Akira (1988)

A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psionic psychopath that only two kids and a group of psionics can stop.

Director:

Katsuhiro Ôtomo

Writers:

Katsuhiro Ôtomo (screenplay), Izô Hashimoto (screenplay),

Stars:

Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mitsuo Iwata	...	Shôtarô Kaneda (voice)
Nozomu Sasaki	...	Tetsuo Shima (voice)
Mami Koyama	...	Kei (voice)
Tesshô Genda	...	Ryûsaku (voice) (as Tetsusho Genda)
Hiroshi Ohtake	...	Nezu (voice) (as Hiroshi Otake)
Kôichi Kitamura	...	Priestess Miyako (voice)
Michihiro Ikemizu	...	Inspector (voice)
Yuriko Fuchizaki	...	Kaori (voice)
Masaaki Ôkura	...	Yamagata (voice)
Tarô Arakawa	...	Eiichi Watanabe (voice)
Takeshi Kusao	...	Kai (voice)
Kazumi Tanaka	...	Army (voice)
Masayuki Katô	...	Engineer Sakiyama (voice)
Yôsuke Akimoto	...	Harukiya Bartender (voice)
Masato Hirano	...	Yûji Takeyama (voice)

Storyline

Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend Tetsuo gets involved in a government secret project known as Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader. The confrontation sparks off Tetsuo's supernatural power leading to bloody death, a coup attempt and the final battle in Tokyo Olympiad where Akira's secrets were buried 30 years ago.

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Plot Keywords:

secret | gang | friend | government | scientist | 

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Taglines:

The end of the world was only the beginning

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Genres:

Animation | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic violence and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Bandai Visual [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

24 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Akira: The Special Edition

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 1,100,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$439,162 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TMS Entertainment, Akira Committee Company Ltd., Bandai

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) DTS (re-release) Dolby (35 mm prints) Dolby Digital (2001 re-issue)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music for the film was completed before any of the composers saw a frame of film or read the script. The music did have to be edited to fit some scenes though.

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Goofs

The rank insignia on the Colonel's uniform changes from 2 stars to 3 stars in some shots.

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Quotes

Tetsuo: Let's run away somewhere.
Kaori: Where would we go?
Tetsuo: Anywhere. Just the farther the better.

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Crazy Credits

Credits roll with Big Bang-like footage of stars and galaxies, in the background.

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Connections

Referenced in Hulk (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Tokyo Shoeshine Boy"
Performed by Teruko Akatsuki

User Reviews

Trademark Manga for the Western culture

Without a doubt the necessary injection of Manga culture Western audiences needed. Personal objections (or should I say appraisals) aside, Akira deconstructs the form of narrative and character development that we had all become accustomed to through Hollywood and produces a reasonably honest translation of Katsuhiro Otomo's Manga epic, with mass deletions of unnecessary characters and plot avenues. The story is complex enough to keep western audiences attention, yet simple enough to digest whilst taking in the wonderfull animation and excellent soundtrack (a collection of traditional Japanese instruments and modern day synthesised electronica that allow for elements of cinema to establish themselves for the audience) The conflict between the two main characters, Tetsuo and Kaneda is ultimately superceded by the films namesake, the mystery of the boy Akira, and as with very few films Hollywood produces it leaves it's more labour intensive thinking until the end. A delight to follow, with periods of intense action and thought provoking predictions of a neo society, one would like to think of the film as the pipe dream of one who predicted such tragic events as of September 11. Akira, whilst violent for the medium, is a lush metropolis of gang warfare, a psuedo examination into the possible, and a fantasy tale of elements long lost in modern cinema. A cool, entertaining piece littered with cult visions and awesome bikes.