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Rating: 6 out of 5
When you think of anime, plenty of series come to mind, from Bleach, DBZ, Naruto, Attack on Titans, Sailor Moon, Gundam, and many others. There have been plenty of anime series that have influenced the Western world. There is only one that stands at the top of the mountain. The king of all anime and the one where you must kiss the ring. The granddaddy and godfather of them all. The one, the only, the legendary Akira. One of the greatest films ever made. I didn’t say the greatest anime film ever made; it is one of the greatest films ever made.
Akira has been cited as a freakin masterpiece in the field of so many areas. Awesome anime? Check. Amazing story? Check. Interesting character? Check. It checks all the boxes, and even after all these years, it is still great to watch. It’s violent but still great. The film was influential in the Japanese cyberpunk genre and was HUGE in the growth of anime and Japanese culture in the Western world. Akira has been so big that it has influenced everything from animation, music, television, video games, and fashion. Akira has influenced the world in more ways than one. Michael & Janet Jackson used footage in their song Scream. Have you ever seen Kanye West’s Stronger? Akira appears in that music video. The famous bike appears in Ready Player One. I can go on and on where this epic anime has showed up.
During World War 3, Tokyo was wiped off the map by a sudden massive explosion on July 16, 1998. Tokyo rebuilt itself and is called Neo-Tokyo. Akira picks up in 2019, where Neo-Tokyo is ravaged by corruption, anti-government protests, terrorism, and gang violence. Neo-Tokyo has gone to shit. During the violence, Shōtarō Kaneda, leader of the Capsules and owner of the coolest bike ever, is informed that the clowns are moving in on his turf. Kaneda’s best friend, Tetsuo Shima, is on Kaneda’s bike. Kaneda mocks Tetsuo, stating he can’t ride his bike. Kaneda and his crew ride off to fight the crows. During the gang war, Tetsuo inadvertently crashes his motorcycle into Takashi, a grey-skinned Esper who has escaped from a government facility. Takashi managed to escape with the help of someone from the inside. Takashi is recaptured while Tetsuo is hospitalized. As Tetsuo recovers, he starts showing incredible, powerful abilities. As Tetsuo’s powers rage on, the sense of Akira becomes strong. The one who destroyed Tokyo 31 years ago.
I honestly forgot how amazing and thrilling this anime was. I was completely invested in the whole thing. Akira is a freakin fantastic anime, and the story is excellent. Watching Tetsuo slowly become drunk with power is incredible to watch. What I forgot is how violent the story is. This anime is violent, as you will see people get killed and bodies crushed. Now, back to the story. Even though it revolves around the development of Tetsuo’s powers, it always keeps the name of the person he is searching for around. What I mean is we know that Akira is the one who destroyed Tokyo years earlier, but we don’t know if he is alive or dead. We just know Akira had massive amounts of powers and just exploded. Tetsuo goes on a destructive quest looking for Akira. He kills his friends, rolls up into a government facility, and takes that out, and when he finally finds Akira, he is in jars. Through all this, Tetsuo’s powers go completely out of control when he turns into some blob creature. You think the end is near when Akira comes through space and time and takes Tetsuo away into another dimension.
Even after all this time, the animation is still top-notch. I don’t know what they did or if I watched a remake, but damn, the animation looked good. The design of the cyberpunk genre in this anime is fantastic. Honestly, the animation adds significantly to this anime. It brings you in because some scenes are dark and violent while others are bright and joyful. What I love is the imagination that went into this anime. Even though 2019 has long
Let’s talk about the famous Akira slide. It’s one of the most epic and iconic slides in anime history. When Kaneda slides into view with his motorbike, that slide is so wild and epic. One of the coolest slides ever. Kaneda hit that slide after straight-up wrecking some dudes. I can watch this scene repeatedly. This scene has been recreated and imitated in many films and television series.
Let’s give props and kiss the ring to the one and only Akira. One of the world’s most iconic anime films. It is one of the greatest movies of all time. If you are a true anime fan, this is one of the films you MUST watch. You can’t be considered an anime fan if you don’t watch this anime. Kiss the ring and knell before the great film Akira!
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