Akira (1988)

The epic sci-fi anime classic... Akira IMPORTANT NOTE: There are 2 English dubs for this film. I watched the 'Pioneer' dub. The voice acting in the 'Pioneer' dub is terrible. The other version is slightly better, but is still not very good. I recommend that you watch the original Japanese language version. The Story The story is about a biker gang in Neo-Tokyo coming across a powerful being that the government is trying to hide from the public. After a few tests, it is found out that one of the bikers has supernatural powers more powerful than the infamous oracle, Akira. The film at first seems like a complicated mess. But once it gets going, it gets very interesting. The film talks about controversial subjects such as cults, gangs, government conspiracies, drugs, sex, freedom of the press and trying to play god. The way it talks about it's themes in a very mature and subtle way which will leave the viewer thinking about these topics even after the film is over. The film has a lot going on and some viewers may get confessed, but the film ties all the stories together in a clever and unique way. The Characters The characters are also quite well done. There backstories are given to the viewer in the dialogue and are very rarely shown in flashbacks. We are shown though the character's actions about there relationships with each other and what they think about society. Some of the characters are a bit underdeveloped though, but these are usually only the minor characters. But the two main female leads (the biker's girlfriends) even though they get quite a lot of screen time, they get very little character development other than being the biker's girlfriends. The Animation/Special Effects The character designs are given a more realistic design compared to other anime. Which makes the animation look unique, but some of the characters look exactly the same making it hard to tell who is who. The three supernatural children are given a weird design. They're meant to look wise, but they just come across looking like tiny elderly people. The music is also not that good. In the scenes when the biker with supernatural powers walks in a scene, the singers makes this 'Dun! Dun!' sound which makes the scene come across far less seriously than it's meant to be. It sounds like it belongs in a B-movie it sounds that silly. For some reason, the character's blood is sometimes coloured pink. If it was because of the shading, it would be fine, but it goes from red to pink in the same scene sometimes. Final Thoughts Overall, this is one of the most subtle anime's out there. It was one of the first anime to become popular in the West and I can see why. I do think it is a bit overrated though, emphasis on 'a bit'. I do like this film, but it is not the best anime out there. Sci-fi and anime fans will love this film. The Story 5/5 The Characters 4/5 The Animation/Special Effects 3/5 Overall 4/5