This was the movie that introduced me to this genre. Somewhere in the late 1990s the BBC was screening Akira in Japanese with English subs and I was blown away. I still have the VHS tape on which I've recorded the movie. Thanks for the review, I've enjoyed it and Lin Htat's contribution was very insightful.
Akira - what an absolute classic work of social art! I noticed early the prevalence of nuclear-type explosions in Japanese anime, and even back then I accounted it to the atomic bombings in WW2 being embedded in the Japanese psyche. I was 14 or so at the time. Little did I know how amime is truly a deep and direct expression of post WW2 Japan. Kudos for the mention of "Valley of the Wind"... another great anime work!
In the UK we had exposure to Japanese animation in the 70s with Marine Boy and Battle of the Planets. But Akira was on a completely different level. We used to call Anime, Manga because that was how it was marketed. Now do Tetsuo the Iron Man, that movie was from the same generation and had the same impact!
I came to anime courtesy of Astro Boy and Kimba, when they first went to air in Australia in the early 60s. Afterwards was Marine Boy and similar programs (that I can no longer remember in detail). But Astro Boy was my intro, and I've got the 60s series and later 80s series on DVD, just waiting for some grandkids to bring up proper (no sign yet though). My first daughter was born in '82, so I started showing her (and her siblings) anime on VHS from about '86 or so; I remember showing Warriors of the Wind (the butchered Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), Castle of Cagliostro, Heidi and similar children's anime. I didn't see Akira on screen, but I did see Ghost in the Shell and its sequel Innocence, and definitely saw My Neighbour Totoro and other Ghibli films, as well as other animes (Wings of Honneamise, Wolf Children, Children who chase Lost Voices, etc) in the cinema. From about 2000, of course, I've had DVD (later Blu-Ray) versions of quite a few anime films, rather than series.
The first Anime that I saw, that caught my attention as "different" to other cartoons around the same time was "Science Ninja Team, Gatchaman", which was brutally edited, rewritten, and released as "Battle of the Planets" by Sandy Frank. A few decades later, I watched the original, and saw first hand how much damage he had caused. Ironically, all the action of the original series occurs on Earth, no other planets were involved. So bear that in mind when G-Force visit "The Planet of the French", the Gatchaman team were only on a mission to Paris at the time. The character "7-Zark-7" and company, were placed there by US animators as glue to hold the episodes together after editing the stories. Prior, I consumed other Anime like Astro Boy, Marine Boy, Kimber the White Lion, without actually knowing it was Anime until quite some time later. By the 80's, Manga and Anime were making serious headway into the western markets, and the much controversial Robotech burst onto the scene, an Anime that was in part, quite good, and in others, less so, to discover partway in, that it was 3 separate shows, blended into one to meet US syndication rules. Macross, was of course, the best part of the set, I ranked Genesis Climber Mospedia, the third part second, with Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, the second part I rated last. I was actually mid-way through reading the Manga, when production of the Manga went on hiatus for the movie production. I was actually concerned that the movie was going to spoil the Manga, but my fears were allayed as the movie only had a passing similarity to the Manga. When I was asked, what is the difference between the Akira Manga and the Akira Anime, it can be succinctly answered as "Akira" without spoiling anything.
The word “Classic “ does not fully describe this brilliant piece of art. Quite enjoyable...then, now & forever! Simply put, a masterpiece & way ahead of its time. It’s a very good choice for you to add your colleagues & their observations to your show.
So I first saw this at the Valhalla cinema in Northcote, Melbourne, Australia. This was a cinema renowned for showing the weird stuff (went there a lot!) it was on a double bill with Fist of the Northstar 😀 Akira just blew me away - what a movie! And the manga is awesome as well. Like others have mentioned, Akira, ignited a passion for Anime that has stuck with me ever since. My blu-ray Akira is nestled in with my Ghibli box set, cowboy bebop, Summer Wars, etc. Of course looking back I realise I have loved Anime from childhood devotion to Speed Racer, Kimba, Marine Boy, etc. Too bad the UA-cam gods didn’t let you play any of the soundtrack - it’s brilliant. Anyway, thanks for another great video, keep up the good work grt M8!
Loving this channel, thanks for the great content! Akira is a very special movie for me. I had a friend at high school in the mid-ninetees whose older brother was crazy about anime and got introduced to a lot of stuff through him. I picked up the full frame Streamline dub of Akira on VHS when I was 13 years old, solely on his recommendation. I remember him saying something like "this is the big one, everything else is just window dressing." Totally blown away, but confused by the plot. Made very little sense at the time and I didn't fully understand everything until many years later when I read the manga. I've owned pretty much every home video version of the film, bar the recent 4K version. Easily in my top 10 movies, probably top 5. The recent Blu Ray remaster looks incredible, and unlike anything being done today. The animation hasn't aged a day for me, I notice more and more detail on each and every viewing (and I've lost count of the number of times I've watched it). Despite some flaws, nothing comes close to this piece of art, before or after.
My first intro to anime was SyFy Channel’s anime summer festival, and “Dominion Tank Police”. SyFy had a Saturday morning block of stuff like Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons” and “Misfits of Science”, followed by a random anime film (usually a Tenchi Muyo film, or Galaxy Express 999). I remember that infomercial of “it makes Blade Runner look like Disneyworld!” so well. Until Toonami, followed by Starz Action running their Saturday “Animidnight” block and G4 TV running their Friday/Saturday night anime block (mostly Crest of the Stars, Gatekeepers, and other discount series in ADV’s stockpile), so much of anime’s marketing was to adults in the US for the smut/shock value.
Great review. I think my first introduction to anime was either the Moomin or Ginga Nagareboshi Gin. I highly recommend both of these series. Moomin is more child-oriented, though it still has some effective nightmare fuel in couple of episodes. While Gin is about a killer bear, that terrorises a small village in the mountains.
Akira was delivered almost as if it were made by Stanley Kubrick. Everything including the auteur camera, the equal attention to the visual spectacle of all of the characters and the impersonal relationship between the viewer and the main character (Alex in Clockwork Orange had no reaction to you even when he was looking right out of the screen at t you in the audience, same with Jack Torrence, David Bowman) and I think Kaneda and Tetsuo would have been right at home in a Kubrik movie. There's a lack of regard for how the audience is accustomed to receiving information, but at the same time, the cinematography is very intimate with the audience. I don't know that Ghost in the Shell captured the milieu of the impersonal the same way. I don't even think Perfect Blue did. As a result, Akira is a more draconian attack on the sensibilities than it's 90's counterparts.
Great video. I remember seeing Astro Boy in the 1960's and then later on watching Akira, Cowboy Bebop and Spirited Away. Although I like all of them, I never really connected to other Anime shows or movies that were available. I'm not sure why.
I was working for Suncoast Motion Pictures when Japanese Anime was in it's Golden Age! 'Akira' was certainly a big hit with me... But I think 'Graveyard of the Fireflies' remains my favorite! & interesting tidbit on 'Momotaro'... while most of the limited English Dialog is clearly Japanese voice actors, I read somewhere that the British Commander was voiced by an English Speaking POW they dragged out of one of theirs Camps!
I guess my first exposure to anime was Gigantor, although it was so long ago I can't be sure. I first became aware of Akira in the early 2000's and bought a DVD. Loved it, what an amazing experience. I am still watching your reviews since I just recently became aware of your channel by way of Dave Sundstrom and Thrash.👍
It’s been a good few years for new Anime films. A Silent Voice, Your Name, Weathering With You. But maybe my favorite is The Boy and the Beast. But A Silent Voice hit me in the feels the most.
I'm a big fan of the Netflix show Love, Death + Robots. There are several other great adult animated shows on Netflix: Arcane, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, Inside Job, Trese, Pacific Rim: The Black, Supercrooks....
I don't like this movie.. but I'm chucking you a like and I'm going to watch this tomorrow because I'm actually pretty interested to hear what you have to say and learn a bit about it and maybe gain some extra insight in it and maybe appreciate it a bit more.. The one thing I can say is pretty great is the animation. Keep up the great work as usual mate!
Curiously I didnt watch Akira until very recently, desping growing up watching animes. Being now adult, the movie didn"t seem extraordinary plot wise and universe wise (even tho the old fashioned animation looks so good), and I think that is because many animes that came after it which I grew up with were already inspired by Akira. The revolution already happened so Akira didnt took me aback. But I can kinda relate the impact it had to people back then, I guess Nausicaä (and Mononoké to a lesser extent) was my own Akira, seeing the disturbing resurrected titan soon to be dead again, his decomposing flesh melting, my 7 years old me would have felt the same uneasiness in front of Tetsuo grotesque giant relic of a body. Actually writing that up, I realize I can find a lot of common point between these two movies, both are set in a post disaster/apocalyptic universe, both are still under the menace of destruction, the melting flesh, powerful group of people trying to take advantage of a power they cant master and so on. Main difference between the two movies is Nausicaä feels more poetic when Akira seems more action based (not that the two of them lacks any of these two elements). Akira is also set in a sci-fi city and doesnt deal with nature as much as Nausicaä. Both constitutes critics of over consumerism/capitalism in their own way, Nausicaä dealing with pollution and how it profoundly alters the ecosystem when Akira seems more psychological, lingering on individualistic behaviors and emotions.
Is in my account is so well remembered it's because we're most shows would slide away from the showing you both sides Akira shows the truths of humanity the good and the bad and I love how it shows the bad more often than good people could learn a bit more from that society in general always wants to pretend everything's good and happy that's not how reality is it's only when the civilization accepts that to walk towards and showing that that does not exist alongside the good that true change will happen
i heard that some people don’t like kaneda. of course he can be a jerk, but he seems to have strong feelings for his love and his friends and when tetsuo is gone, he does seem pretty sad.
This is one of those movies that always has talks of a live action remake...Personally, there's no need because there isn't much to do to make it better than it is!
This was the movie that introduced me to this genre. Somewhere in the late 1990s the BBC was screening Akira in Japanese with English subs and I was blown away. I still have the VHS tape on which I've recorded the movie. Thanks for the review, I've enjoyed it and Lin Htat's contribution was very insightful.
Akira - what an absolute classic work of social art! I noticed early the prevalence of nuclear-type explosions in Japanese anime, and even back then I accounted it to the atomic bombings in WW2 being embedded in the Japanese psyche. I was 14 or so at the time. Little did I know how amime is truly a deep and direct expression of post WW2 Japan.
Kudos for the mention of "Valley of the Wind"... another great anime work!
In the UK we had exposure to Japanese animation in the 70s with Marine Boy and Battle of the Planets. But Akira was on a completely different level. We used to call Anime, Manga because that was how it was marketed. Now do Tetsuo the Iron Man, that movie was from the same generation and had the same impact!
I came to anime courtesy of Astro Boy and Kimba, when they first went to air in Australia in the early 60s. Afterwards was Marine Boy and similar programs (that I can no longer remember in detail). But Astro Boy was my intro, and I've got the 60s series and later 80s series on DVD, just waiting for some grandkids to bring up proper (no sign yet though).
My first daughter was born in '82, so I started showing her (and her siblings) anime on VHS from about '86 or so; I remember showing Warriors of the Wind (the butchered Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), Castle of Cagliostro, Heidi and similar children's anime. I didn't see Akira on screen, but I did see Ghost in the Shell and its sequel Innocence, and definitely saw My Neighbour Totoro and other Ghibli films, as well as other animes (Wings of Honneamise, Wolf Children, Children who chase Lost Voices, etc) in the cinema. From about 2000, of course, I've had DVD (later Blu-Ray) versions of quite a few anime films, rather than series.
The first Anime that I saw, that caught my attention as "different" to other cartoons around the same time was "Science Ninja Team, Gatchaman", which was brutally edited, rewritten, and released as "Battle of the Planets" by Sandy Frank. A few decades later, I watched the original, and saw first hand how much damage he had caused.
Ironically, all the action of the original series occurs on Earth, no other planets were involved. So bear that in mind when G-Force visit "The Planet of the French", the Gatchaman team were only on a mission to Paris at the time. The character "7-Zark-7" and company, were placed there by US animators as glue to hold the episodes together after editing the stories.
Prior, I consumed other Anime like Astro Boy, Marine Boy, Kimber the White Lion, without actually knowing it was Anime until quite some time later.
By the 80's, Manga and Anime were making serious headway into the western markets, and the much controversial Robotech burst onto the scene, an Anime that was in part, quite good, and in others, less so, to discover partway in, that it was 3 separate shows, blended into one to meet US syndication rules. Macross, was of course, the best part of the set, I ranked Genesis Climber Mospedia, the third part second, with Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, the second part I rated last.
I was actually mid-way through reading the Manga, when production of the Manga went on hiatus for the movie production. I was actually concerned that the movie was going to spoil the Manga, but my fears were allayed as the movie only had a passing similarity to the Manga. When I was asked, what is the difference between the Akira Manga and the Akira Anime, it can be succinctly answered as "Akira" without spoiling anything.
The word “Classic “ does not fully describe this brilliant piece of art. Quite enjoyable...then, now & forever! Simply put, a masterpiece & way ahead of its time. It’s a very good choice for you to add your colleagues & their observations to your show.
So I first saw this at the Valhalla cinema in Northcote, Melbourne, Australia. This was a cinema renowned for showing the weird stuff (went there a lot!) it was on a double bill with Fist of the Northstar 😀
Akira just blew me away - what a movie! And the manga is awesome as well.
Like others have mentioned, Akira, ignited a passion for Anime that has stuck with me ever since. My blu-ray Akira is nestled in with my Ghibli box set, cowboy bebop, Summer Wars, etc.
Of course looking back I realise I have loved Anime from childhood devotion to Speed Racer, Kimba, Marine Boy, etc.
Too bad the UA-cam gods didn’t let you play any of the soundtrack - it’s brilliant.
Anyway, thanks for another great video, keep up the good work grt M8!
Loving this channel, thanks for the great content!
Akira is a very special movie for me. I had a friend at high school in the mid-ninetees whose older brother was crazy about anime and got introduced to a lot of stuff through him. I picked up the full frame Streamline dub of Akira on VHS when I was 13 years old, solely on his recommendation. I remember him saying something like "this is the big one, everything else is just window dressing." Totally blown away, but confused by the plot. Made very little sense at the time and I didn't fully understand everything until many years later when I read the manga. I've owned pretty much every home video version of the film, bar the recent 4K version. Easily in my top 10 movies, probably top 5. The recent Blu Ray remaster looks incredible, and unlike anything being done today. The animation hasn't aged a day for me, I notice more and more detail on each and every viewing (and I've lost count of the number of times I've watched it). Despite some flaws, nothing comes close to this piece of art, before or after.
Your quality level is outstanding 👏👏
My introduction to anime was the original introduction of anime to this country - Astro Boy. And I've been hooked ever since. I was 4 years old.
My first intro to anime was SyFy Channel’s anime summer festival, and “Dominion Tank Police”.
SyFy had a Saturday morning block of stuff like Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons” and “Misfits of Science”, followed by a random anime film (usually a Tenchi Muyo film, or Galaxy Express 999).
I remember that infomercial of “it makes Blade Runner look like Disneyworld!” so well. Until Toonami, followed by Starz Action running their Saturday “Animidnight” block and G4 TV running their Friday/Saturday night anime block (mostly Crest of the Stars, Gatekeepers, and other discount series in ADV’s stockpile), so much of anime’s marketing was to adults in the US for the smut/shock value.
I am just here to say that Lin dude seems like a pretty cool guy. :P
Oh also, great video.
Great review. I think my first introduction to anime was either the Moomin or Ginga Nagareboshi Gin. I highly recommend both of these series. Moomin is more child-oriented, though it still has some effective nightmare fuel in couple of episodes.
While Gin is about a killer bear, that terrorises a small village in the mountains.
Akira was delivered almost as if it were made by Stanley Kubrick. Everything including the auteur camera, the equal attention to the visual spectacle of all of the characters and the impersonal relationship between the viewer and the main character (Alex in Clockwork Orange had no reaction to you even when he was looking right out of the screen at t you in the audience, same with Jack Torrence, David Bowman) and I think Kaneda and Tetsuo would have been right at home in a Kubrik movie. There's a lack of regard for how the audience is accustomed to receiving information, but at the same time, the cinematography is very intimate with the audience. I don't know that Ghost in the Shell captured the milieu of the impersonal the same way. I don't even think Perfect Blue did. As a result, Akira is a more draconian attack on the sensibilities than it's 90's counterparts.
God...I used to watch "Battle of the Planets" in 76 or 77 in grade school. It was on every afternoon when I would get home from school.
Great video.
I remember seeing Astro Boy in the 1960's and then later on watching Akira, Cowboy Bebop and Spirited Away. Although I like all of them, I never really connected to other Anime shows or movies that were available. I'm not sure why.
I feel heard! Wahoo! Nice work, man :D
Akira was my introduction to Japanese anime fantastic movie the music is amazing ghost in the shell also a worthy mention.
I was working for Suncoast Motion Pictures when Japanese Anime was in it's Golden Age! 'Akira' was certainly a big hit with me... But I think 'Graveyard of the Fireflies' remains my favorite! & interesting tidbit on 'Momotaro'... while most of the limited English Dialog is clearly Japanese voice actors, I read somewhere that the British Commander was voiced by an English Speaking POW they dragged out of one of theirs Camps!
Thrash I vowed never to watch Graveyard of the Fireflies ever again its heart wrenching
I guess my first exposure to anime was Gigantor, although it was so long ago I can't be sure. I first became aware of Akira in the early 2000's and bought a DVD. Loved it, what an amazing experience. I am still watching your reviews since I just recently became aware of your channel by way of Dave Sundstrom and Thrash.👍
Welcome welcome!
Lynn how dare you so accurately describe ready player One
It’s been a good few years for new Anime films.
A Silent Voice, Your Name, Weathering With You. But maybe my favorite is The Boy and the Beast.
But A Silent Voice hit me in the feels the most.
20:12 It is the only two films I know of that correctly show space scene in silent. ( 2001 Space Odyssey)
I'm a big fan of the Netflix show Love, Death + Robots. There are several other great adult animated shows on Netflix: Arcane, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, Inside Job, Trese, Pacific Rim: The Black, Supercrooks....
'Lyn who is much more well versed in Anime of the 21st century than I am' Remind me when Akira was made? lmao
I don't like this movie.. but I'm chucking you a like and I'm going to watch this tomorrow because I'm actually pretty interested to hear what you have to say and learn a bit about it and maybe gain some extra insight in it and maybe appreciate it a bit more.. The one thing I can say is pretty great is the animation. Keep up the great work as usual mate!
I’ve got to get you back on my channel to diss one of my movies again. 😘😘
@@TheUnapologeticGeek hahahaha oh goddd next time I'll make sure it's one I like lol
Curiously I didnt watch Akira until very recently, desping growing up watching animes. Being now adult, the movie didn"t seem extraordinary plot wise and universe wise (even tho the old fashioned animation looks so good), and I think that is because many animes that came after it which I grew up with were already inspired by Akira. The revolution already happened so Akira didnt took me aback. But I can kinda relate the impact it had to people back then, I guess Nausicaä (and Mononoké to a lesser extent) was my own Akira, seeing the disturbing resurrected titan soon to be dead again, his decomposing flesh melting, my 7 years old me would have felt the same uneasiness in front of Tetsuo grotesque giant relic of a body.
Actually writing that up, I realize I can find a lot of common point between these two movies, both are set in a post disaster/apocalyptic universe, both are still under the menace of destruction, the melting flesh, powerful group of people trying to take advantage of a power they cant master and so on. Main difference between the two movies is Nausicaä feels more poetic when Akira seems more action based (not that the two of them lacks any of these two elements). Akira is also set in a sci-fi city and doesnt deal with nature as much as Nausicaä. Both constitutes critics of over consumerism/capitalism in their own way, Nausicaä dealing with pollution and how it profoundly alters the ecosystem when Akira seems more psychological, lingering on individualistic behaviors and emotions.
Is in my account is so well remembered it's because we're most shows would slide away from the showing you both sides Akira shows the truths of humanity the good and the bad and I love how it shows the bad more often than good people could learn a bit more from that society in general always wants to pretend everything's good and happy that's not how reality is it's only when the civilization accepts that to walk towards and showing that that does not exist alongside the good that true change will happen
The manga is on a other level…truly an epic
great video.
The masterpiece of ALL anime…bar none.
i heard that some people don’t like kaneda. of course he can be a jerk, but he seems to have strong feelings for his love and his friends and when tetsuo is gone, he does seem pretty sad.
Off topic: I like your voice
Aw, thanks!
This is one of those movies that always has talks of a live action remake...Personally, there's no need because there isn't much to do to make it better than it is!
An old boyfriend showed me this movie in the early 99s and my love for anime was born
I saw AKIRA in a theater unlike most people.
rad
"Discipline!!" (slap) "Discipline!!" (slap) "Discipline!!" (slap) lol
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, do i