Review of Akira

EDIT : For those saying that art is a masterpiece, let have some fun facts for you. Ok, technically, Akira is the top notch of anime, with every scene very dynamic. But that's it, it's only technical. Why, you should ask ? Firstly, nearly nobody saw it in 1988 (or 1989 depending on the country) in a theater !! So you were not here for the big show. Don't brag about something you never experienced. Secondly, if you bought your VHS before 1995 (it was out in 1991), you probably watched it on a cathodic screen ! Woaw *clap* *clap* ; what a beautiful show with 380+ colorson a 32 inches CRT screen where all colors are blurred (due to the technology) and having 480p maximum !
Then, if you pick the remaster lately and watched it on a Bluray, then, please don't compare the show with 1980's anime quality but with actual ones.

Sure, in 1988, in theater, it was awesome. But we aren't in 1988 anymore, this argument doesn't stand ; there's no "Technique" mark, just a "Art" one. How it was made doesn't change how it is today.
I love technical stuff too, and I especially love Hardware, but that's not the point here and now.
----- End of this edit for those claiming it's a masterpiece of art. This *is* not ; this *was*.

This review is detached from how I scored the manga. And I would have rated it the same way if I haven't read the manga.
As for a fact I watched both Ghost in the shell, both series and anime (and film), and clearly this ... thing isn't worth your time. I think 3 a good overall mark given that I lost 2h of my time for a dreadful experience.

Story : 1
The story lies in the first few seconds of the anime : There was an explosion in Tokyo, which destroyed the city, and a new one was born out of it, and WW III is over. We are in 2019.
Then, nothing. No more story. Just a curious clog of character in successive events in an inexplicable chaos ; sorry they aren't characters, they are a name combined with a face, they don't have a background, a history, nothing (except for Tetsuo). In a 2h time, you have enough time to reproduce the original story. They should have try another entire approach.

Nothing makes sense, it's just violence, blood, sexual assault, psychedelic delirium, etc. Character barely have names for those not knowing them.
And it's taken from an objective point of view. I you read the manga, it's a shame and doesn't deserve to be written about.

Art : 6
It's not state of the art, except from some parts in the end. Lights are blurry points, drawing is fairly rude. Only the end and the very beginning are really well drawn.
Sure, it's visually moving everywhere, and that's stunning, but there's no clear use of this technique.

Sound : 6
Nothing to say about it, no soundtrack. Japanese voice are ... strange. Really I don't recall anything striking in the soundtrack.

Character : 2
As stated before there's no characters, just names (a few) and faces. They don't have any personality (maybe Kaneda is imbued of himself and Tetsuo wants to take his revenge on life). Tetsuo is basically the only character here.
Kei, Kai (not mentioned in the film), Ryu, the colonel, Miyako (not mentioned either) are just obliterated.

Enjoyment : 2
That wasn't enjoyment at all. None of this.
It was a nightmare to watch and won't watch it again. You can't find any fun since there is neither a story nor characters nor a decent soundtrack, something to rely on.
That's a supermassive black-hole of joy : it attracts all joy inside of you and it disappear.

Overall : 3
I'm very kind since it touches a very complicated story with very complex character that builds up over time. I think that instead of trying to adapt a story that can't fit into a 2h movie, they should have done an anime or do nothing at all.
I give them credit for at least trying, but it ended up nowhere creating a parallel story. Even Otomo didn't liked it.

Fullmetal Alchemist was released early (after tome 8 if I remember correctly) and got a parallel story, which I don't like that much, but at least characters are developed, there's a story, different and with some loopholes, but still it exists. And the OST is one of the best of all anime (probably with Darker than Black) with a pretty neat animation.

Akira in this version is the worst that can happen to a successful story and if you read the manga, you will probably cut the movie after 10 or 15 minutes of barbaric butchery. I personnaly think this is a bad idea to try to adapt it in a movie due to its age. Maybe in an anime, but not in a movie.