turned attention away for only a second, you would probably miss a crucial detail. I actually even found myself rewinding certain scenes just to be absolutely sure that I understood what just occurred. I never even read a plot synopsis before watching this, so a lot of the story's moments were unexpectedly quite shocking and disturbing. All I'd seen before was a clip of the opening showing the bike chase, so that probably left me expecting a completely different atmosphere and story. I will admit I was not wowed by the story to the point I wanted to jump out of my seat but the movie really left me in a deep state of thinking wondering how certain things were meant to be interpreted.
One aspect I find unique was that there really was no hero or villain at all. Every single character had a big focus on their flaws, with their strengths receiving less focus, most likely to hammer in the fact that not a single character is meant to be portrayed as hero. I thought the Colonel was going to be the main villain but honestly he just makes the most logical decisions given the circumstances. I found myself thinking there was a lack of exposition, I was wishing I knew more of the characters' pasts, near the end we see a whole bunch of flashbacks that I felt would've been placed better at an earlier time but meh that feels like nitpicking. Part of me felt like the story was a bit abridged but that's understandable since I read this was made while the manga was still ongoing but that doesn't soften the blows from the themes of rebellion, creation, destruction and power in this movie.
The quality of the animation blew me away, not reusing any character animations, having their lips actually match the words that they're saying. Japanese animation must have reached an all time high when this was released, if I hadn't known the year this was made I actually wouldn't believe it was a product of the 80s. If Akira was made today using same techniques as in 1988, it would probably be so immensely expensive that it would make any publisher studio shit their pants. My favorite parts would have to be watching Tetsuo mow down every single thing they threw at him, I honestly found it comically amusing, and the incredibly well animated chase scene at the start.
I imagine that back during the times this was made there weren't much dark, gritty, disturbing and grotesque moments in anime and that Akira most likely set the stage for the future animes that contain those aspects. It's easy to see how this influenced future cyberpunk animes such as, Ghost In the Shell and Cowboy Bebop. I wonder if Final Fantasy 7 had some inspiration from Akira? FF7's Jenova, Midgar and bike scene came to my mind as I watched. The entire time I was really reminded of Blade Runner, which ironically is another film that I found to be one of those that needs to be seen multiple times to be fully appreciated and understood.
I would've gone into major plot details but I'd rather leave that for when I at least have one re-watch. I might come back and edit in my thoughts on that. Oh and did anyone else have a difficult time telling the Colonel and Ryu apart?
I can understand why this is a classic and without a doubt a masterpiece for it's time: beautiful animation and color palette, a creepy score, the futuristic dystopian setting is awesome, it's dark, gritty, brutal and bloody when it needs to be. The theme of friendship is strong and I liked parts of it like the toys, hallway and transformation scene in the third act.
But for me, not having grown up watching it as a kid... it's just ok. I believe this was so influencial that every scene was redone and redone in better movies that i've seen prior. I still respect it for having the ideas first but I don't get much enjoyment watching it. The action sequences are always on the verge of greatness but never really get there. I can't say I cared for the characters or the story either. Overall, it had it's moments but Jean Grey and Carrie would wipe the floor with this guy!
Wow, where do I even begin with "Akira"? This film is an absolute mind-bender! It's not just an anime movie - it's a groundbreaking piece of cinematic history that has had a massive influence on both anime and sci-fi genres. The first thing that blew me away was the jaw-dropping animation. The dystopian Neo-Tokyo, with its gritty streets and neon lights, is just breathtakingly detailed and alive.
Then there's the story - it's chaotic, complex, and provocative. A tale of friendship and power that spirals into this intense whirlwind of destruction and rebirth. Tetsuo's transformation from a meek underdog into a terrifying entity is just heart-wrenching to watch. And Kaneda, caught between his friendship and the need to stop Tetsuo, adds a layer of emotional depth that really hits hard.
The themes explored are also compelling - power, corruption, the ethical boundaries of scientific experimentation, and the human capacity for destruction. This isn't your typical good vs evil narrative, but a thought-provoking examination of humanity.
And lastly, the music. It's just as iconic as the film itself, a fusion of traditional Japanese music and futuristic sounds that creates an otherworldly atmosphere. It's honestly chilling and adds so much to the tension and mood of the film.
In conclusion, "Akira" is a visual and narrative spectacle, an emotional rollercoaster that leaves you both thrilled and thoughtful. It's a film that pushes the boundaries of animation and storytelling. A true masterpiece that's definitely worth a watch, and then a re-watch!
so good but i couldnt look away from testuos massive DOME of a forehead for most the movie
Set in a futuristic post-apocalyptic setting, perfectly captured by incredible art direction and animation, along with the perfect balance of high-intensity action and a thought-provoking plot, makes this one of the most unique films ever made.
It has a cool futuristic world and good looking animation style but I didn't care for the story.
I can see why this was so influential and mind-blowing back when it released, but honestly nowadays it's just ehhhh. The story is wack which isn't bad, but I just don't care for the characters nor what's happening at all. Still a worthwhile watch because it's well made and is an important milestone in anime films.
Never get tired of it!
Neo-Tokyo is about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.
This is the best animated ever made. Katsuhiro Otomo is a true visionary. this movie is a wild futuristic ride from start to finish. The animation is the best I've ever seen. The voice acting is superb and the story is spectacular. It's the perfect anime film. You can tell from the start how much time and effort the animators put into each scene. Plus Kaneda's bike is one tricked out ride.
It was so captivating, fast-paced and jam-packed with action that I never realized how quickly 2 hours flew by. It's a mind-blowing cyberpunk action film that has a number of great things which include the simple but fresh story that is absolutely driven by action sequences and the gorgeous animation that encompasses every single bit of it. It's also a gory experience, so I can't recommend it for kids. For adults, it's a full-blown explosive ride!
A must watch every 6 years.
Insane movie. Fivehead went crazy.
cannot find words to describe how unbelievably good this anime is
am starting to enjoy old anime movies.
Please read the original manga, it's worth it with STUNNING visuals.
The movie is great too, specially for a 1988 animation - it holds up pretty well! They did a great adaptation here to a 2-hour long movie.
I liked the animation but found the plot to be hard to follow which made a 2 hour run time difficult. Maybe it would have been easier if I had watched the dubbed version as opposed to the subbed version, not sure.
Opening sequence was captivating. Wish they explored the broader cityscape a little more. If humans are so full of ourselves, one day we will be devoured by the beast of progress, of civilisation and of technology; a beast we thought we could reign over. Story and character wise nothing too interesting. Wish there was more on-the-point dialogue but I guess the three kids do the job.
Very confusing movie and I guess it’s not easy to compress a manga series spanning over 2000 pages in to a 2 h movie and I really don’t get the praise this movie has received because of this. Visually it’s cool but the plot feels rushed and incoherent.
Highly visionary, with stunning cyberpunk visuals and setting, this movie was way beyond its time, being a late 80s movie. It shouldn't be possible to conceive this movie otherwise that would capture all of its magnificence and beautifulness.
his Japanese animated film is incomprehensible, but magnificent and already a classic.
I've seen it 3 times over 15 years and I don't think it's the masterpiece its fans say it is. I think Ghost in the Shell is a far better film and has more thought provoking ideas in its 80 minutes than this bloated movie.
I've watched this movie a few times and every time I do, I find more details I missed before. The animation in this movie is so stellar and so impressive that even now, it still holds up and surpasses other films that were made after it.
While I wish they had been able to adapt the whole series, I'll still take this movie as a summation of it and forever rank it as one of the best examples of anime there is -- and one of the best animated films ever made, period. Do yourself a favor and watch it at least once if you haven't yet. And if you've watched it before, watch it again.
The one that started it all. Hadn’t seen this in decades yet still remembered the vast majority of it, including the amazing motorcycle gang face off at the beginning as a biker goes soaring down the highway holding a pipe that scrapes along the ground in menace as motorcycle tail lights leave trails as the bikes weave in and out. Akira takes the story of a wimp growing to be something more and turns it on its head. The loser sidekick gets all the power in the world, but instead of learning anything, or doing anything better, he takes out a lifetime of frustration on everyone he encounters, until the very end when, losing again, he begs for his big brother figure that he’s tossed away and tried to kill, to save him. Visually the movie is as beautiful as ever with grand set pieces and endless style. While the ending is hard to get your head around, I’m still not sure if I understood it, its easy to see why this movie took the world by storm and started an entire industry both at home and around the globe.
One of the most visually pleasing anime films I've ever seen combined with non-stop action from beginning to end. What's not like (except for an over-long climax: the entire third act)?
"Neo Tokyo is about to explode," boasts the neon-bathed artwork for this cornerstone of anime, and that's true on so many levels. Three decades removed from the megaton blast that annihilated Japan's capital and sparked a third world war, the physical rebuilding process is nearly complete, but societal wounds are still very raw. As demonstrations grow violent in the streets, politicians line pockets and point fingers, motorcycle gangs rove the highway and the military quietly readies a coup, a secret, pre-war government program is losing control of its super-powered test subjects. And, naturally, it's all come to a head at once; a reverberating chorus of disaster that's suddenly reached its apocalyptic crescendo.
Akira is every bit as rich, dense and complex as that description sounds. While many of those arching themes are grandiose in nature, essentially wide-angle subject matter, the story itself is quite personal. We get a sense of the big picture as it's suffered by key individuals; a cocky street punk, his beta dog buddy, an out-of-her-depth resistance fighter, a military general and a trio of disfigured, omnipotent children. It's a mysterious film. It does not give easy answers, but the truth is there for those willing to dig. There's just too much going on, too many massive set pieces and tidal shifts, to slow down for anyone. At times, that can make it feel cryptic and inaccessible. In those cases, I'm afraid, the hyperactive pace, towering scale, breathtaking action scenes, striking visual feats and monumental soundtrack cuts will have to suffice. Even if you don't get the ending (which, let's be honest, is way out in space somewhere), the journey to get there is everything.
I don't know if this would've been a ten the first time I watched it, way back in the mid '90s, but it would've been in the neighborhood. After soaking it in, over the course of so many years and repeat viewings, it's not even an argument. Akira is one of the most ambitious, and rewarding, animated films ever made. It's a certifiable masterwork.
I don't think the film aged very well. I felt bored and uninterested with the story.
I love the bike and the driving sequences.
2 / 2 directing & technical aspect
.5 / 1 story
1 / 1 act I
1 / 1 act II
1 / 1 act III
.5 / 1 acting
.5 / 1 writing
0 / 1 originality
1 / 1 lasting ability to make you think
0 / 1 misc
7.5 out of 10
I tried 2 times to watch this one (first time before reading the manga)! I really wanted to like it, they did the best they could in 2 hours, but compared to the manga it fails to deliver...
i don’t understand how people who haven’t read it actually understand it...
If you are one of those who loves this movie and haven’t read the manga yet... just go for it you will love it
Obra maestra de la animación japonesa
In my opinion the most overrated anime movie of all times with a slow uninteresting plot, bland non-relatable characters, generic and ugly design even for the time scope and no actual real depth and meta to save it, despite labeled as having 'super complex plot' from the self proclaimed 'real fans that get it' and try to find and amplify meaning on anything to defend it (same goes for other movies but this stands as a perfect exhibit). The appeal was reasonable for the time of release as one of the first to push the envelope of its era especially on the gruesome shock value but now simply comparing it to all other so called classics from that same period and on it pales and is severely lacking. Suggested for fans that worship what we have now classified as 'masterpieces and must see' but for me definitely at the bottom of the tank even of the more popular anime movies.
The art style and the animation look great! The story is nice too. I really enjoyed it.
Akira is somewhat mind boggling. Without the background of japanese culture, and the more specific 'Akira' backstory this film can get puzzling. But it's worth watching a few times to get your head around what is going on.
More important than the tangly plot is the way this film looks and the atmosphere it creates. The characters are well presented, and developed. This helps to create the very dark atmosphere of the film. The animation is stunning, most of the film is at night, and artificial light and shadows are extremely difficult to render, it's achieved superbly.
Overall if you like your films dark it's worth a watch, if you like your films complicated it's worth a watch, if you're into animation it's worth a watch, basically it's worth watching.
Watched it dubbed, definitely took away from the spectacle of it all
Cinema Paco, image 4/5 and sound 4.5/5. Classic manga I liked even more than last time
Shout by Oen386BlockedParent2013-10-09T15:23:58Z
I guess it was pretty shocking for when it was released, but I personally didn't find the story enjoyable. There are a few pieces of the story they slowly reveal, but nothing was really interesting/exciting to me. Maybe I have seen too many similar movies that have improved upon the formula since this was released.