Akira (1988)

As a child, I was introduced to anime through the French kids' show 'Club Dorothée'. I couldn't understand a word of French, but I could understand the brilliance of 'Dragonball', 'Saint Seiyja' and 'Fist of the North Star' without any problem. I was hooked. But growing up, you sometimes discover that there are other gems in anime and none is a greater gem than this one.

Hands down, this is a masterpiece that still stands tall, more than 30 (!) years after its initial release. Not that many animated features (or features, for that matter) can boast the same. Not even Disney, where a lot of their animation has aged a lot. That doesn't take away from their qualities, but you could perfectly release 'Akira' today and it would almost as crisp as in 1988. Talk about a lot of work and effort put in something certain people would dismiss as a mere cartoon. Which it is not.

The film is based on a very extensive manga and yet, even though most of the manga remains in this film, it never feels bloated or hard to follow. Sure, 'Akira' raises a lot of questions, but in the correct fashion and the story is clear. The discussion about what happens at the end can go on indefinitely, but that has more to do with a resolution that can swing a lot of ways, not just two.

Mixing up my metaphors? When the cows can fly.

Funnily enough, 'Akira' is not about the titular character, who does loom over everything that happens. In 2019, after the destruction and rebuilding of Tokyo (now Neo Tokyo), the city is heading for a disaster of biblical proportions. Gangs roam the streets, apocalypse cults roam everywhere, violent protest against the government breaks out... It is pretty much hell on Earth. After a motorcycle accident, Tetsuo is taken away by the military and it is discovered that he has certain psychic powers that he can not control. The problem is that Tetsuo has always been the runt of the gang and he was taken care of by Kaneda, who is a little older, but is like the person Tetsuo wants to be. And if you hand a frustrated loser the tools and weapons to destroy the world, how will he deal with the power given?

There's a massive amount of other stuff that goes on, but on this one, I don't want to spoil too much. Suffice to say that a lot happens and even more is discovered in the process. New alliances forged, friends lost and gained and a city that was left in despair can start to regrow in a better way (hopefully).

On a special note I'd like to mention the soundtrack. No popular songs, no regular classical moviescore, but a blend of traditional Japanese music and electronic soundscapes. It sounds alien and futuristic and is brilliant. Listen to it with the lights out and headphones on. It's more than immersive.

As stated near the beginning: the animation is still great after all these years and 'Akira' is one of those films that gave the film noir its futuristic counterpart, I would like to call 'Tech Noir' after the club in 'The Terminator', which happens to be another film that grasped that aesthetic so gorgeously.

'Akira' is more than a classic, it is well and truly a masterpiece of cinema.

And please, watch it in the original Japanese with subtitles. No way any dub can do the film justice.