Akira (1988)

Akira is said to be one of the best anime and science fiction movies. It is always hard to adjust your expectations when you watch something which should best thing ever. You expect it to be something and might be disappointed when it is something else. Usually it is something else if you manage see the movie unspoiled.

Akira happens in Neo-Tokyo where society is almost collapsing. There are massive protests. Bike gangs fight on streets. Violent police tries to keep it all together without thinking too much about collateral damage. Almost everyone seem to be on the edge all the time. Bike gang crashes into weird kid. One of them them is taken by military and others by police. Story gets really weird by the end. Telling more about the story would be spoiler.

I can see why Akira has its reputation. It won't got to top of my anime or science fiction lists. Maybe it would be there if I saw it when it was released. It is still good movie but it has too many flaws to be on top of the lists. Main flaws is ending being too weird and some characters not being given any backstory even though they had some affecting the movie. You had to guess what it was. Worst was long death scene for character we saw briefly couple times before. The death scene happened when main story was shifting gear. It was payoff for something which didn't have any build up.

Akira is based on manga series by director of the movie. Maybe he thought we knew the characters better than what we learned from the movie. Many open questions were probably answered in manga and build up for the death scene was there. There were few characters who needed more backstory. It was clear characters and world had more to give but this movie didn't have time for them.

Akira looks really good. It reminded me of comic books with really good art work. Until the end it doesn't go too weird. It is worth checking to know what the movie actually is. It is not perfect movie but it does many things really well.