Enter the world of dystopian Tokyo, in the far distant (viewed from 1988) year of 2019 and follow Kaneda, a bike gang leader, who struggles to save his best friend Tetsuo from a secret government project: Akira. On the way, he finds anti-government activists, greedy politicians, military giants, and some questionable children. Akira will take you on a wild ride through beautifully fluid cel animation, and will leave you thinking about the (now imminent) 2019 apocalypse. Dive into the world of Katsuhiro Otomo as he adapts one of the most popular manga of the 1980’s into possibly one of the most influential anime films in both Japan and abroad.

On its release, Akira was top of the box office in Japan, and gained worldwide praise following its international release a year later. Ground zero for nearly anyone in anime scholarship, Akira is a force to be reckoned with. Premiere anime scholar Susan Napier cites Akira as responsible in part for the anime boom in the West, and praises its thought-provoking content and visuals in relation to representing personal identity, nihilism, and the apocalypse (Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke).

While the specific plot details of Akira can be convoluted and a bit confusing at times, the film approaches the apocalypse narrative in a prolific way, and has been a major influence on similar apocalypse narratives throughout Japanese and foreign media. Akira acts not only as a paragon of excellence in anime (and the entire animation medium itself), it also can be read as a meditation on peak-bubble-era Japan. Released at the height of Japan during the bubble-economy, the film is self-reflecting on the time period, in which Japan struggles come to terms with itself as an emerging superpower in the postwar era. While clear reference to the atomic bomb and fear of the apocalypse are prevalent themes, recognizing the individual self in an era of economic and social turbulence is just as paramount. Thought provoking messages about alienated youth and the struggle against a society in which control is preeminent, Akira will leave you both gawking at brilliantly detailed and fluid animation, while reflecting on yourself in a world seemingly filled with nothing but shadows.

Akira
1988
dir. Katsuhiro Otomo
125 min.

Part of the ongoing series: Big Screen Classics