Akira

Adam

Just watched Akira for the first time, and I fail to see the hype! I thought it was ok, good even for the most part! Until the end, so much is left unexplained! What did the three kids do to bring Akira into being? What was going on with Tetsuo and why was it counter-acted by the arrival of Akira? What was the point of the 15 minute montage at the end?

Overall I have to say it was very disappointing, hopefully somebody can shed some light on the matter, though admittedly I am quite tired!

</rant>

Cy_Revenant

Unexplainedness is a common theme among most good anime I've seen. It allows for your own interpretation of events.

I have encountered very few animes that lead me by the hand and tell me whats going on.

pinksoir

read the comic. it is 6 volumes long and runs for over 1800 pages. it would be impossible to cram all of that into an hour and a half long movie. the movie is pretty good once you have read the comic, but it does leave out loads.

By the way, the vast majority of animes are based on comics hence the fact that they are usually quite difficult to follow. only the OVAs are original (original video animation)

Eva24

Cy_Revenant wrote:

I have encountered very few animes that lead me by the hand and tell me whats going on.

That's not anime specific. It's a common literary device. Often what is left un said is just as intriguing as what is explained. example: Ibsen, Friel, Joyce etc.
Pretty much anything.
Besides it's incredibly boring if everything is explained, as for Akira, wasn't the movie released before the Manga was completely published?

Adam

I get that there's often holes in story when it comes to anime, and I enjoy it to, I just felt with Akira that it was a bit too much unsaid and left the feeling that it hadn't been thought through rather than open interpretation of the "unspoken".

alastair_doom

yeah, but kick ass bikes

Fenian

yeah, but kick ass bikes

Love the way the tail lights leave a jet stream like red trail after them when they go around a corner.

Adam

Yes indeed, that did impress me

monkeyfudge

The reverse gear on a Kaneda's motorbike is cool too.

You really need to read the manga to appreciate the story though. But there is still a huge amount of information in the fim and you'll spot new things each time you watch it.

In the comics the destruction of Neo-Tokyo takes place at about half way through the story and Tetsuo and Akira set up the Great Tokyo Empire in the ruins.

Nevyn

You have also got to rememeber that Akira was really the first Anime film to make it to the west and at the time no one had seen anything like it.

carbonkid

Im on the same thinking as Thaedydal that it was the first anime to hit the western market that wasnt all tits n blood...besides it kicks ass >_<

Its a good starting off point for someone who wants to check out anime for the first time ^_^

Adam

Yeah I guess thats a fair point. I suppose I was just expecting too much! I'll probably look into getting the manga. As soon as I'm done consuming Paranoia Agent and Haibane Renmei

o1s1n

i first saw akira about 14 years ago when i was a wee nipper. it totally blew me away. it instantly became my favourite film, and remains so to this day.
i understand that a lot of people dont like this film because they "dont get it" on first viewing. i must admit, i experienced the "i dont ge it" the first time i saw it. (i was only about 8, cut me some slack ). but even still, i found it so visually stunning that i couldnt help but love it.

it has some of the most loveable characters ive come across in anime. i still get a lump in my throat during all the flashback sequences of Tetsuo and Kaneda as children (sad i know

reading the manga will piece together all the missing parts in the film. (and give you ****loads more). but still, the film can be understood after a few viewings.

secret government experiments result in the creation of a child (named akira) with extremely powerful telekenetic abilities. results in the destruction of neo tokyo. fast forward into the future. tokyo is rebuilt. the government has restarted the experiements to unleash the potential of the human brain. a resistence group kidnaps one of the test subjects, (takashi) from the government thinking he is Akira. tetsuo crashes into him by accident. releasing the telekenetic potential in his own mind. government starts to experiment on him. he gets powerful. escapes. destroys a lot of things. his power becomes too much for his physical body to contain. resulting in him turning into a huge mass of flesh.
the espers awaken akira. akira creates an alternate universe to our own. sucks tetsuo in.

thats the jist really. obviously there are much more complicated issues involved. but if you understand what i just said, you'll understand the film.

now, time to plug my akira cel site heh

http://akiracels.rubberslug.com/

heh. if anyone has any akira cels, even the ones given out by manga entertainment in the early nineties, id be interested in hearing from you