Akira

Akira (1988)

Runtime: 124 minutes

Directed by: Katsuhiro Otomo

Starring: I saw the subtitled version of this classic anime

From: Toho

This begins the month where Letterboxd each other has an informal deal where various foreign films are watched. I unofficially participate; my choice to start it off is a classic from Japan: 

As I've always done, whenever it's time for people on Letterboxd to do these March Around the World events-where people watch a bunch of foreign films-I unofficially participate. I always enjoy seeing everyone's lists but I do my own thing and I won't be going foreign every day of the month. I also don't pick beforehand what I'll be seeing; I do things on the fly. I am unsure as of how many people are doing this challenge this month, yet I'll do this anyhow as it's always been a lot of fun deciding what to pick out then give it a spin; it has allowed me to see some interesting pictures I otherwise wouldn't have felt like checking out.

I decided to start this off with a bang by watching this classic anime, the first adult “cartoon” from Japan to break out in the West, quickly becoming a cult hit. It can be argued that anime wouldn't be as big in North America if it wasn't for this becoming popular and playing on channels like Sci-Fi (back when the channel was actually, you know, good). This also had a seismic impact on the domestic Japanese anime scene. Naturally, 2019 is the perfect time to talk about this since that is the year the film is set in, and incredibly the Summer Olympics are taking place in Tokyo next year, meaning that real life imitated art.

What a wild plot this has: the setting is “Neo-Tokyo”, as the city was leveled in 1988 due to a catastrophic event which is revealed in the final act. A gang of teen bikers-who practice the Bosozoku ideal of riding around in customized motorcycles-drive around, raise hell, and feud with rivals The Clowns. One gang member (Tetsuo) is injured, so he is taken away by the military, and his buddy Kaneda wants to find him... but Tetsuo suddenly has massive telekinetic powers and as he is bitter over living in a hellhole like Neo-Tokyo that is corrupt and full of civil unrest, he easily unleashes a lot of destruction. Also, you get to find out who (or what) the titular Akira actually is.

I know this is based on a manga and naturally, those along with books greatly expand on a story that can be told in a film... I've heard people say that this film greatly compromises what's told in the manga but as I haven't read one page of that, I'll just judge based on what I saw, and this is a great movie. It juggles a lot of plot points and themes... pretty well, I thought. All the chaos with the government and protests explain why Tetsuo is filled with rage and lashes out like he does. Much more money than usual was spent on the film, thus the ability to have many more frames per usual, which is why the images flow so smoothly and it is still a beautiful movie to look at.

The story is pretty weird and there are some grotesque, horrifying moments. As long as you can stomach that, this is a hell of a dystopian sci-fi tale which has a layered story, a lovely look to the urban jungle that is Neo-Tokyo, and a tremendous score which merges the past-traditional Japanese music-with the future-80's electronica. Akira definitely had an impact on the West and live-action movies that have come out in the past few decades-including relatively recently-so for historical reasons I am glad I watched this and was able to talk about it here.