Name(s): Akira / アキラ
Format: Movie (124 minutes)
Studio(s): TMS Entertainment

I swear, Akira should be some kind of test for media literacy. It has a reputation for being confusing or hard to follow, when the plot is extremely simple. I’m going to share the basic premise, so anyone super anal about spoilers might want to look away. There’s a government experiment researching a restrained, powerful psychic. A motorcycle gang in a dystopian city accidentally becomes involved. That’s the gist of it. God help anyone who’s still confused. Every storyline development is easy to infer the significance of and follow. I had zero questions.

Anyway, it’s been too long for me since I watched Akira to do a detailed review, but I loved it. The setting is bleak and oppressive, but the futuristic elements, intense action and high stakes, as well as the captivating animation quality keep the environment’s dourness from implanting onto the viewer experience. The basic themes of brotherhood, mystery, and finding greater purpose in life humanize it just enough beyond its general qualities of being a sci-fi action-thriller. You would still be hard pressed to find more detailed animation in the entire medium. Even small details like the ripples on clothing are just unbelievable. Every cel of this movie lives and breathes. And it’s over two hours long to boot, a length runtime that’s rarely seen in anime movies. Watch it. I still need to read the manga.