Akira (1988)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Akira (1988) – K. Ôtomo

This was really a famous anime film back in the day, perhaps the first one to be a hit in America.  I didn’t watch it back then because I wasn’t really interested; but this was before I realised how good animation could be, before those annual animation short film festivals in the early ‘90s and before we knew about Miyazaki.  Of course, Akira is absolutely nothing like Miyazaki’s work and it definitely isn’t for kids.  Imdb summarizes the plot as follows:  “A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.”  So, there are heaps of explosions, fights, deaths, a rape scene, motorbike accidents, police, army, tanks, gangs, and yes, psychic kids.  The animation itself is impressive and often beautiful in that classic Japanese style that has become so familiar worldwide now.  It is hard to place this as a 1980s film, perhaps because it takes place in 2019 (where strangely Japan is preparing to host the Olympic games in Tokyo) and the futuristic city isn’t too different from today’s cities; in other words, it feels new and current.  Yet, a little of this also goes a long way and by the time we approached the end, I was dozing off (that third beer probably didn’t help).  I think I might only dip into anime now and again, and perhaps those short sweet versions are the best dosage.