Akira (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Akira | |
|---|---|
 Japanese promotional poster |
|
| Directed by | Katsuhiro Otomo |
| Produced by | Ryōhei Suzuki Shunzō Katō |
| Written by | Katsuhiro Otomo Izō Hashimoto |
| Starring | Mitsuo Iwata Nozomu Sasaki Mami Koyama (Japan) Cam Clarke Jan Rabson Lara Cody (USA) Johnny Yong Bosch Joshua Seth Wendee Lee (DVD) |
| Music by | Shoji Yamashiro |
| Cinematography | Katsuji Misawa |
| Editing by | Takeshi Seyama |
| Distributed by | Toho (Japan) Orion Pictures (USA)(lapsed) Geneon (USA)(current) Manga Entertainment (Australia, UK) |
| Release date(s) | July 16, 1988 (Japan) 1989 - 1990 (US) January 25, 1991 (UK) May 8, 1991 (Australia) May 8, 1991 (Theatrical Release) (France) May 9, 1991 (Germany) |
| Running time | 124 min. |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | ¥1,100,000,000 US$10,000,000 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Akira (アキラ?) (pronounced [ɑkiɺɑ] a-ki-ra) is a 1988 Japanese animated film co-written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo based on his manga of the same name. The film is set in a neon-lit futuristic post-apocalyptic Tokyo in 2019. While most of the character designs and basic settings were directly adapted from the original 2,182 page manga epic, the restructured plot of the movie differs considerably from the print version, pruning much of the last half of the book. Akira is regarded by critics as one of the greatest animated films ever made.[1]
The movie led the way for the growing popularity of anime in the West, with Akira considered a forerunner of the second wave of anime fandom that began in the early 1990s. One of the reasons for the movie's success was the highly advanced quality of its animation. At the time, most anime was notorious for cutting production corners with limited motion, such as having only the characters' mouths move while their faces remained static. Akira broke from this trend with meticulously detailed scenes, exactingly lip-synched dialogue—a first for an anime production (voices were recorded before the animation was completed, rather than the opposite)—and super-fluid motion as realized in the film's more than 160,000 animation cels.[2] Notable motifs in the film include youth culture, delinquency, psychic awareness, social unrest and future uncertainty weighed against the historical spectre of nuclear destruction and Japan's post-war economic revival. The film also explores a number of psychological and philosophical themes, such as the nature of corruption, the will to power, and the growth from childhood to maturity both in individuals and the human race itself. Elements of Buddhist symbolism are also present in the film.
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[edit] Plot summary
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
The story begins in 1988 in Tokyo, just as the city is destroyed by what seems to be a nuclear explosion. International confusion following the incident leads to the start of World War III 9 hours later.
In the year 2019, Neo-Tokyo stands on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. A gang of teenage bikers, led by smug 16-year-old delinquent Shotaro Kaneda, engage the Clowns, a rival gang, in a fight. Tetsuo Shima, Kaneda's best friend, having chased two Clown members into the abandoned Tokyo, finds a child with wizened features blocking his path. The boy, Takashi, had been previously set free from a government facility by a member of the terrorist Resistance, but teleported to the highway after the rescuer was killed by soldiers during a riot. As Tetsuo tries to avoid Takashi, his bike inexplicably explodes. When the gang reaches the scene, several military helicopters also arrive. Led by Colonel Shikishima, armed soldiers take Takashi and the injured Tetsuo away while Kaneda and his friends are arrested.
The gang is brought in for questioning; the interrogators are soon convinced the boys are not members of the Resistance. Kaneda recognizes a female Resistance member named Kei from a picture in a book and, finding her attractive, gets the soldiers to release her. Kei abruptly leaves the scene, leaving a spurned Kaneda behind. When the boys are returned to their vocational training school, they are harshly disciplined by the school administration.
Meanwhile, Colonel Shikishima, engaged in discussion of a Supreme Executive Council inquiry into Takashi's escape, is summoned by Doctor Onishi, who is monitoring Tetsuo at the government lab. Tetsuo is displaying strong mental frequencies that are reminiscent of something called "Akira," which is related to the explosion that destroyed Tokyo thirty-one years earlier. Doctor Onishi is presumably enhancing Tetsuo's powers with out the colonel's authorization. The Colonel tells him to kill Tetsuo without hesitation, should his power grow beyond control.
Tetsuo escapes and meets up with his girlfriend, Kaori. Deciding to run away together, they steal Kaneda's bike, which stalls just as the two are leaving the city. They are immediately attacked by Clown members, who are about to destroy the bike when Kaneda and his gang show up and defeat them. Tetsuo and Kaneda then enter a confrontation during which Tetsuo declares his longstanding resentment for Kaneda. Tetsuo then has a painful headache accompanied by disturbing hallucinations. Scientists and bodyguards, acting on orders of the Doctor, sweep in to recapture Tetsuo and take him away.
That night, as the gang hangs out in the city, they are interrupted by a terrorist attack. Kaneda glimpses Kei and Ryu, and follows as they flee the scene. Kei separates from Ryu and enters the sewers, but is spotted by soldiers; In the scuffle, Kei shoots and kills a soldier. Kei and Kaneda flee the scene.
Meanwhile, Tetsuo remains hospitalized(and is secretly experimented on), dreaming of his childhood and having violent hallucinations. He suddenly wakes, his headache causing a nearby light to shatter.
At the government nursery, Kiyoko, a psionically gifted yet wizened child (an Esper), tells the Colonel that she dreamt of Akira and Neo-Tokyo's destruction. The Colonel and the Doctor agree that it might be Kiyoko's precognition at work, and the Doctor notes that the Supreme Executive Council will want to hear about it. The Colonel travels to Akira's underground cryonic storage chamber, finding all of its systems to be operating normally.
Kaneda and Kei make their way to the hideout of the Resistance. The group privately reviews their next assignment: to gain access to a government facility to rescue a new test subject named Tetsuo Shima. After being discovered eavesdropping, Kaneda explains to the suspicious group that he and Tetsuo are friends, and that he can help. After Ryu meets with the Resistance leader Nezu, and they both agree to use Kaneda as a decoy should there be any trouble, the group later decides to bring him along.
Appearing before the Supreme Executive Council, the Colonel is angered when the Council members scoff at his requests for further funding for the project, and question his sense of duty as a soldier. The Resistance leader Nezu is revealed to be a Council member and a government mole mentioned earlier in the story. Frustrated by the Council's arguing on better ways to spend the project's budget, the Colonel abruptly leaves the meeting.
In his hospital room at the government facility that night, Tetsuo is attacked by the Espers -- Takashi, Kiyoko, and a third child, Masaru -- who pose as gigantic toys and destroy the room, leaking milk the whole time. Tetsuo steps on a glass and cuts his foot which scares away the Espers, who are apparently frightened at the sight of blood. Tetsuo then discovers the location of their nursery nearby. After breaking out of his room, Tetsuo begins traveling to the nursery, killing soldiers and wreaking destruction with his newly discovered psycho kinetic abilities supposedly triggered by the tests performed on him.
Meanwhile, the Resistance group, having made it into the facility disguised as cable workers, is spotted sneaking in the sewers and a chase ensues. During the violent shootout, Kaneda manages to hijack a "flying platform" -- a small aerial vehicle flown by soldiers -- and takes Kei as they flee the scene. Kiyoko possesses Kei and leads Kaneda to the government nursery, where Tetsuo has already arrived. Tetsuo has begun using his mind to attack both the Colonel's army and the Espers. He has learned about Akira and is eager to find out what it is, hoping to make his headaches stop. Using his new powers, Tetsuo escapes and heads for Akira's location beneath the city's Olympic Stadium, currently under construction. Note: Olympic Stadium is in the old Tokyo.
Kei and Kaneda are locked in a holding cell. Kiyoko speaks through Kei once again, warning of Tetsuo's immense and growing power. She also explains that Akira once tried to manipulate all the energy in the universe, but destroyed Tokyo in the process. The cell door becomes unlocked and the two escape.
The Colonel, tired of the Supreme Executive Council trying to arrest him, shoots the messenger and tells all soldiers in Tokyo that they are puppets of corrupt politicians and capitalists. He initiates a coup d'etat, mobilizing his men to the stadium, and also has the members of the Council arrested. Knowing that they're coming for him, the mole Nezu murders his staff and prepares to leave by himself. When Ryu arrives to inform him of the mission's failure, Nezu shoots him believing him to be a traitor and leaves with a briefcase full of money and stock papers. In an alley, Nezu later dies of a heart attack. Ryu, having followed Nezu, also dies from his wounds.
Tetsuo is now wreaking havoc across Neo-Tokyo on his way to the Olympic Stadium, destroying tanks and helicopters. He is followed by a number of people who believe he is Akira. Nearly all the residents of Neo-Tokyo are evacuating the city. Kei, again possessed by Kiyoko, attempts to fight him but is soon thrown aside. When Tetsuo tears Akira's entire cryonic chamber from underground and opens it, he finds nothing left of except dissected organs housed in canisters. The Colonel, speaking through a microphone, tells Tetsuo that scientists froze Akira's remains to study in the future, even though no one understands his powers fully. The Colonel prepares to use their super weapon on Tetsuo.
Making his way though wreckage of the scene, Kaneda, now armed with a laser rifle, confronts Tetsuo, and they begin to fight. Despite the odds appearing in Tetsuo's favor, Kaneda's beam weapon gives him an edge and he manages to hit Tetsuo in the arm. In the middle of the fight, the Colonel activates an orbital weapon called SOL, and its laser beam "removes" Tetsuo's right arm ( where Kaneda hit him)in the process. An enraged Tetsuo flies into space and pulls SOL out of orbit, causing it to disintegrate in the atmosphere.
That night, Tetsuo hides out at the Olympic Stadium, where Kaori finds him screaming in pain. He has fashioned a new, apparently mechanical arm, which seems to throb with a life of its own. The Colonel soon appears without any bodyguards, asking Tetsuo to come back to the lab so he can get more medicine, but Tetsuo attacks him. When the Colonel shoots back, Tetsuo's arm transforms into a horrific blob-like mixture of flesh and metal that attempts to swallow and kill the Colonel. Kaneda arrives on his bike and shoots the monstrous appendage, causing it to recede. Meanwhile, the Espers have arrived at the stadium and seem to be communicating with the canisters that Tetsuo took from the cryonic chamber.
Tetsuo and Kaneda fight again. This time Tetsuo is faster,stronger, more deadly and forces Kaneda onto the defensive, only by executing a series of full throttle manoeuvers that keeps Kaneda safe. Kaneda shoots Tetsuo's mechanical arm, but this time, Tetsuo's body swells into a techno-organic like creature composed of his expanding flesh and parts of machinery. Tetsuo's gruesome form engulfs, crushes, and kills Kaori. Kaneda is catapulted and swallowed up inside the form. On the verge of being killed, Kaneda unleashes several bursts of laser fire, allowing him an escape route clear of Tetsuo's body.
Akira's canisters shatter and he suddenly appears, revealed to be a young boy. His arrival triggers another explosion. Kiyoko teleports the Colonel to safety. The explosive energy sphere starts to absorb Tetsuo, who pleads for Kaneda's help. Kaneda, desperate to save his "redeemed" friend, follows Tetsuo into the energy sphere. In an effort to save Kaneda, the Espers decide to enter as well, intending to use their combined powers to free him. Inside Akira's sphere, Kaneda enters expanding and receding waves of the Espers' and Tetsuo's dreams and memories. We get a view of how the Espers got their powers and early Kaneda and Tetsuo lives and how they met. The Espers tell Kaneda that Akira will be sending Tetsuo "away".
Kaneda then seems to be ejected from the inside of Akira's onslaught, awakening outside the explosion upon hearing Kei's voice calling his name, perhaps telepathically communicated by the Espers. The sphere suddenly vanishes and the city is being destroyed when it leaves. Kaneda seems to be telported back to Olympic Stadium where Kei finds him. He catches the light that remains from the Akira's explosion and thanks Kei for "helping" him escape Akira's onslaught.
Neo-Tokyo is destroyed by the violently expanding sphere; buildings are either slanted or destroyed by the event. Streets are gutted and flooded also by the event. Doctor Onishi sees through a measuring device that a universe is being "created" , just as his laboratory collapses, killing him. Kaneda, Kei, Kaisuke (one of Kaneda's friends), and the Colonel survive. The former three meet up at the ruins of the Olympic Stadium, wondering if Tetsuo is truly dead. They ride their damaged bikes across a bridge into the ruined city to start over.
Somewhere, a stylized "big bang" breaches the cosmic darkness and Tetsuo's voice echoes, "I am Tetsuo."
[edit] Characters
- Akira (アキラ) – The eponymous, principal subject of the story. Akira was a young boy who developed transcendent psionic, nearly god- like abilities when serving as a test subject for secret government ESP experiments in the 1980s. He subsequently lost control of this power and annihilated Tokyo in 1988. After the cataclysmic event, Akira's dead body was recovered and subjected to every test known to modern science, which proved unable to solve the mystery. His remains were placed within a cryogenic chamber underneath the Neo-Tokyo Olympic Stadium, to be entrusted to the study of future generations.
- Shotaro Kaneda (金田 正太郎 Kaneda Shōtarō) – The anthology's main protagonist, Kaneda is a carefree gang-leader who boasts a custom-modified motorcycle. He and Tetsuo have been best friends since early childhood. He is brash and not above teasing Tetsuo despite feeling affection for him as a younger brother. Upon rescuing Kei, Kaneda becomes involved in the activities of her group of anti-government guerillas in hopes of locating Tetsuo.
- Tetsuo Shima (島 鉄雄 Shima Tetsuo) – Kaneda's best friend since preschool and the second principal subject of the story's theme. Tetsuo is shown as a black sheep in the gang he and Kaneda are part of, and quietly suffers from a deeply rooted inferiority complex. He admires his friend yet at the same time strongly resents his own reliance upon him. After his psychokinetic abilities manifest, Tetsuo quickly becomes Kaneda's nemesis; he desires Kaneda's motorcycle (a symbol of status and power), and seeks to prove himself supremely powerful, without need of protection.
- Kei (ケイ) – A young female revolutionary whom Kaneda meets and becomes enamoured with on his quest to find Tetsuo. She is a member of an anti-government faction that Ryu and Nezu are also involved in. Although she does not possess preternatural abilities, Kei is employed by the espers as a type of medium on several occasions.
- Colonel Shikishima (敷島大佐), also known as simply The Colonel – The head of the ongoing government project which was responsible for inadvertently unleashing Akira's power thirty years earlier.
- The Espers – Masaru (マサル, codename "Number 27"), Takashi (タカシ, codename "Number 26") and Kiyoko (キヨコ, codename "Number 25") – Akira's fellow psychic test subjects kept in a perpetual yet aging childhood. They exhibit a variety of paranormal powers which they use to influence the course of events to the best of their ability. While individually of lesser strength than Akira or Tetsuo, their combined effort proves decisive in the story's final confrontation.
- Nezu (根津) – A mole in the government, who is responsible for Takashi/Number 26's kidnapping.
- Yamagata (山形) – One of the most prominent members of Kaneda's gang. He often derides Tetsuo, which leads to harsh feelings between them that will ultimately seal his fate.
- Kaisuke (甲斐) – Another member of Kaneda's gang, Kai plays an important supporting role in the eventual battle against Tetsuo. He appears to be close friends with Yamagata given that they remain together when the gang breaks up.
- Kaori (カオリ) – Tetsuo's girlfriend. She stands by Tetsuo even though he treats her rather harshly sometimes.
[edit] Principal cast
| Character | Japanese | English [Streamline] (1989) | English [Pioneer] (2001) |
| Shotaro Kaneda | Mitsuo Iwata | Cam Clarke (Jimmy Flinders) | Johnny Yong Bosch |
| Tetsuo Shima | Nozomu Sasaki | Jan Rabson (Stanley Gurd Jr.) | Joshua Seth |
| Kei | Mami Koyama | Lara Cody (Deanna Morris) | Wendee Lee |
| Ryusaku (Roy) | Tesshō Genda | Steve Kramer (Drew Thomas) | Robert Buchholz (Robert Wicks) |
| Colonel Shikishima | Tarō Ishida | Tony Pope (Tony Mozdy) | Jamieson K. Price (James Lyon) |
| Doctor Ōnishi | Mizuho Suzuki | Watney Held | Simon Prescott (Simon Isaacson) |
| Kaori | Yuriko Fuchizaki | Barbara Goodson (Barbara Larsen) | Michelle Ruff (Georgette Rose) |
| Yamagata | Masaaki Ōkura | Tony Pope (Tony Mozdy) | Michael Lindsay (Dylan Tully) |
| Kaisuke | Takeshi Kusao | Bob Bergen | Matthew Mercer (Matt 'Masamune' Miller) |
| Masaru | Kazuhiro Kamifuji | Bob Bergen | Cody MacKenzie |
| Takashi | Tatsuhiko Nakamura | Barbara Goodson (Barbara Larsen) | Mona Marshall |
| Kiyoko | Fukue Ito | Melora Harte (Marilyn Lane) | Sandy Fox |
| Miyako | Kōichi Kitamura | Steve Kramer (Drew Thomas) | unknown |
| Nezu | Hiroshi Ōtake | Tony Pope (Tony Mozdy) | Mike Reynolds (Ray Michaels) |
| Inspector | Michihiro Ikemizu | Bob Bergen | unknown |
| Mitsuru Kuwata | Yukimasa Kishino | Bob Bergen | unknown |
| Eiichi Watanabe | Tarō Arakawa | Jan Rabson (Stanley Gurd Jr.) | unknown |
| Yūji Takeyama | Masato Hirano | Eddie Frierson (Christopher Mathewson) | unknown |
| Army | Kazumi Tanaka | Steve Kramer (Drew Thomas) | Kurt P. Wimberger |
| Harukiya bartender | Yōsuke Akimoto | Bob Bergen | John Snyder (Ivan Buckley) |
- Nurse: Steven Blum (Animaze Version)
- Animaze's Additional Voices by William H. Bassett, Josil Ferhardt, Rebecca Forstadt, Jessica Gee, Dougary Grant, W.T. Hatch, Matthew Hustin, Christopher Joyce, Lee Kelson, William Frederick Knight, Lex Lang, Patricia Ja Lee, Peter Lee, Mike Lembaw, Detroit Louie, Cody MacKenzie, Mona Marshall, Dan Martin, Michael McConnohie, Steve McGowan, Derek Stephen Prince, Ted Rae, Joe Romersa, Tony Sarducci, Adam Sholder, Michael Sorich, Skip Stellrecht, Sam Strong, Jim Taggert, Lisa Tarulli, Julie Ann Taylor, Chloe Thornton, Kirk Thornton, Ezra Weisz, Kurt P. Wimberger, and Dan Woren
- Streamline's Additional Voiced by Eddie Frierson, Watney Held, Marilyne Lane, Lewis Lemay, Julie Phelan, Tony Pope, Burt Walters, Bruce Winant, and Brad Wurst
[edit] Production
Akira Committee was the name given to a partnership of several major Japanese entertainment companies brought together to realize production of Akira. The group's assembly was necessitated by the unconventionally high budget and ambitious scale of the cinematic project, in order to achieve the desired epic standard equal to Otomo's manga tale.
Akira Committee consisted of:[2]
- publisher Kodansha Ltd.
- Mainichi Broadcasting System, Inc.
- Bandai Co., Ltd.
- Hakuhodo Incorporated
- distributor Toho Co., Ltd.
- Laserdisc Corporation
- Sumitomo Corporation
- animation producer Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd.
The film was completed and released in 1988, two years before the manga storyline officially ended in 1990. Otomo had immense difficulty completing the manga; he has stated that the inspiration for its conclusion arose from a conversation that he had with Alejandro Jodorowsky in 1990, but Jodorowsky cannot recall what he said to Otomo.
Katsuhiro Otomo is a big fan of the classic 1950s manga Tetsujin-28 (Ironman-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; Colonel Shikishima shares his name with Professor Shikishima of Tetsujin-28., while Tetsuo is named after Shikishima's son Tetsuo Shikishima; Akira's Ryūsaku is named after Tetsujin's Ryūsaku Murasame. In addition, Takashi has a "26" tattooed on his hand which closely 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.
The sound of Kaneda's bike engine was produced by compositing the engine sound of a 1929 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a jet engine.
In the early 1990s, Kodansha Ltd. was in negotiation with Sony Pictures to produce a live-action remake of the film. Talk circulated again a decade later,[3] but the project has yet to materialize. Rumors circulated that the project was cancelled in both instances when the projected budget for the film was upwards of $300 million. Recent talks have begun again as Warner Brothers has signed on to produce the movie with Stephen Norrington (writer) and Jon Peters (producer).[1]
[edit] Film
Akira will be developed into two live action films with the first scheduled for a summer 2009 release.[4] Warner Brothers and Apian Way will adapt the two movies from the manga, with each one covering three volumes. Akira will be Ruairi Robinson's directorial debut for a feature film. He was nominated for an short film Oscar in 2002 for Fifty Percent Grey. Gary Whitta is writing the script. Andrew Lazar, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Davisson will produce the film. No announcement has been made regarding the cast.
[edit] Releases
The original July 16, 1988 release by Toho in Japan set attendance records for an animated film. Fledgling North American distribution company Streamline Pictures soon acquired an existing English-language rendition (originally dubbed for the Hong Kong market)[5] which saw limited release in North American theatres from late 1989 throughout 1990. Streamline is reported to have become the film's distributor when both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg labelled it unmarketable in the U.S.[6] VHS releases included the initial Streamline Video offering (May 1991), later wider distribution by MGM/UA Home Video, and a subtitled edition from Orion Home Video (September 1993). The Criterion Collection released a laserdisc edition in 1993, and Pioneer Entertainment issued a DVD and a VHS with a new English dub in 2001.
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, Manga released a two-disc DVD featuring the new Pioneer English dub followed in 2004 by another two-disc set containing the original Japanese as well as both the Streamline and Pioneer dubs. This version did not contain standard English subtitles, only closed captioning subtitles. In 2005 Manga Entertainment and Boulevard UMD released Akira on UMD for the Sony PSP (Playstation Portable) using the original Streamline English dub.
In 1988 Taito released an Akira adventure game for the Famicom.[7] An Akira game for the Super Famicom was cancelled and never released. International Computer Entertainment produced a video game based on Akira for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 in the 1994. [8] To coincide with the DVD release in 2002, Bandai released Akira Psycho Ball, a pinball simulator for the PlayStation 2. [9]
[edit] DVDs
[edit] DVD features
The available DVD releases of the movie each have their own particular features, including a 'making of'.
[edit] Special Edition
For the 2-disc Region 1 Special Edition DVD:
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Disc 1
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Disc 2
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[edit] UK Collectors Edition
- Make Your Own' Akira Trailer
- Production Report - 'Making of Akira' Featurette (English dubbed version)
- Multiple Choice Quiz whereby correct answers will allow you to gain access to particular parts of the akira2002.com website
- Stills Gallery
[edit] UK Ultimate Edition
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Disc 1
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Disc 2
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[edit] Blu-ray Edition
A Blu-ray edition of the movie was expected to be released in summer of 2007[10]. It has now been delayed towards late 2008.
[edit] Soundtrack
| Akira: Original Soundtrack | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Soundtrack by Geinō Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組) | ||
| Released | 1990 | |
| Recorded | 1988 | |
| Length | 69:31 | |
| Label | Demon Records | |
| Producer | Shoji Yamashiro | |
Akira: Original Soundtrack was recorded by Geinō Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組). The music was composed and conducted by musical director Shoji Yamashiro. It features music which was additionally rerecorded for release. "Kaneda", "Battle Against Clown" and "Exodus From the Underground Fortress" are really part of the same song cycle – elements of "Battle" can be heard during the opening bike sequence, for example. The score is generally sequenced in the same order that the music occurs in the film.
A second soundtrack was released featuring the original music without rerecording, but also including sound effects and dialogue from the film; the recording was probably a direct transfer from the film.
Track listing
- "Kaneda" – 3:10
- "Battle Against Clown" – 3:36
- "Winds Over Neo-Tokyo" – 2:48
- "Tetsuo" – 10:18
- "Doll's Polyphony" – 2:55
- "Shohmyoh" – 10:10
- "Mutation" – 4:50
- "Exodus From the Underground Fortress" – 3:18
- "Illusion" – 13:56
- "Requiem" – 14:25
Second Soundtrack Track listing
- "Kaneda" – 9:56
- "Tetsuo 1" – 12:36
- "Tetsuo 2" – 12:33
- "Akira" – 7:56
[edit] Differences between the anime and manga
Although they feature the same characters, premise and themes, the anime and manga versions of the story are quite different. Apart from numerous details of plot, very few scenes or lines play out the same way in both versions.
- The most significant variation is in the role Akira himself, who in the film adaptation is relegated to backstory and only appears very briefly in the main action, and even then in a limited form, as his remains are revealed to have been dissected for study and stored via cryopreservation under the site designated for the 2020 Tokyo Olympiad. The manga, by comparison, has Akira as a major character from the end of Volume 2 onwards, joining forces with Tetsuo to preside over the city after it is destroyed by Akira.
- The film is set in the year 2019; the manga is set in the year 2030.
- The anime cropped the whole of the manga's destructive aftermath scenario caused by the title character, which notably included: the establishment of the Great Tokyo Empire, with Akira serving as its divine emperor and Tetsuo as its operational minister; Tetsuo's partial destruction of the Moon; and the arrival of an American assassin sent to kill Akira.
- In the manga version, Akira destroys Neo-Tokyo halfway through the story. In the film version, he destroys the city at the very end.
- In the film, Tetsuo manages to fly into space to destroy SOL, the Japanese military's laser satellite. In the manga, Tetsuo does not destroy SOL, but the Americans have a satellite with the codename FLOYD, which Tetsuo sends crashing down on the American naval fleet.
- In the film, Mr. Nezu, the Parliament mole, dies of a heart attack, and not by the Colonel's soldiers, as in the manga.
- Ryu dies after being shot by Nezu in the film, whereas he dies from falling debris in an elevator shaft in the manga.
- In the film, Kaori, Tetsuo's girlfriend, is crushed to death inside Tetsuo's grotesque, swelling, and mutating body; in the manga version, she meets a less gruesome fate when she is shot by Tetsuo's lead henchman.
- The Doctor, the Colonel's scientific advisor, is crushed to death in the movie when his mobile laboratory collapses; in the manga, he is frozen to death.
- Lady Miyako, an esper who heads a temple in the manga, is turned into a fanatical follower of Tetsuo in the film, and then hit by a sliding vehicle when Tetsuo destroys a bridge; in the manga, she dies while helping Kei face off against Tetsuo. In the manga she is a major character, in the anime she is a 'throwaway' character.
- In the manga, Tetsuo becomes the leader of the Clown gang, ousting Joker from the position. Joker later joins forces with his former enemies Kaneda and Kaisuke in attacking Tetsuo. In the movie, Tetsuo does not become involved with the Clowns and Joker does not play a role in the film beyond his initial skirmish with Kaneda.
- Chiyoko, an important ally of Kei and Ryu and a major supporting character in the manga, is completely absent from the film.
- In the manga, Akira destroys Tokyo in the year 1982 (1992 in the western editions), as opposed to the year 1988 in the film.
- In the film Kaisuke and Yamagata meet Tetsuo in the bar and Tetsuo kills Yama offscreen, Kai later reports this to Kaneda. In the manga Tetsuo uses his power to crush then explode the back of Yamagata's skull.
- Kaori is not in the manga until the fourth volume, she attempts to get pills from Tetsuo to save her father but instead stays with him and Akira. In the film she is, and has been, Tetsuo's girlfriend.
- Tetsuo's character design is slightly different in the manga. Instead of boots and a sleeveless shirt, he keeps the slippers from the hospital and completely lacks a shirt. He also keeps his robotic arm obscured behind his cape. In the Anime Tetsuo's right arm is shot off, while in the American translation of the manga it is his left. This is due to the American version being mirrored for easier reading. Furthermore, Tetsuo's Hair goes from a pitch black to a light brown, then finally to a whiteish-grey.
- Tetsuo is not designated "Number 41" in the film, which is a piece of information in the manga to which frequent mention is made.
Katsuhiro Otomo decried his fame and said that his conclusion of Akira was false in both the Japanese and American editions, and that he could never truly finish his epic.[citation needed] Nevertheless, Akira is widely considered a masterpiece of graphic storytelling.
[edit] Critical reception
Roger Ebert selected Akira as his "Video Pick of the Week" in 1989 on Siskel & Ebert and the Movies. For its wider 2001 release, he gave the film "Thumbs Up".
| Source | Reviewer | Grade / Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anime News Network | Bamboo Dong | Overall (dub): A Overall (sub): A- |
DVD/Movie Review of Limited Edition Metal DVD Case |
| AnimeOnDVD | Chris Beveridge | Content: A Audio: A+ Video: N/A Packaging: A+ Menus: A+ Extras: A+ |
DVD/Movie Review of Special Edition |
| THEM Anime Reviews | Raphael See | 4 out of 5 | Movie Review (1 of 2 reviews) |
[edit] References in other media
[edit] See also
- Thematic similarities in Altered States and Childhood's End.
- Akira (video game)
- Freedom Project
[edit] References
- ^ Akira - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ a b Production insights, Akira #3 (Epic Comics, 1988).
- ^ Linder, Brian et al. "Akira (Live Action)", IGN, April 12, 2002, retrieved October 24, 2006
- ^ [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-02-20/warner-leonardo-dicaprio-to-produce-akira-live-action Warner, Leonardo DiCaprio to Produce Live-Action Akira
- ^ Interviews with Streamline Pictures' co-founders Carl Macek and Jerry Beck in Protoculture Addicts #9 (November 1990), and company spotlight in Protoculture Addicts #18 (July 1992).
- ^ "Otomo Takes Manhattan", MARVEL AGE #100 (Marvel Comics, May 1991).
- ^ Review of the NES/Famicom game by Mobygames.com
- ^ Review of the AmigaCD game by Mobygames.com
- ^ Review of the Akira pinball simulator by Tothegame.com
- ^ http://www.i4u.com/article8301.html
[edit] External links
- Akira Official Website (Japanese)
- Akira at the Internet Movie Database
- Akira at Allmovie
- Akira at Rotten Tomatoes
- ＡＫＩＲＡ (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
- Battle vs. Clown, Remix of the OST
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