Akira

[Darth Waller]

Big time Akira Fan!
A poster I did years ago

Now that is bad ass!

 

[karamazov80]

Very cool. Also very nice having those cells.

I first saw this circa 1992, a copy that my cousins had, and it blew me away. I had never seen anything like it of course, and it made me into an anime fan throughout my adolescence. At the time, there wasn't much out there, so like the earlier post I would love watching the Sci-Fi channel specials. I vividly remember watching Robot Carnival and Vampire Hunter D. Then, I would have to travel way across town, even into New Orleans to find anime to rent on VHS. So, I would catch stuff like Area 88, one about a bad-ass assassin robot, Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell, etc. But none of that stuff held a candle to Akira.

As an aside, I remember trying to get videos of Dragonball Z around 1994, and it was just an impossibility at the time. The best I got was copies of the Manga that someone from Japan mailed to me. You kids today have it so easy with your internets! Around '97 they started showing some of it in the U.S., and I was first able to get some badly subtitled VHS copies of some of the episodes and films.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

I still have the 3 disc box set

 

[Ehollywood]

Big time Akira Fan!
A poster I did years ago

Here's the link
https://society6.com/product/aki-print_print?sku=s6-4499676p4a1v45

 

[Shadow Master]

I'll never forget catching this on the Sci-Fi Channel back in the day in 1995. Even though it was probably edited for TV, at the age of 8 back then seeing an animated movie like that just blew my mind.

 

[ironwez20]

Yea quite possibly one of the best anime movies to ever be released.

 

[Shadow Master]

I have yet to read the manga it's based on but it's a priority of mine. I've heard the film omits much of the manga and that Tetsuo's assault near the end is much more violent and large-scale.

 

[spindrift]

Yea quite possibly one of the best anime movies to ever be released.

THE best- no doubt

 

[Otomofan]

I have yet to read the manga it's based on but it's a priority of mine. I've heard the film omits much of the manga and that Tetsuo's assault near the end is much more violent and large-scale.

Dude. Go to amazon right now and buy the newly released hardcover boxed set of the manga; then turn off your phone, lock the doors, and devour every page.

The AKIRA manga is the most incredible sci-fi action comic book ever drawn. The art is insane. The action sequences are massive and immense in scope and vision. It's completely unfilmable. It would be the most expensive movie ever made if they were to use the manga as a storyboard and actually wanted it to be convincing.

The animated movie is a masterpiece as well, but it can't even compare to the scope of the manga. Can't recommend it enough to anyone that loves comics, science fiction, or just plain ART.

 

[Shadow Master]

I shall do just that. I always like to kick back and enjoy a good book or graphic novel, and it sounds like it's easy to get immerse in the Akira manga and have time go by doing so.

 

[Ce Ilhuicamina]

Awesome stories and beautiful collections you have there fellas!

No midnight secret showings at underground theaters or early pirated 90's DVDs for me.

Akira was one of those beloved works of animation I postponed checking time after time throughout the years. Last year I finally gave it a chance after seeing it was available on Netflix and I was blown away, it inmediately turned in one of my favorte animated features of all times.

After the credits rolled I became hungry for more and promptly pre-ordered the 35th anniversary manga box set which I just finished reading a few moments ago. Without spoiling anything Akira is truly "all that" and way more. Otomo certainly made a huge dent in the universe, it's just amazing how much fiction in the last decades owe to Akira. An amazing story accompanied by excellent art, this film/manga is not only worthy of appreciation: it demands being celebrated to this very day and beyond.

 

[Otomofan]

Yes....yes.....yes.

This guy gets it. Welcome aboard friend. So glad you got to experience both the anime and manga like that!

 

[Shadow Master]

Such a haunting track. Without a doubt one of the most eerie pieces of music ever and it fit so perfectly with the grotesque scene in which it was used. Seeing Tetsuo's mutation as a kid is something that you definitely never forget.

What a challenge the mutation sequence would be to do in live-action. I'd hope they'd opt to do it practically although they'd doubtlessly go for CGI. If they opt to go for similar mutation effects like The Thing, this sequence could be so gruesome to see realized in live-action.

 

[Otomofan]

I just hope a live action version never happens. So far, it's been stalled by budget. But every treatment I've read over the years just shows how colossally stupid Hollywood executives and writers are. If it ever gets made, it will be "AKIRA" in name only, and have zero to do with the story, characters, and setting of Otomo's manga or anime.

Most of the scripts submitted want it to take place in Neo-New York. They had Keanu Reeves attached, Leonardo Dicaprio, that guy from Tron 2....all to play what is supposed to be 15 year old Japanese kids. And all the studios had artists submit designs for the motorcycle, which is already one of the most iconic motorcycles ever designed. Why change a single thing on it? Cause they're ****ing idiots, that's why.

Dear god I just hope it never ever gets made.

 

[spindrift]

only if Nolan makes it...he would stay true to the material (I would think)

 

[Plastic Bateman]

Outside of the f'd up visuals and mood, there's very little good about the anime adaptation.
They've tried to cram a lot of character development and story into one film and it didn't really work.
Yes, it was "groundbreaking" at the time but it didn't age that well.

Going to have to profoundly disagree with that. I love the manga, but the anime does an excellent job at paring all the interweaved storylines back to a more personal tale of childhood rivalry gone bad between Kaneda and Tetsuo - while still managing to touch on some pretty vast philosophical ideas in the process. It's as good a distillation of such labyrinthine source material as you could possibly hope for in a two-hour film. I also appreciate that it uses the visual medium to explore these ideas other than spelling it out through endless dialogue, which becomes especially rewarding on repeat viewing.

 

[Kamandi]

The film does benefit from the additional context of reading the manga. On it's own I think it's stunning but for many people the ending becomes a very 2001 "what does it mean?" experience. Lots of films today are spectacular but shallow, people now have a lower tolerance for a story where there's ambiguity.

I love the film but the story told within the manga is on another level. The manga also makes the film more comprehendible.

 

[Plastic Bateman]

The film does benefit from the additional context of reading the manga. On it's own I think it's stunning but for many people the ending becomes a very 2001 "what does it mean?" experience. Lots of films today are spectacular but shallow, people now have a lower tolerance for a story where there's ambiguity.

I love the film but the story told within the manga is on another level. The manga also makes the film more comprehendible.

Funny you should mention 2001, that's another of my favorite films I have no idea why some people find it so incomprehensible, the answers are all there and it's actually an incredibly straightforward story - just one told through, again, visuals rather than dialogue.

 

[ZaCHw117]

After the unbridled hype amongst sci-fi geeks and film nerds, I finally decided to give this a try.

First thing that hit me like a ton of bricks is that it looks like a generic anime.

The second thing is how slow and dumb it is.

Edit: aaaannd I'm out. I gave it a full hour. This is the cinematic equivalent of Otomofan's posts but less fun. A anime turd is still a turd. I don't give a crap about the characters or story. Utter fail on the filmmakers' and animators part. No thanks. I'm sure I'll be accused of "just not getting it" but I just call it like I see it. Slow paced animes are fine if there's compelling characters or story...this is just wankery. No wonder this aired on the sci-fi channel.

 

[Ce Ilhuicamina]

I can clearly foresee a Ghost In The Shell type of situation if they ever turn it into a live action feature. Wheter is American or Japanese the results of making an anime or manga into live action adaptation have a mostly horrible track record.

I really like how the film holds up to this very day, as much as I love Ghibli films they tend to rely on a very childish worldview (Sorry Miyazaki) even when it tries to touch upon "mature" subjects (The Wind Rises) the results, while beautiful, end up feeling wishy washy at best. Akira feels interesting and badass despite its age, the manga adds even more layers and visual impact to an already vast array of complex characters.