| | | | Akira
(1988) |
ou can almost see the ashes of Hiroshima blowing past the ghosts of Nagasaki...
Akira is a film seeped in dark sobriety and poetic reflection: the future slowly becomes like the past; for on July 16, 1988, a new kind of mega-bomb was dropped on Tokyo. Over the next 35 years, the future city of Neo-Tokyo is built around the huge crater made by the nuclear firestorm...
Akira's labyrinthine story revolves around a biker youth called Kaneda, his profoundly disturbed friend Tetsuo, a physic man/child by the name of Takashi, Kay; a beautiful but dangerous revolutionary and the fabled noumenon...Akira. To disclose how all these characters relate to one another would be to deny you the opportunity to deconstruct possibly the finest animated film ever made. Akira is a story about the callous nature of mankind, and how any gift that could be beneficial, is corrupted and twisted beyond recognition by those who seek power for themselves.
My own ideas about Akira's heavy subtext may differ from yours, but that's the great thing about this Anime, it's open to debate, and though you may think it's a bit odd to consider the philosophical value of what is, essentially, a cartoon: 'Akira' is one of the most thought provoking and emotionally evocative films, animated or otherwise, it's one where spiritual freedom and political idealism collides with calculated repression and the never-ending quest for power. The city of Neo-Tokyo itself is an amalgam of steel and stone, more an edifice to unstructured insolence than resolve or defiance: it represents how we go on and on, never once doubting our intentions or stopping to consider the effects of our hypocrisy.
I feel that both Akira and Tetsuo, are allegorical figures who represent humanity itself: the embodiment of all our contradictions and strengths: our capabilities for fairness, justice, love along with our dark desire to self-destruct and destroy; 'Akira' often echoes the work of Ballad and Leguin in it's foreboding outlook of the future and the way in which we should try and understand alien powers as opposed to simply calling in the military or resorting to knee-jerk aggression. At once hopeful and pessimistic, Akira has a narrative structure all of it's own, you never quite know which way the story's going to go, and though you may not always agree with what's happening to the characters you like, just remember, that's the Japanese style, and in a way, that's what keeps us interested.
 Don't forget that Akira is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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Akira is a strange film for stranger times, a movie whose relevance seems to become greater as we move closer to it's predicted apocalypse of 2111 A.D.
I remember when I first saw a glimpse of 'Akira,' I was 8 years old, and they showed a 10 minute preview on a hip hop show called 'Dance Energy'...all I remember was being transfixed by the detailed animation, the expression and emotion these characters could convey, we'd grown up with 'He Man: And The Masters Of The Universe', 'Dungeons & Dragons' all of which was, and still is, good, but Japan had taken it to another level, Akiria's animation, much like 'Fist Of The North Star', looks a little rough in comparison to some of their more recent efforts, and in many ways this murky depth compliments Akira's existential undertones and dark themes.
It's a testament to artists and innovators like Hiroyuki Aoyama and Katsuji Misawa that the 'Manga- Style' is still considered one of the finest animated forms around, sure, CGI has made a huge impact as well, but there's still something a little detached about those CG movies, and though 'Final Fantasy' came pretty close to real, for now, Manga still manages to hold onto that mix of great storytelling and vivid, super- kinetic animation. Akira, put simply, is the mother of all animated films, though not as accessible as say, 'Street Fighter II' or 'Ninja Scroll' this movie is a landmark in animated filmmaking and just has to seen. A modern classic.
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Akira originally appeared as a comic book in December of 1982 in the Young Magazine anthology. The series of comic books sold over 3 million copies which made it one of the top sellers of all time. The series and later graphic novel gained even more popularity with audiences in the United States when it was translated and released by Marvel Comics. Akira has also been translated into over thirteen different languages including French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Finnish, Swedish, Polish and Indonesian. 
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In the 2001 sub version, Joshua Seth plays the voice of Tetsuo, but also plays other voices in some other anime shows, Digimon, Duel Masters, Speed Racer, etc. He plays the voice of a very small role character in the Spongebob Squarepants Movie. Seth also plays the voice of a chiuahua in the Taco Bell commercial. -Thanks to Jordan
In the 2001 English dub, the voice of Kaneda is performed by Yong Bosch who played Adam, the Black Ranger on "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers". Coincidentally, in the previous English dub, the voice of Kaneda was performed by Jimmy Flinders, who voiced Leonardo in the previous big superhero/fad show of the '90's, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". -Thanks to Matthew Guy
At one point in the 1990s, Sony contemplated a live-action version of the film, but scrapped the idea when the projected budget allegedly went north of US$300 million.
Akira's budget was 8 million dollars, making it one of the most expensive animes ever at the time of its release. -Thanks to Greg
The small, shifty man with the large incisors is named Nezu, which means "rat."
The name of the black clown who leads the clowns is Joker. -Thanks to Pogo
At one point a demonstrator is seen wearing a baseball cap with wings. A similar cap is a plot element in Katsuhiro Otomo's previous comic story "Domu."
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Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Akira or 80's Action classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Angel ..... Raiders of the Lost Ark ..... Beverly Hills Cop ..... Die Hard ..... Predator ..... Terminator ..... Black Rain ..... 48 HRS ..... Untouchables ..... Lethal Weapon ..... Rocky IV ..... Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior ..... Top Gun ..... Highlander ..... Streets Of Fire ..... Commando .....[More]
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The original comic consisted of over 2000 pages of artwork. And the film itself used over 450,000 cells in the animation, adopting a brand new method where doudle the normal amount of cells are used, giving the amazing crisp look to it. -Thanks to Dan Price
In 1987, Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo began work on the animated feature, it was released theatrically in Japan in July 1988 and in the United States in December 1989 where it ranked in the top 60 for 20 weeks on Variety's weekly theatrical box office sales report.
Akira was one of the first Japanese anime films to use "pre-scoring": a technique where the character's voices are recorded before they are animated. Often used here in the U.S.A. especially at Disney, it was not used in Japan due to it being more expensive than animating then recording.
The re-released film in 2001, was remastered with a new dub and soundtrack, the project reportedly cost over US$1 million to do. It is worth noting the massive improvement in translation quality between the original dubbed release and the 2001 re-release. The re-release addresses a lot of translation problems present in the original and is much more faithful to the japanese dialogue. -Thanks to Jason
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|  |  |  | | Akira
Locations |
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Animated only. No locations.
Can you help? Do you know any of the filming locations used for Akira? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[Letterbox -NOT 16:9 Enhanced]](lbx.gif) | ![[5.1 CH SURROUND]](dd5.gif) | Trailer, Featurette |
| Our
Comments: Akira: Special Edition |
| | | | Trailer, Featurette |
| Our
Comments: Only as part of the Ultimate Collection |
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The soundtrack is available and includes the following tracks:
1. Kaneda
2. Battle Against Clown
3. Winds over Neo-Tokyo
4. Tetsuo
5. Doll's Polyphony
6. Shohmyoh
7. Mutation
8. Exodus from the Underground Fortress
9. Illusion
10.Requiem
'Winds Over Neo Tokyo' is great in a John Williams kinda way: especially when the mood shifts from tranqil to dangerous, 'Battle against Clown' is a bit strange to listen to on it's own...
A two second clip from the film was featured in Michael Jackson's video for "Scream". The portion used comes from the scene where Tetsuo discovers he has the ability to fly.
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Soundtrack Available:
On CD
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