Akira...
Way back in the misty dawn of time, I picked up the VHS version of Akira...
The story line is translated differently in the subtitled version than in the dubbed. I might be wrong, but, I'd swear there are a couple of scenes in the subtitled version that aren't in the dubbed.
My favorite scenes are:
According to Wikipedia, Akira, seems to have been received reasonably well...
After purchasing Akira four times, I think it's fairly obvious that I really, really liked Akira. I gave Akira a 5 out of 5. By the way, the cover art shown in this article is from the Bandai re-re-release, which came after Pioneer and Streamline were each found belly up in the fish bowl. The Akira soundtrack CD has 10 tracks and I liked 6 tracks for a total of 60% which works out to a rating of 3 out of 4.
Katsuhiro Otomo's classic tale of psionic power gone mad, Akira, is a long movie at more than two hours with stunning visuals and a great story. But, if you're looking for non-stop action, you'll be disappointed (it's more drama than action/adventure). The story has a somewhat tragic ending, but, is still very enjoyable.Tokyo, as we know it, was destroyed by a kind of a new super-bomb of unknown origin. Nine hours after, World War III broke out and most of the major cities in the world were completely destroyed. Thirty-one years after, Neo-Tokyo now stands, were the old Tokyo had been.
One night, Kaneda and his motorcycle gang have an accident with a little boy with a wrinkled face, as one of an old man. Tetsuo, one of the gang's members crashes into the boy, who mysteriously remains unhurt and then simply vanishes from sight.
Tetsuo is brought to Hospital, and everything seems to have returned to normal. But that is not at all the case...
The strange boy from the last night was a part of a secret military project dealing with supernatural powers. The project is lead by the "Colonel", who wants to develop human weapons with aid of these powers. On his trail are Ryu and Kei (not Kay), members of a semi-terroristic group, who want to discover and destroy his plans.
And now Tetsuo is going to be a new member of the project. But his powers rise much faster than the Colonel has expected. Tetsuo manages to find out the location of an underground freeze chamber, where the mysterious AKIRA is kept.
Akira, too was a member of the project. But why did they put him in the freeze chamber at 0.0005 Kelvin? They were afraid of something. Something they couldn't control anymore. Something Tetsuo is going to set free really soon...
...And in the midst of all the trouble: Kaneda and Kei.
The story line is translated differently in the subtitled version than in the dubbed. I might be wrong, but, I'd swear there are a couple of scenes in the subtitled version that aren't in the dubbed.
My favorite scenes are:
- The initial battle between Kaneda's gang and the Clowns...
- Tetsuo's escape from the hospital...
- The final cataclysm near the end of the feature...
According to Wikipedia, Akira, seems to have been received reasonably well...
Roger Ebert selected Akira as his "Video Pick of the Week" in 1989 on Siskel & Ebert and the Movies. For its wider 2001 release, he gave the film "Thumbs Up." As of April 2012, the film has a 90% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Channel 4's 2005 poll of the 100 greatest cartoons of all time featuring both cartoon shows and cartoon movies, Akira came in at number 16. On Empire magazine's list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, Akira is number 440. It showed again on Empire's list of The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema, coming in at #51. IGN also named it 14th on its list of Top 25 Animated Movies of All-Time.
Akira is regarded by many critics as a landmark anime film, one that influenced much of the art in the anime world that followed its release with many illustrators in the manga industry citing the film as an important influence. The film led the way for the growth of popularity of anime outside of Japan. Akira is considered a forerunner of the second wave of anime fandom that began in the early 1990s and has gained a massive cult following since then. Akira has also been cited as a major influence on live-action films ranging from The Matrix to Chronicle.
The Akira anime also made TIME magazine's list of top 5 anime DVDs. The film also made number 16 on Time Out's top 50 animated movie list and number 5 on Total Film's Top 50 Animated Films list. Wizard magazine also listed the film as #5 on their list of the greatest anime.
At the time of my third purchase of the movie, my only regret was that I didn't get the Akira "Making of" documentary on VHS tape (Akira Production Report) while it was available. So, I went and purchased Akira a fourth time. The latest purchase being the Pioneer Special Edition DVD box set, which included the Akira Production Report as a special feature.
After purchasing Akira four times, I think it's fairly obvious that I really, really liked Akira. I gave Akira a 5 out of 5. By the way, the cover art shown in this article is from the Bandai re-re-release, which came after Pioneer and Streamline were each found belly up in the fish bowl. The Akira soundtrack CD has 10 tracks and I liked 6 tracks for a total of 60% which works out to a rating of 3 out of 4.
