A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by two teenagers and a group of psychics.
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all Hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.
Director:
Satoshi Kon
Stars:
Megumi Hayashibara,
Tôru Emori,
Katsunosuke Hori
A vagabond swordsman is aided by a beautiful ninja girl and a crafty spy in confronting a demonic clan of killers - with a ghost from his past as their leader - who are bent on overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate.
In the year 2032, Batô, a cyborg detective for the anti-terrorist unit Public Security Section 9, investigates the case of a female robot--one created solely for sexual pleasure--who slaughtered her owner.
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.Written by
Tzung-I Lin <tzung@hugo.att.com>
Computer-generated imagery was used in the film, primarily to animate the pattern indicator used by Doctor Onishi, but it was additionally used to plot the paths of falling objects, model parallax effects on backgrounds, and tweak lighting and lens flares. See more »
Goofs
When Kanada and his crew are walking from school, Kanada's shoes change color in the same shot. See more »
Quotes
Kiyoko:
The future is not a straight line. It is filled with many crossroads. There must be a future that we can choose for ourselves.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Credits roll with Big Bang-like footage of stars and galaxies, in the background. See more »
Alternate Versions
The British VHS box set includes the "Production Report" and the film in Japanese language, subbed in English, the credits are in Japanese! See more »
I remember the first time i watched this when i was 14, back then it didn't mean much to me i just watched it because of the violence. Growing up i cant count the number of times i have watched it but it seems as though every time i watched it i uncovered something new in the plot. On to the review then; There are two different dubs for this film in English, the initial one i watched on VHS is much better then the one on DVD. The voices match the characters and bring across emotions very well in the VHS dub. In the DVD dub the voices seem alien to the characters personalities, this may be due to the fact that I'm used to seeing the film with the old dub.
The animation is very fluid, definitely a revolution in animation. The vast range of colours used really bring the metropolis alive. The start of the film where Kaneda and the crew are riding through the city you get to witness all sorts of sub-environments of the city, from tight alley ways where you can almost sense the deprivation to the bustling streets bright from the flashing neon lights.
The characters grow on you the further in to the film you get, at the beginning you can sense friction between Kaneda and Tetsuo, however as the film progresses you understand the past between these two characters and come to terms with their feelings. The colonel is also a very interesting character who seems to represent a beacon of hope constantly attempting to avoid the inevitable catastrophe headed for neo-tokyo.
The storyline revolves around two central characters, Tetsuo and Akira. It is heavily emphasised towards revealing what the next evolution of man is and whether or not the evolution would be in the best interest of man.
Closing comments, Akira is a must watch for any anime fan who appreciates a thought provoking storyline and dense characters.
Also watch; Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell:Innocence and Perfect Blue
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I remember the first time i watched this when i was 14, back then it didn't mean much to me i just watched it because of the violence. Growing up i cant count the number of times i have watched it but it seems as though every time i watched it i uncovered something new in the plot. On to the review then; There are two different dubs for this film in English, the initial one i watched on VHS is much better then the one on DVD. The voices match the characters and bring across emotions very well in the VHS dub. In the DVD dub the voices seem alien to the characters personalities, this may be due to the fact that I'm used to seeing the film with the old dub.
The animation is very fluid, definitely a revolution in animation. The vast range of colours used really bring the metropolis alive. The start of the film where Kaneda and the crew are riding through the city you get to witness all sorts of sub-environments of the city, from tight alley ways where you can almost sense the deprivation to the bustling streets bright from the flashing neon lights.
The characters grow on you the further in to the film you get, at the beginning you can sense friction between Kaneda and Tetsuo, however as the film progresses you understand the past between these two characters and come to terms with their feelings. The colonel is also a very interesting character who seems to represent a beacon of hope constantly attempting to avoid the inevitable catastrophe headed for neo-tokyo.
The storyline revolves around two central characters, Tetsuo and Akira. It is heavily emphasised towards revealing what the next evolution of man is and whether or not the evolution would be in the best interest of man.
Closing comments, Akira is a must watch for any anime fan who appreciates a thought provoking storyline and dense characters.
Also watch; Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell:Innocence and Perfect Blue