The Thrasher's Word
Akira
Format: Movie (120 minutes)
Genre: Science fiction, Action, Post-apocalyptic, Epic
Studio: Kodansha
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
“Akira.” How does one review “Akira?” It throws up a bit of a dilemma, you see. As a classic – actually, scratch that, make that the classic – of the anime genre, if one does anything but sing hymns to its eternal glory, one might as well send out personalised invitations to every otaku in the world to form themselves into an irate mob outside your front door. As such, this makes an objective review somewhat difficult. Thankfully, it’s more or less a moot point, because despite the immense hype surrounding Katsuhiro Otomo’s magnum opus, “Akira” deserves the praise it gets. For the most part, anyway.
The chances are that if you’re on this website reading this, that you already know the story of “Akira” pretty well, and as such there’s not much point in me reiterating it, but for the sake of the new initiate into our beloved subculture I might as well. Adapted from the equally-classic manga series of the same name and also made by Katsuhiro Otomo, “Akira” tells the story of Neo-Tokyo in the year 2019. 30 years prior to the film’s events, the city was all but razed to the ground in an enormous explosion which also heralded the beginning of World War III. We learn before too long that this explosion was the doing of the enigmatic Akira. We’re introduced to one of the many biker gangs in the den of corruption that Tokyo has come to be, and to which belong the young rebels Kaneda and Tetsuo. Through a series of collisions of circumstance, the two find themselves embroiled in a maze of conspiracy, at the heart of which lies the human experimentation which gave Akira the powers with which he inadvertently demolished Tokyo, the same powers which Tetsuo finds himself imbued with. The resultant clash between all of the various powers of Neo-Tokyo is labyrinthine, and glorious to watch, but at its heart lies the conflict between Kaneda and Tetsuo, the two childhood friends set against each other by the tragic circumstances they find themselves in. It’s a huge and compelling scenario, one which would require more words to describe in full than I have time to type. Make no mistake: “Akira” is dystopian sci-fi at its finest.
Of course, the whole premise of human experimentation has been done to death and then some in sci-fi, but “Akira” stands out as above and beyond other examples due both to the deftness with which it’s made and the scale on which it plays out. Neo-Tokyo is not just your average dystopian metropolis; through a series of wonderfully rendered sequences (in particular the opening motorbike chase), it achieves a genuine mystique, a certain grittiness and vibrancy and character, while at the same time remaining a very believable vision of urban decay. There is a real sense that this city could very well exist, and perhaps isn’t even necessarily confined to the future; the turbo-charged motorbikes and holograms populating the skyline are just aesthetic futuristic touches on an image of very modern decadence.
In a similar fashion, Kaneda and Tetsuo aren’t just your typical antiheroes. While they are, in essence, just young thugs (and the film pulls no punches in portraying them as such), they’re still complex, sympathetic figures as we find thanks to some genuinely excellent writing. The two clearly harbour great love towards each other, but even so there are tensions between them; Tetsuo suffers from an inferiority complex as the youngest and least experienced member of the gang, while Kaneda feels burdened with responsibility towards him. They’re portrayed firmly as being victims of circumstance, and the gradual revelation of their bruised and battered psyches (in particular, Tetsuo’s fever dreams when his powers are awakening) is undeniably poignant. They’re not archetypes; they act just as you’d expect two confused young men in their situation to, and almost to your own surprise, you’ll find yourself caring for these two hoodlums.
The peripheral characters (too numerous to name), while obviously not subject to the same degree of development, are all just as well rounded and meticulously crafted, presented to the audience with a respect for our intelligence in that they’re never classified in such patronisingly broad terms as good guys and bad guys. For that matter, virtually every aspect of “Akira” is exquisitely produced, with a polish and attention to nuance that suggests having been drafted and redrafted many, many times. The pacing, the characterisation, the blend of action and storytelling and the overarching enigma as to just who or what Akira actually is… all are managed, none are sacrificed. The action sequences, while mostly quite stoic (they kind of have to be; they generally involve Tetsuo blowing stuff up) remain compelling thanks to excellent direction, and there’s even some room left over for comic relief. Usually when an otherwise serious anime attempts comic relief, it comes across as about as funny as passing a kidney stone, but there are points when “Akira” will actually get a hearty belly laugh out of you, even at points where it shouldn’t be appropriate. Just wait until you see how the duel between Kaneda and Tetsuo ends. Oh, and I suppose I should also mention that “Akira” pushed the envelope in terms of sheer brutality. This isn’t one for the tots; the characters swear strongly and frequently, there’s one rather shocking instance of nudity, and there’s blood. Oh yes, there is blood; in one gunfight, we’re given a graphic depiction of the look of shock on one man’s face when the entire left side of his head is blown clear of the right side. I’m still amazed the BBFC let it off with a 15.
“Akira” was six years in the making, and it’s easy to see where that effort went. Considering it was released in 1988, it’s obviously been long since surpassed technically, but in terms of sheer attention to detail, Akira represents a precedent that even the highest budget of modern anime films can only aspire to. In most anime corners are cut. Take, for example, a sequence of a character talking; the show will use only three or four (two, in the case of the really lazy ones) frames, each depicting the character’s mouth in a slightly different position. The sequence will simply alternate between those shots to create a passable impression of speech. Well, there’s none of that in “Akira.” Its characters are animated in the fullest sense of the term; there are no recycled panes of animation here. When characters move, the entire body moves, not just the applicable part of the body. Little things like these contribute a lot to “Akira’s” as a whole, making it far more immersive and aesthetically accomplished. Musically, “Akira” is relatively minimal; on the rare occasion that there is a background score, it’s usually something quite whimsically oriental which, while perhaps not ideal for a soundtrack, is nevertheless atmospheric.
So why then do I deny “Akira” the half-star that would elevate it to the realms of absolute, untouchable, gold-plated, jewel-encrusted masterpiece? Simple; the ending. Without wanting to spoil anything, “Akira’s” last twenty minutes or so introduces a whole lot of new factors to the plot before prematurely and unceremoniously hurling them out the window in the conclusion. While I can see a sort of poetic credibility in ending the film on the same note it began on (i.e. a big-ass explosion), it’s hardly an appropriate mechanism to bring a narrative to a smooth halt, and as such, the legendary “Akira” is left feeling strangely truncated. Which of course, it actually is; the events of the final three volumes of the original manga are entirely omitted. Granted, by this point the film is already two hours long (as I’m sure you realise, it’s rare for an anime film these days to push a hour and a half) and six years into the production process, and stretching it out for a third hour would either have stretched the budget a bit thin or inspired a mass suicide from the animators. Or both. With that in mind, I suppose the ending makes sense from a production standpoint, but that still doesn’t make it any less underwhelming.
“Akira’s” status is secure. It lounges on the topmost throne in the pantheon of anime, and nothing I, or any reviewer says, will ever change that. All we can do is reaffirm why it’s great or, if you don’t mind the previously mentioned otaku mob, why it isn’t. In my case, I fall well and truly into the former category. “Akira” is legendary for a reason, and even if its narrative does end up falling a bit short of the mark, it still presents an outstanding sci-fi epic which few other anime, before or since, can claim to match. If you’ve seen it before, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, what the hell are you waiting for?
-Thrash Til’ Death
LAA Rating: ***1/2
Rating System:
* - Horrible
*1/2 – Very Bad
** - Bad
**1/2 – Good
*** - Very Good
***1/2 – Excellent
**** - Masterpiec
