Akira

Let's make one thing clear right off the bat: this review is gonna be positive. Akira is not only my favorite anime but my favorite animated film bar none and one of my favorite films in general. Katsuhiro Otomo has crafted an animated sci-fi actioner for adults that's good, great in fact, a rarity since the vast majority of "adult" animation fails miserably by relying on dopey sex jokes and idiotic plot rather than solid storytelling and likable characters. Otomo's film weaves together themes of friendship, honor, betrayal, the deadly consequences of playing God, gang war, espionage, corruption, and the abuse of power while maintaining a breakneck pace throughout its running time. Throw it all in a blender and you've got one of the great...

It has been said that when Oppenheimer witnessed the first atom bomb test, he said, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." This may actually be a mis-translation of the Bhagavad-Gita, which deals with illusion and impermanence. Nevertheless, the sentiment that great achievement in science, like great power, carries great responsibility, remains true.

Yet to date, homo sapiens has consistently shown that it is not ready for this dilemma. The string of films and sci-fi novels that deal specifically with this subject is long and varied with many excellent examples: Lang's Metropolis, Robert Wise's The Day the Eartch Stood Still, The Terminator, Blade Runner, and Ex-Machina to name just a few.

Akira is another, very well-done, ...

Technically very good, but so confusing that it doesn't work.

I'm 33 years old and my childhood saw the popularization of Japanese anime in Europe and the West thanks to hits like Dragon Ball and others. However, I have to say that, even as a child, I hated this type of highly stylized animation, so different from what I was used to seeing.

Even so, it is necessary to grant this film some value. The animation it brings us is of excellent quality and very well designed, and the perfectionism typical of Easterners is clearly evident in the attention given to the smallest details, scene by scene. As has been the hallmark of modern anime, it has a lot of action and moves in a futuristic, dream-like environment, much to the liking of t...