Akira (film)

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{{Infobox Film 

| name        = Akira
| image       = Cover-akira.jpg
| caption     =
| imdb_rating = Image:4 out of 5.png 
7.7/10 (18,268 votes)
| imdb_id     = 0094625 
| writer      = Katsuhiro Otomo
| starring    = Mitsuo Iwata,
Nozomu Sasaki,
Mami Koyama
| director    = Katsuhiro Otomo
| producer    = Ryohei Suzuki,
Shunzo Kato 
| distributor = Akira Committee Production (Japan)
Orion Pictures Corporation (US)
| released    = 16 July, 1988 (Japan)
December 1989 (US)?
| runtime     = 124 minutes
| language    = Japanese
| music       = Shoji Yamashiro
| awards      =
| budget      = ¥1,100,000,000
$10,000,000

}}

Akira (Template:Lang-ja) is a 1988 anime film by Katsuhiro Otomo. It was based on Otomo's manga of the same name. The movie led the way for the growing popularity of anime in the United States, where Akira has been considered the beginning of the second wave of anime fandom that began in the early 1990s.

Contents

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Thematic influences

Although most of the character designs and basic settings were adapted from the manga, the movie still manages to include several original thematic influences, most notably in the plot which was somewhat different (partly due to time and budget) from the manga. Obvious thematic influences include World War II and the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as Japanese teen culture.

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Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The setting is that of Neo-Tokyo, a Tokyo rebuilt (over what is today Tokyo Bay) after World War III destroyed it. As it turns out, World War III was (arguably) started by the uncontrolled growth of the superhuman powers of a child named Akira, who was enrolled in a secret government research program. In the story's current time, 30 years after WWIII, a gang of young bikers led by the cocky Shotaro Kaneda is involved in a fight with a rival gang when Kaneda's gang's youngest member, Tetsuo Shima, collides with a mysterious child on the highway. This child has escaped from the government psychic research program. Tetsuo is then taken to the government psychic research base with the child and subjected to various experiments. The incident with the mysterious child as well as the tests awaken Tetsuo's own latent powers, with disastrous consequences both on the personal level, as old interpersonal conflicts with his friends resurface, and on the larger level, as Neo-Tokyo is threatened by another Akira incident.

Akira, like Otomo's other work (such as Domu), revolves around the basic idea of individuals with superhuman powers, in particular psychokinetic abilities, but much of the story does not focus on these abilities themselves, but rather the people involved, social issues and politics. The social commentary is not particularly deep or philosophical, but rather a wry look at youth alienation, government corruption and inefficiency, and a military grounded in old-fashioned Japanese honor, displeased with the compromises of modern society.

In the manga, Akira is an actual character who shows up at the end of the second book, while in the movie, Akira has been dissected for study and his remains stored via cryopreservation under the site for the 2030 Tokyo Olympiad. This change has a dramatic effect on the story. In the manga, Akira and Tetsuo team up and after Akira destroys Neo-Tokyo, they set up the Great Tokyo Empire with Akira as emperor and Tetsuo as Prime Minister. The manga has many other plot differences from the film but the outcome is the same in both.

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Characters

Image:Akira kanedabikepicslidingwithsparksnstuff.gif

  • Shotaro Kaneda (Template:Lang Kaneda Shōtarō) — The anthology's protagonist. Kaneda is a carefree punk who modified his bike to his own specifications. Kaneda leads his own biker gang. Upon rescuing Kei, he joins a group of anti-government guerillas who are trying to find the mysterious Akira.
  • Tetsuo Shima (Template:Lang Shima Tetsuo) — Kaneda's best friend since preschool. After a traumatic accident becomes Kaneda's nemesis. Also, while not in the manga, in the movie he shows serious desire to possess Kaneda's bike.
  • Kei (Template:Lang) a.k.a. (Kay) — A woman whom Kaneda meets on his quest to find Tetsuo. She's a member of an anti-government organization that Ryu and Nezu are also involved in.
  • The Colonel (a.k.a. Colonel Shikishima); the head of the government project previously responsible for unleashing Akira's power.
  • Masaru, Kiyoko and Takashi (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang) — The three "numbers", Takashi is the one who causes the whole ordeal to begin. Kiyoko is Number 25, Takashi is Number 26, and Masaru is Number 27.
  • Akira (Template:Lang) — The most powerful of the child psychics. He caused World War III. He is Number 28.
  • Nezu (Template:Lang) — A mole in the government. He is responsible for Takashi's kidnapping, although he does not personally kidnap Takashi.
  • Kai — A member of the capsules gang, who tends to follow Kaneda around without getting too involved with anything.
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Releases

The original 1988 Japanese release was from Akira Committee Production. In 1989 Orion Pictures Corporation created an English dub for the US theaters. MGM/UA Home Video released the film on VHS in 1990, Criterion Collection released the film on laserdisc in 1993, and Orion Home Video released it on VHS in 1994. Geneon Entertainment created a new English dub for its 2001 DVD release. (Ironically, MGM ended up acquiring Orion in the late 1990s.)

In the UK, Akira was theatrically released by ICA Projects on 25th January 1991, and then on video by Island World Communications later that year. The success of this release lead to the creation of Manga Entertainment, who later took over the release. In 2002 they released a two disc DVD featuring the new Geneon English dub and in 2004 they released another two disc set containing the original Japanese as well as both the Orion and Geneon dubs.

In 2005 Manga Entertainment and boulevard UMD released Akira on UMD movie format for Sony PSP (Playstation Portable). It is one of the many "Region Free" UMD movies, in the fact that Region 2 (Europe/Japan) UMDs of this film have been proven to play on Region 1 (North America) PSPs.

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DVD Features

Although certain different DVD are being release, each have their own special features. The Collectors Edition seem to have the most features of them all, Special Edition had a little extra to a regular DVD.

For the 2 Disk DVD version.
DISK 1

  • Akira Remastered version
  • Scene Selection
  • Subtitles
  • Languages toggle

DISK 2

  • Original Japanese version
  • Scene Selection
  • Production Report
  • Other Manga titles trailers


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UK Collectors Edition

  • Make Your Own' AKIRA Trailer
  • Production Report - 'Making of AKIRA' Featurette (the old version)
  • Multiple Choice Quiz whereby correct answers will allow you to gain access to particular parts of the akira2002.com website
  • Stills Gallery
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Trivia

  • The sound of Kaneda's bike engine was produced by compositing the engine sound of a 1929 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a jet engine.
  • Katsuhiro Otomo is a big fan of the classic 1950s manga Tetsujin-28 (known as Gigantor in the US). As a result, his naming conventions match the characters featured in Tetsujin-28. Kaneda shares his name with the protagonist of Tetsujin-28. Tetsuo shares the "Tetsu" of his first name with Tetsujin. Colonel Shikishima shares his name with the professor/father-figure of Tetsujin-28's Kaneda Shotaro. In addition, Takashi has a "26" tattooed on his hand which closley resembles the font used in Tetsujin-28. The namesake of the anime, Akira, is the 28th in a line of psychics that the government has developed, the same number as Tetsujin-28.
  • Tetsuo's metamorphosis was parodied in the South Park episode "Trapper Keeper" in 2000.
  • Atari Teenage Riot sampled Kaneda's line "Let's sit down and talk about the revolution and stuff" for their song "Into the Death".
  • A shot of Tetsuo's hooded sweatshirt and glasses on his bike is parodied in the anime FLCL with a shot of the main character, Naota, riding his own bike with a similar hoodie and glasses. He is also seen in the episode Brittle Bullet with the same jacket and glasses, but without a bike.
  • The newer version, released on DVD, features newly-translated dialog. The translation improved the film's sometimes poor English, as well as clarifying some confusing exchanges. For example, in the scene with Kai and Kaneda locked in the cell, when Kai was explaining the powers of Akira, the new translation of the dialog explained Akira much more clearly.
  • Serveral logo stickers are on Kaneda's bike, the names are: Arai, Big 1, Canon, Citizen, Metal, Neo-Tokyo and Shoei.
  • Kaneda's bike gang's name is "Capsules", while their rival gang are the "Clowns."
  • An advertisement for Absolut Vodka credits Akira as being the "absolut anime."
  • Tetsuo was the inspiration for the King of Fighters character K9999. Nozomu Sasaki, the Japanese voice actor who played Tetsuo in the film also did the voice of K9999 in the video game.
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Principal cast

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DVD boxarts

Collectors Edition

Regular DVD

Japanese Version


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External links

es:Akira fr:Akira (anime) ko:아키라 it:Akira (manga) nl:Akira ja:AKIRA no:Akira pl:Akira pt:Akira ru:Akira sv:Akira zh:亚基拉

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