Akira Genre: Action Shouryu's Overall Score:  5.0

Reviewer: Shouryu
Type of Review: General

Akira continues to be proclaimed a masterpiece by anime fans throughout North America, and when I look at when it was produced and premiered, I can understand the fanfare it receives. However, in comparison with anime of the late '90s and the 21st century, it no longer stands out. It does remain a high quality and ground breaking work, but it is no longer uncharted territory, and can be held up against other similar works such as Evangelion and Lain.

A feature film based on an extensive manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, it tells the tale of a teen gang member who is kidnapped by the government and becomes amazingly powerful after he is experimented upon. Imbued with power and filled with rage against those who have supposedly oppressed him all of his life, he escapes and sets out on an ultra-violent rampage. During the high paced, confusing plot and various unexplained motives, there are touches of psycological and sociological drama and a conclusion that tries to deal with the fate and the concept of humanity. From my research, it appears to me that the film is a condensation of a much more detailed and wider spanning story in the manga. I will read the manga sometime in the future for comparison's sake.

While the story has its merits, the characters are a failing point. I feel no compassion, sympathy, or hope for any of them. Kaneda is good hearted, yes, but still excessively arrogant and self-righteous. Tetsuo is little more than a pouting, weak-willed child who had to hide behind Kaneda, and I have no sympathy for his resulting resentment. Kei is a mystery - who is she? What are her motivations? Akira - the deus ex machina in all of this, is twice as anonymous. We are simply expected to shudder in fear or gasp in awe whenever someone mentions Akira, and in the end, when we discover who or what Akira was, they make no effort to completely explain what happened to him, or his true significance. A good story is a good story, yes, but it helps to have characters with qualities we care about, or can at least relate to.

The animation is clean and clear, although it is in a style I don't particularly care for, nor have I seen mimicked in any other anime. The violence, however, is fairly shocking at points (although it might be considered tame compared to other anime). The music has its merits, but is not particularly outstanding. And the story is not bad by any means, just a little confusing. Again, considering when it was originally released (the late 80's), it was certainly groundbreaking at the time, but has far too much competition in the here and now to hold merit as a masterpiece.

This is certainly not everyone's anime - as much as people continue to praise it, it is NOT something that everyone is guaranteed to like. I, for one, am fairly indifferent to it. I don't hold it in low regard, but having watched it, I don't feel any great desire to add it to my DVD collection. If you can stand the violence and the confusion, and see past it for the story that exists, then I encourage you to give it a try. I will warn casual anime fans, however, that it is certainly not for the weak at heart. Approach with caution and with an open mind; know full well that you may or may not be disappointed. If you approach it without rabid fanboys screaming "IT'S THE GREATEST ANIME OF ALL TIME!!!" in your ears, perhaps you won't have such high expectations, and you may not be let down.