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Akira (Limited Special Edition Tin) Actors: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo Number of Items: 2 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen, Animated Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 124 minutes Studio: Pioneer Video Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-07-17 Buy from Amazon |
 "One of the defining anime"It's tempting to say that there are two kinds of animation - the ones before and the ones after Akira. It's probably better to say that there are two kinds of viewers: the ones who have and the ones who haven't seen it. Even now, more than 15 years after its original release, it still has incredible impact. All of the pieces are good. The architectural backgrounds are spectacular, and frame the action well. The characters are all well-drawn; the children and some of the adults escape the standardized look of so many anime. The story moves fast, from scenes of gang war and urban burn-out, to underground laboratories, outer space, and a chilling nursery. The battles are well-staged and varied, and the many scenes of destruction are drawn with passion. The good pieces come together in a story that is much more than its parts. Even the little things, like the strange cultists off on the side, support the movie well. Lots of other animated moves have come and gone since Akira first came out, and good riddance to most of them. Akira has stood up well in the years since it came out, and still looks good in comparison to newer movies. //wiredweird  "Could be used to weed out psychopaths in public schools."This was made long before the advent of computer generated animation, and I really miss the old hand drawn animation. It just has so much more character than this new CGI stuff. The story on the other hand didn't quite add up at all. Maybe something is really lost in the translation, but the writing isn't much better than a Godzilla movie. At least a Godzilla has a campy charm to it. The plot just seems to rest very uneasily upon the dialogue of the characters rather than be integrated into the story. So many of the characters are just making speeches to try make a vain attempt at explaining what's going on. Still, it didn't make any sense. Why were these experiments conducted in the first place? Why is Akira being worshiped as a techno saviour? Why do they await his return when he destroyed the city last time he came? (Come and kill us again Akira) Why continue such experiments? Why did Tetsuo become like the experiments just by coming in contact with one? Why didn't the many other people turn like Tetsuo when so many others were exposed to the same experiment? Ultimately, it's but a movie about a kid going on a murderous rampage that's fueled by his own inadequacy. That might appeal to teens who have fantasized about going postal on their high school, but nobody else. Anyone who gives this movie 5 stars should be committed before they hurt somebody if you ask me.  "Wierd wierd anime"An interesting, thought provoking anime that delves into the human psyche and also deals with human evolution. Thought provoking until about the last 15 minutes. At that point it just gets wierd and makes no sense. The main character, Tetsuo, turns into a giant mutant bloatsac and they never really explain who the hell Akira is an how he really relates to the story. Also, Tetsuo's girlfriend has to be the ugliest girl in anime history. If you want to see a classic anime that delves into the human mind, then see Neon Genesis Evangelion. As for human evolution, wait for the upcoming Elfen Lied. I enjoyed both better than Akira. Elfen Lied, unfortunatly, slightly lacks some character developement and is too short of a series. "On DVD"It's great to see this movie on DVD, it's one of my favorite Anime movies, first I had it on VHS and I found it exciting,also the score of the movies it's exciting. But this DVD special edition is not why I was expecting for: they changed dialogues and sometimes they make the story confusing. Maybe, new scenes included? The image it's clear and the animation good, the only problem are those moments inside of the bubble, when you see images of Tetsuo and his friends, and it's not clear what Akira is and he's the risponsable, of such disaster in 1988. If you really like Anime this is your movie. "Stunning Animation and Perfect Film to watch"What is ultimately astounding is that the title is still very worthy even today. However, nothing has compared to AKIRA in terms of how much scope, depth, action, and sheer insanity can be packed into 2 hours and 5 minutes. No doubt that other shows have covered similar topics, but ultimately, AKIRA is a masterpiece in that it condenses a huge epic manga into a very short time frame while still being accessible to newcomers. Granted, those newcomers may feel things are a bit muddled, but ultimately that pulls the viewer back in, because by the end the viewer wants to understand the mystery known as AKIRA. It's this mystery, compounded by a rather lousy dub job that toured the US and over fifteen years of speculation and backlash, that has made AKIRA into a misunderstood classic of anime. There has been a bit of backlash against AKIRA in recent years, ranging from comments about being incredibly violent (which it is) and indecipherable (which may be true for some) to it being inferior to other psychic stories in the anime canon (which I believe it is not.) I believe part of the backlash is due in part to AKIRA's nature--although there are similar anime out there, those who expect all anime to be the same as AKIRA are in for a disappointment, and may not stay interested in the genre. What's also true is that some misguided otaku see AKIRA as the film that opened the floodgates, that showed anime to able to pull a profit in the US and therefore led to its commercialization stateside. This is not a bad thing for most of us, but for those who preferred anime when it was an exclusive club limited to those with lots of money, laserdiscs, and ability to make fansubs, this spelled the beginning of the end. |
