Review of Akira

1. Do not make this the first Anime you watch. 2. Do not use this anime to introduce someone else to anime This is a very controversial anime (see the other reviews). For me it was the first anime i watched and i hated it completely. It was the reason why i then steered well clear of anime for the following years until friends showed me "ghost in the shell". I can understand why the art was contemporary and attractive, why the dystopian outlook and antisocial main character were hip, back when it was released in the late 80s. So i can guess that people whowatched it back then may have fond memories but that does not make it any more enjoyable to contemporary audiences.

What i detest about the work:
The Main character is an asshole, the setting is a purely condescending view on the world. The entire story is basically about how the asshole main character lashes out at the world.

When you take into account that the art wasn't very exciting when viewed through my eyes in 2007, you can see why it isn't the best choice to introduce any newcomers to anime.

Long story short:
1. Your friend is a different person than you
2. 1988 is not 2021
3. Please don't ruin someones intro to anime with some hit-or-miss attempt with a controversial anime

Maybe the best format for introductions is a session where you both watch several different anime from different genres together and have the time to talk about them