Akira (1988)

[アキラ]

Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Starring: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama

Synopsis:
In post-World War III Neo-Tokyo, a biker gang stumbles on a government conspiracy involving psychic phenomenon.

Impressions:
I remember first seeing part of this in my high school anime club and later renting it to ring in the new year by watching the whole thing. Back when the 90s anime boom in the US was kicking off, this film was held up as an example of how anime was different from the cartoons Americans were familiar with, a dark, mature story loaded with bloody violence and cerebral philosophical themes. On a technical level, it's a masterpiece that stands up over thirty years later. The visuals are punched up by the rather distinctive score. The story is a bit of a mess, but that's because the source material is far too long for a two-hour treatment (and hadn't been finished yet when the film went into production). I'd say the adaptation of the story is about as good as you could do working within the container they had. It's definitely something you should see and any serious fan of animation is going to want it in their collection.

Rating:
Own It