Comic book fans around the world have raved about this film since it was released in 1988 in Japan. It cam rto the states in 1989. Now here is just what the film is about!
July 1988- An nuclear explosion wipes out Tokyo, leaving a crater in it's wake. Thirty years in the future, in a city called Neo-Tokyo, religious cults and motorcycle gangs rule the streets. One of these gangs feature the two main characters of the film, Kaneda and Tetsuo. Kaneda is the leader of the gang, while Tetsuo is a member ans lifelong friend of Kaneda and just once doesn't want to be seen as weak. As they fight against a clown gang, Tetsuo almost collides with a green colored boy, who has escaped from the Army. They take the fallen young man with them, with his gang members thinking that he's going to the hospital as they are taken to a police station themselves. It is there that Kaneda meets a girl in custody for revolutionary purposes and gets her to say she's with them as they are released. Meanwhile, Tetsuo is experimented on and he has one word in his mind, "AKIRA". He escapes and goes to the school, to steal Kaneda's bike, which he has wanted. On the street, he's plagues with halucinations. The Army finds him and quickly takes him back. As Kaneda goes after his bike, he sees the girl and follows her. As he goes in pursuit, he stumbles on a secret base and she reveals the him what they do. It seems that the Army is experimenting on people to make them into weapons. The group's purpose is to free those taken captive. It is here where Kaneda finds out that Tetsuo is with them.
A man known simply as the General is in charge of the experiments, which has three surviving,intelligent, and telekinetic children. Tetsuo wakes up in his room, plagued by nightmares of evil toys... and milk. He realizes that the nightmares were placed in his head by the children and goes to find them, not realizing that he is now empowered and can't control the pain, causing many painful deaths. Meanwhile Kaneda and group infiltrate the headquarters to find Tetsuo. He comes across Tetsuo in a battle of wills with the children. Tetsuo, letting this new power go to his head breaks through a wall and floats away. In the morning, Tetsuo is hunted by the many weapons of the Army. as he defeats helicopters and tanks, the crowds see him as Akira reborn, Akira being the god that will clean them with fire. He wants to know where Akira is. Turns out that Akira is just a bunch of inards in an enormous and frozen dome. AKIRA homepage
