A Still-Relevant Take on the Destructive Power of Science
It's hard to watch a movie such as Akira decades after it completely revolutionized Japan’s cultural landscape. Katsuhiro Otomo’s magnum opus is still considered one of the best animated movies of all time, which sets expectations high for newcomers who never got to see it. After all, what does it mean for a movie lover and a film critic if they can’t connect with such an essential masterpiece? And if the movie has aged poorly after 35 years, how do you find the words to say Akira is no longer as influential as it once was?
These questions pushed me away from my first Akira screening for a long time. However, watching the film shattered any doubt that I still had. That’s because, 35 years after its initial release, Akira remains a quintessential cyberpunk experience that discusses the dangers of scientific knowledge deprived of a strict moral compass. And the fact that the hand-drawn animation of Akira is still eye-popping more than three decades after it hit theaters speaks volumes about the groundbreaking technical work that went into the movie’s production.
‘Akira’ Is Still Cyberpunk at Its Best
Inspired by Otomo’s manga series of the same name, Akira takes place in a version of Tokyo ravaged by a third World War in 1988. After a nuclear explosion laid the city to the ground, the Japanese had to rebuild its skyscrapers and find new ways to organize the country’s political structures. 31 years later, in 2019, Japan has turned into a cyberpunk dystopia, with high-tech gadgets flooding the streets while the crescent social inequality leads to the rise of criminality. Furthermore, the corruption of the governing class and the excessive police brutality pushes the masses to their breaking point, with extremist groups emerging from the pulsating desire to change a decaying world.
It’s funny to think Akira painted the future through pessimistic lenses, and yet the erosion of social structures Otomo visualized in the 1980s is not too distant from what we witness in the West nowadays. It's not a coincidence, then, that the themes of Akira still feel relevant. Furthermore, cyberpunk media was born from humanity's realization that scientific progress didn't necessarily mean the improvement of society, with the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb strikes serving as the most gut-punching example of how reason can lead to destruction. These concerns have been accentuated since 1988, with the irreversible effects of humans' predatory actions over nature pointing to the cataclysmic end of our species. So, even though Akira is explicitly dealing with the social trauma of a nation rebuilt after an atomic bomb strike, the paradoxical link between the scientific wonders and the damage people can do with advanced technology echoes the latent fears evoked by climate change and late capitalism.
While Akira works as an obvious metaphor for the constant threat of a nuclear holocaust, the many layers of its intricate narrative allow its story to remain contemporary as years go by. In addition, the movie deserves to be praised for how it tackles complex philosophical questions without alienating the viewer, wrapping them in a story that's absolutely bonkers, in the best sense of the word. There are exhilarating motorcycle chases, superpowered children, explosions, fistfights, and even gruesome body horror to keep the audience engaged at all times. As such, Akira serves as a great reminder that a movie doesn't need to choose between being serious or entertaining and that even Hollywood blockbusters could make a more significant effort not to underestimate its public.
‘Akira’ Remains a Technical Wonder
Contrary to other art forms, such as painting or sculpture, there’s something ethereal in cinema. Filmmaking technology evolves so fast that, in just a few years, we can sense how technical limitations drag a movie down. It’s no wonder we often discuss old movies but rarely put into question how a particular literary work has aged. That’s particularly true for animation, a cinematic language that has been revolutionized several times in the past decade thanks to new computational technologies. With that perspective, assuming Akira wouldn’t look so good after 35 years would be fair. And if that were the case, the movie shouldn’t be considered any less crucial for the animation industry, just a victim of the ruthless march of time. Nevertheless, people willing to watch this Japanese classic will be unquestionably surprised by how good the animation of Akira still looks.
In Akira, the large static panels that compose Neo Tokyo’s background are filled with detail, bringing the cyberpunk city to life. In addition, the action in the film’s main layer is filled with color trails that mimic lights and give the action scenes a unique pizzazz. Character animations might look a little stiff after 35 years. However, in general, Akira still delivers smooth action through animated media, which explains how the movie fueled the Japanese industry, inspiring other classics such as Ghost in the Shell and Battle Angel Alita. Furthermore, since Akira recently got a 4K remaster, this is the best time to give the classic a chance and realize how incredible the animation truly is.
While Akira looks terrific, the sound editing of the movie is not as impressive. The original soundtrack by Shōji Yamashiro is still unnerving, masterfully mixing clean notes with the noise made by construction tools long before industrial metal became popular. Unfortunately, Yamashiro’s tracks are not used to their best in Akira, which features too many silent scenes. While silence can be an essential storytelling tool, in Akira it can be distracting since we try to make sense of a metropolis uprooted by turmoil, but that sounds too quiet.
While the sound design of Akira can be lacking in some moments, the movie still justifies its position as one of the best animated features of all time. And if the story can be so compelling nowadays, when cyberpunk has extended its roots towards every pop culture domain, we can only imagine how disruptive Otomo’s story was in 1988. There’s a reason why Akira keeps influencing Hollywood movies and TV shows. After all, Japanese cinema doesn’t get much better than this.
Rating: A
Akira is currently available on Hulu and Funimation Now.
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