years to make. It’s tense, funny and wonderfully
entertaining. And, when Tetsuo hallucinates
toys coming to life, terrifying and revelatory.
Doing some reading around the movie,
I noticed that Ôtomo cites bothRebel Without
A Causeand2001: A Space Odysseyas an
inluence on his work. A lot of similar themes
— alienation, the nature of humanity, the
dangers of technology — can be found inAkira.
Other themes are universal and so relevant
— the battle between science and the military is
something we see time and time again in sci-i.
Yet it’s one that constantly fascinates me, and
one that is not always done well. I had very low
expectations of an animated ilm being able to
get so deep and touch on such heavy subject
matter. Then I watchedAkira. In fact, I forgot
I was watching animation after a while.
It is not just considered a landmark of
Japanese animation, but regarded by many as
one of the greatest animated movies of all time.
I have to agree. It’s certainly inluential — you
can see elements in ilms likeThe Matrixor
even TV showStranger Things. The animation
is faultless and uses light in a way that I can’t
quite get my head around. It’s the simple things,
like how Ôtomo and his team capture the buzz
of neon. And the soundscape is stunning —
bursts of traditional music through sparks of
Shoji Yamashiro’s score blend perfectly with
the explosions, gunire and loud vehicles, to
add real depth of emotion and tension.In a way, it’s timeless. About 15 years
ago I hosted a series of the travel showRough
Guide, and Japan was one of the countries
we were lucky enough to ilm in. For one
segment I got to hang out with a real Bosozoku
motorcycle gang for a night. The speciicity of
the gang mentality that I witnessed irst hand is
told with such honesty and colour inAkira,
from the noise of the bikes to the blatant
disregard for life and their fearlessness. It’s
astounding for animation to capture this. For
me, it’s definitely ignited an interest in Japanese
animation. Perhaps my son can put away the
Pokémon and join me.AKIRA IS OUT NOW ON DVD, BLU-RAY AND DOWNLOAD.