Akira Review

Alright, beginning with this, I'm going to try to start avoiding spoiling the whole movie in my reviews while still getting down to the meat and bones of it all.

This time, I'll be reviewing the 1988 cult classic "Akira", which was written and directed by Kaysuhiro Otomo, the Manga-Ka behind the films source material. Set in Neo-Tokyo, 2019, 30 years after a nuclear explosion decimated the original Tokyo, and follows the paths of two members of a bosozoku biker gang called the Capsule Gang, Shotaro Kaneda(Voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) and Tetsuo Shima(Voiced by Joshua Seth). It starts one night, when the Bosozoku Gang is doing battle against their rivals, the Clown Gang, and on the same night, people are rioting in the streets against the Government, whilst a disguised man is leading a wrinkled blue boy to a woman named Kei(Voiced by Wendee Lee). The two conflicts collide in more ways than one, as Tetsuo strays from the others and the fleeing man is gunned down, leaving the boy to fend for himself, and leading to Tetsuo crashing into the boy, only to have his bike explode, the strange boy totally unharmed. As Kaneda and the others arrive, a military transport helicopter arrives, and a group of soldiers led by Colonel Shikishima(Voiced by Jamieson Price), who take the boy, named Takashi, as well as Tetsuo, despite the pleas of his friends. The Colonel takes him to one of his head doctors, Onishi, who examines and experiments on him, stating that his brainwaves are sililar to that of the unseen yet eponymous Akira. Later, as Kaneda and the gang are being interrogated, he eyes Kei, and convinces the officers tolet her free with them, only to begin to hit on her. Meanwhile, Tetsuo escapes the hospital to meet with his girlfriend Kaori(Voiced by Michelle Ruff), and he steals Kaneda's bike to go for a joyride. The two are confronted by the Clown Gang, who try to rape Kaori as payback for injuring one of their members. Kaneda shows up, only to find Tetsuo beating up the Clowns, saying that he doesn't want to be saved to Kaneda. He then starts having strange delusions and visions, and the military recaptures Tetsuo. Soon after, whilst Kaneda meets again and follows around Kei, he discovers that she's part of an Anti-Government Guerilla group, who plan to break into the military's main base. That night, Tetsuo wakes up, appearing to have developed telekinetic powers, as he is haunted by giant, monstrous toys, who are soon revealed to be Takashi, along with two other kids, Masaru and Kiyoko. While Kei's Guerillas, with Kaneda in tow, sneak nto the building in diguise, Tetsuo follows the three Espers to their playroom, where Kaneda and Kei also arrive to in time. After reading Kiyoko's mind, he finds that Akira is the cause of his delusions, as well as his location, do he breaks out and heads to find Akira, but as the Colonel reveals, if Akira is uncovered, it could mean disaster for Neo-Tokyo. So while Tetsuo is after Akira, it's up to Kaneda and Kei to stop him.

Akira, in its time, was extremely well recieved by Americans, and for good reason. The story delves into the realms of nuclear holocaust, human experimentation, and psychic powers, amongst other things, but it never feels forced. The art and animation are smooth and colorful, as well as greatly-done. Its bike chases and other action scenes really grab you and pull you in, and though the climax features one of the most horrific things you'll ever see in an anime, it still turns out great. The characters are fun, intrigueing, and exciting, and the relationship between Kaneda and Tetsuo truly illustrates the tension and conflict between the two, yet in the end, they're still the best of friends. The voice acting is very well done, with many well-known voices that outshine the original english dubbing, which was infamously bad if you ask just about anybody. The soundtrack is extremely unique, with strange, almost tribal composures with a lot of ominous chanting, which somehow just fits the futuristic cyberpunk setting. It should be mentioned that this movie definitely earns its R rating, with vast amounts of language, violence, gore, and disturbing imagery, and isn't for the faint of heart. If you can handle all that, though, definitely check it out. All in all, Akira is a masterpiece like no other.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5