Akira- long has it been one of the most popular anime films ever created.
And, until just yesterday, I completely hated it.
I so completely hated Akira when I first saw it in Leonardo dub form that I immediately forgot almost everything about it.
Then, as a part of the Eyes Unclouded series, I decided to give it another chance- this time with subtitles, Japanese track, and no Leonardo.
Now my memories of Akira shall remain intact.
Although I do not hold Akira on as high a pedestal as most do, I can now see the quality within.
Akira without a Ninja Turtle holding it down is actually quite good.
Based on a long running manga series, Akira had quite a lot of effort put into it. Creator, writer and director Katsuhiro Otomo quite clearly cared for his work.
Some complain about the conversion of 2000 pages worth of manga into a 2 hour anime production, but then, some people will complain about anything.
The thing that I like most about Akira is the rebellious attitude presented. Otomo deliberately fashioned the film to be reminiscent of the days of the sixties, with protests and riots.
He did an extremely good job. Those parts of the film are what stuck out the most for me, and made it good enough to change my opinion.
The atmosphere created by Otomo is both nostalgic and futuristic at the same time. The perfect blend has been created.
One of the things that I found interesting about the Eyes Unclouded screening of Akira was that the film was a lot funnier than I remembered. Kaneda is actually a very good source of comic relief, with his explanations to the police and his hopeless chasing after Kei.
Tetsuo's villain cape was both disturbing and hilarious at the same time; he blows up a shop window, rips out a curtain and drapes it over himself.
Some other reviews of Akira are stupidly exaggerated. Discounting a film by completely making up something is one of the worst things that you can do.
Contrary to popular belief, Akira has much more dialogue than the characters simply shouting each other's names.
And yes, Akira does have a plot. The critics who can't see that are blinded by their own elitism.
There are several notable improvements of the subbed version over the Leonardo dub.
Firstly, the ugly blue kids, while still ugly and blue, now actually sound like children as opposed to old people.
Secondly, you can now listen to Kaneda without thinking that he should be green and have a shell.
And of course, the voices and acting don't totally suck.
Some of the things that I did not like about the movie remain as I remember them. I don't care what anyone says, I will never like giant teddy bears exploding into milk.
The blue kids were still freakishly ugly.
I also rediscovered why people don't change into giant fat crusher babies in reality; that is the most unpleasant thing ever.
That's the main thing that I don't like about Akira. Otomo was far too graphic in some parts. I don't think that I'm alone in not wanting to have to see girls crushed or innards spilling out of bodies on to streets.
Whereas many other people would go for an implied violence, Otomo seems to want it all to be there. It was probably Otomo's intent to be brutally portray violence, but I could do without that much of it.
Crushing scenes have happened in anime before, and were carried out with much more skill. A prime example of that is Hayao Miyazaki's Castle of Cagliostro. Miyazaki recognised that hearing someone crushed is actually far more effective than seeing someone crushed.
Satoshi Kon did a great job of violence with Perfect Blue. The audience knew that someone was getting stabbed repeatedly in the head; but that didn't mean that they completely wanted to see it. The perspective given there was much more effective than Otomo's "in your face" violence strategy.
I'd even go so far as to suggest that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- The Movie crushing scene was handled better.
Of course, just because I don't agree with someone's directorial vision doesn't mean that it was the wrong way to go.
The character designs for Akira are a mixed bag. Kaneda, the Colonel, Ryu, Kei and most of the extras look fine.
The other characters are hideously ugly.
The blue kids! The blue kids are my bane! Children are not supposed to look like that! (I do realise that that was the point).
Tetsuo didn't look very good to start with, and as the film progresses, he gets uglier and uglier. Why is it that growing power equates receding hairline?
Mr. Nezu looks like a rat.
Kaori, whom some people think is cute (the same people who complain endlessly about the conversion from manga to anime), is actually intensely ugly. I don't like her nose, and her clothes always seemed weird.
Otomo said that he was not going for a cute look with Kaori, and I can quite honestly say that he succeeded.
The character design was very deliberately done the way that it was. I doubt the film would have worked at all if the blue kids were ultra cute with shiny eyes, and if Tetsuo didn't grow into the most hideous monster ever animated this side of tentacles.
Just because some characters are not pleasing to the eye does not mean that the design is bad- this design would only be bad if Otomo intended to make those characters look good.
Akira is not the sort of film that I'd go back to again and again. I might watch it a few more times, but it does not warrant purchase.
Through Eyes Unclouded, I saw some merit to the film.
I shall never completely understand the absolute popularity of the film, but I can now appreciate it.
Just like Evangelion, Akira is truly what you make of it.
Ohayo, Leon-chan! � 2001, Alexander Doenau and the Doenau Anime Corporation.
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Boku wa Tetsuo.