Over 35 years since the debut release of Akira in cinemas, it still proves to be the most influential anime film in history, and stands at the pinnacle of what Japanese anime has to offer.
The Japanese Film Festival, known more popularly as Eigasai, and presented by Japan Foundation Manila, runs their annual screening this first week of February and gives Filipinos the chance to experience the legendary Akira in the cinemas, to everyone’s applause and celebration. While on a limited run, Eigasai offers several other notable Japanese films such as the Oscar winning Godzilla Minus One, Perfect Days, and a re-run of the popular Haikyuu: The Dumpster Battle movies.
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Of all the anime films in existence, very few are considered the greatest of all time by multiple generations of fans. The list include Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue, Studio Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle, and standing on top of them all may very well be Katsuhiro Otomo’s masterpiece – Akira.
The film has managed to inspire an ungodly number of noteworthy films based on theme, shot composition, world-building, and dialogue across multiple mediums and art forms. The destruction of buildings and grandness of Neo Tokyo can be seen in several works of Christopher Nolan. The interlaying pipe structure, reverence to motorbikes, and general lack of regard for humanity when it comes to law enforcement is akin to the city of Midgar from Final Fantasy 7 and Night City in Cyberpunk 2077. Themes of unlimited power concentrated over a single entity gave birth to Lucy, the Matrix, and shamefully so, the entire plot of 2012’s Chronicle.
Spinning out from this are an even longer list of film reviews, film critics, and analysis that study and admire the minute details of Akira. There is not much left that has not been said about a film as revered as this. Therefore, this review will instead attempt to capture the experience of seeing Akira for the first time in a surround sound cinema and surrounded by new and decade long fans.
Japan Foundation has successfully provided an unforgettable opportunity to appreciate Akira with the best experience modern movie houses can offer. The animation and the sound is completely next level compared to how it was when it first aired in the late 80s due to technical limitations, and as modern filmmaking technology continues to evolve, so will the immersion that an Akira screening can provide. From this experience, two aspects stood out – the film’s detailed animation and its immaculate score.
Movement
Movement in Akira is special. It had higher drawing frames per second beyond most of what was available coming from any anime production at the time. Because of this, the experience of watching Akira is akin to watching bubbles form when pouring iced cold beer into a mug. The bubbles appear, they combine with one other to make bigger bubbles, they pop, and reappear again, all coated within the symphony of sizzling acid. There are hundreds of things happening at the same time and you cannot focus on any one bubble, but it is fascinating to watch the chaos as a whole. Akira, almost miraculously, achieves to capture this sense of chaos, and this height of animation of having dozens of moving parts successfully painting a single scene.
There is an infinite number of aspects worthy of praise in the film’s nuanced animation and attention to detail. The strongest examples of this come from scenes of the formation of the psychic giant stuff toys, Tetsuo’s mechanical arm, and even in the high frame rate action scenes with the now iconic motorbikes. The detailing is all intricately thought out, from the most pivotal moments of the story down to the unassuming scenes of Kaneda and his bike gang in the detention cells, and in their school grounds. The animation even went as far as to attempt what appeared to be shots from a gyroscopic camera, panning in and out of scenes, but which were actually meticulously animated screens with script continuity in mind, both in the subject and the vibrant background. The movement and attention to animation, built on over 160,000 illustrated frames, is truly spectacular to behold on the big screen.
Score
Having been immersed in the anime community for most of my conscious lifetime of over three decades, I have heard endless praise for Akira’s gorgeous animation, its overarching themes of existentialism and imperialism, and its 35 years of influence over the filmmaking landscape. I am pleased to discover, however, thankswith thanks to being able to watch it in a surround sound cinema, the film’s breathtaking sound. Akira showcases a score that is as otherworldly as the themes it espouses. “Kaneda”, based on the name of one of the central characters in the story, includes claps, sounds reminiscent of the jungle tribal music, and bamboo trunks. The score of the whole film ultimately sounds experimental, running parallel to the film’s theme of sci-fi and overall air of mystery. None, however, captures the existential dread and eeriness of Akira as much as the track “Battle Against Clown”. The track involves unsettling chants and breathing, wrapped around anxiety inducing polyrhythmic beats. I urge you to listen to this track to feel your heartbeat increase and gain a sneak peek of the overall feel of Akira.
Akira is regarded as a film that sits in the list of the greatest movies of all time, similar to films considered so divine that they cannot be easily remade, if anyone dares to remake them at all. It is not a stretch to say that Citizen Kane, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and the Godfather are peers to Akira. There are not enough words of praise to describe the experience of watching the god of anime films in the cinema, and this is a film so distinct and special, we can be certain its influence will reververate and shape film making for decades more to come.
Score 10/10
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