In post-apocalyptic 2019 Tokyo, there is civil unrest and biker gangs run rampant through the city. Secretly, a Japanese army research project attempts to develop and study supernatural powers in young people. When Tetsuo, the picked-on runt of a biker gang, makes contact with one of these enhanced-kids, he begins to develop psychokinetic powers. He fights against his army captors, growing stronger and more egomaniacal with each moment. Tetsuo’s friend Kaneda, though initially sympathetic to Tetsuo, realizes the threat he’s become and tries to take Tetsuo down. Eventually, Tetsuo’s power grows uncontrollable and New Tokyo is destroyed. Thanks to the sacrifice of the supernatural children, Kaneda is saved.
“Akira” introduced audiences to a new type of story that could be told through animation and introduced Western audiences to anime. This both paved the way for anime as a popular, recognized art form in the West and influenced countless filmmakers. It’s undeniable how influential this film has been on the stories I’ve grown to love—from “The Matrix”, to “Inception”, to “Stranger Things” (especially). I appreciate all these things and was fascinated by my first taste of Manga-storytelling—with bloody violence, animated boobs, and a taste of a grotesque, enveloping, tentacle-esque climax sequence.
But I didn’t like it. I found the film to be all style and no substance. I’m sure I’ll probably get some shit for that, but the story just didn’t land for me. It was all over the place and hardly connected with meaningful coherency. Maybe it’s because I opted for the subtitled version over the English-dub and struggled to keep up. Maybe it’s because the film condenses 2,000 pages of Manga into a single film and tried to give all major players screen-time. Maybe it’s because I like the stories the film influenced more than this one. Or because amidst our current apocalypse, I couldn’t stomach seeing a fake one (in which the 2020 Tokyo Olympic grounds get obliterated…no joke). Who knows.