*** (out of ****)
Featuring the voices of Mistu Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Yuriko Fuchizaki, Hiroshi Otake, and Mami Koyama
Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo & written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto
1988
124 min R
I don’t know the history of Japanese anime—I can only watch so much of it before I feel like I’m about to have a seizure—but it seems that “Akira” is a sort of flashpoint, where all the essential aspects of the genre coalesced in order to break through to a new audience. I have no idea what “Akira” was the first to do or the best to do. But it contains, perhaps even formalized, many of the elements that characterize so much of the anime that has gone after it, which, for better or for worse, has made itself a niche in modern pop culture.
There is a corrupt, unapproachable, and often inept government; a hyperactive military/industrial complex; and a sprawling, futuristic super-city awash in decadence and urban decay, a place so sinful that only utter destruction seems able to redeem it. Into this step our protagonists, who are usually in some form of adolescent rebellion, and who must do battle with a superhuman (and usually super-gross) threat to the city. The threat often takes the shape of giant robots, although not in “Akira,” and there is usually some unnecessary exploitation of teenage underpants, although, thankfully, not in “Akira.” The average anime movie is also entirely hand-drawn. The genre has been reluctant to use computers, which gives it a warmth Pixar sometimes lacks, but also a sometimes washed-out look that Disney would never tolerate. And, yes, there is the look of anime characters, with their big eyes, big heads, and stiff movements, which you either like or you don’t. I don’t, and I don’t like the way everything—from action, to voices, to music—seems to be pitched just a little too high, as if A440 isn’t good enough and they’ve pumped everything up to A480.
Based on a series of comic books, “Akira” follows a street gang into such a quagmire. By night they wage war on motorcycles with other street gangs and by day they go to school (punky and rebellious as they are, anime thugs never question the value of a good education). When we first enter the city it is a gorgeous, neon-lit sewer bathed in purple moonlight. It’s name is either Tokyo or Neo Tokyo or Tokyo 3, and it is in the grips of a kind of apocalyptic, religious fervor, waiting for the return of an urban legend named Akira, who has become something of a messiah. One night, the street gang stumbles across a secret and very bizarre military project that may involve Akira. What it does involve are little blue children who seem to have aged rapidly and developed telekinesis. While one gang member, Tatsuo, finds himself bumbling into a resistance movement out to destroy the project, another boy named Kaneda has been sucked into the Akira project, and learns to tamper with the very stuff of life itself…duh-dun-dah!
Another convention of anime upon which “Akira” prides itself is a delight in wonton destruction. The advantage of a super-urban area like Neo Tokyo is that it gives a genetically-enhanced Kaneda a whole lot to destroy on his rampage. Like “Ghost in the Shell” and “Neon Genesis Evangelion” after it, “Akira” balances out the carnage with lots of deep talk about the “nature of existence” and about the untapped potential of the human mind. I like the way personal relationships are never lost, no matter how many innocent civilians are crushed and property values lowered. Even as Kaneda goes berserk, Tatsuo still expects his authority as the gang leader to be respected. Even as Kaneda’s genetic alterations become progressively more disgusting, he still expects to be cherished by his sister.
I’m not sure if the “deep talk” coagulates into anything substantial, but that’s not the point. “Akira’s” goal is more to throw out ideas amidst scenes of breathtaking action, to create a dichotomy between thought and obliteration, to show an apocalyptic world in which man does not understand himself. As Kaneda finds himself stomping tanks and ripping satellites out of the sky, the movie turns more to horror than to science-fiction or action: he has become Neo Tokyo itself, a place too excessive, too decadent, too destructive, a sign of humanity’s ugliness. Or is he a rebel against those times? Is he a mad messiah wiping out the decadence with his flesh-based powers and telekinetic prowess? You can see what I mean about the deep talk and the unanswered questions.
Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo (2001’s animated “Metropolis”), the movie’s violence, color, and noise are tempered by quiet moments, many of them intensely surreal, as Kaneda slips into another world. This also appears to be a convention of anime, popping up later during several very intriguing sections of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” which can best be described as animated free association. So, in a way, “Akira” is a movie with everything: great visuals, terrific action, interesting characters, and even a little philosophy thrown in. But do the people have to be so ugly and use such annoying voices?
Finished November 18, 2003
Copyright © 2003 Friday & Saturday Night
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