Review of Akira

Akira is an ultra-violent, cyber-punk, sci-fi, and other hyphenated words film adapted from the manga of the same name. A lot of people don’t like it because they don’t understand how difficult animation is and probably don’t care, and a lot of what happens in the film appears to be random “let’s try to mind-f*ck the audience” type of stuff. Another contributing factor to the Akira hate train is that so much of what makes it great has been aped to death, especially by bad 90’s OVAs (I’m looking at you Genocyber). Jaded audiences have been beaten over the head with this stuff for years,and with each head beating comes diminishing returns (it’s the law). So what does Akira have to offer in 2017? And why did I give it a 10?

I guess the first thing we have to discuss is the kind of anime fan Akira is aimed at. I’ve made a handy little quiz to help YOU determine if you’ll enjoy Akira:

Question 1:

A) Do you think weird pseudo-philosophy regarding the next possible step in human evolution is interesting?

B) Do you watch anime for the cute girls?

Question 2:

A) Do you miss the hand drawn animation of years past and appreciate the time, effort, and skill it takes to make an animated film done in this fashion not look like crap?

B) Is jiggle physics and mouth flapping all the animation you need?

Question 3:

A) Do you enjoy avant-garde music?

B) What does avant-garde mean?

Question 4:

A) Do you find realistic interpretations of possible dystopian futures compelling?

B) Every work of fiction should take place inside a game.

Question 5:

A) Do you enjoy parsing through symbolism and partaking in multiple viewings in order to have a more complete understanding of the media you consume?

B) Do you want to watch something once, pad your MAL list, and forget about it?

Question 6:

A) Would you like to have a more well-rounded understanding of anime, and animated film in general, its history and foundations?

B) Things made before 2011 are boring and I hate them.

Now, tally up your A’s and B’s. If you had mostly A’s – Congrats! Akira might be right up your alley. If you had mostly B’s – Well, who am I to judge you? I am most definitely an A person. Akira was my gateway into anime fandom, and I still love it. It’s a perfect example of how to take something long and complicated (the manga) and adapt it into a two hour film while maintaining the integrity of the source material and ensuring a satisfying story is told with a beginning, middle, and end (a noteworthy accomplishment in this medium). It’s also my favorite piece of cyber-punk fiction, and opened up a lot of doors for me in that genre as well. In short, Akira is and always will be a 10. If you haven’t seen it and have any interest in animation, science-fiction or (most importantly) motorcycles, I whole-heartedly recommend it.