Movie Time - Akira (1988)
By: Xavier Arenas
So recently I have watched the animated movie Akira. A cyberpunk based anime about a world filled with corrupt governments and cities filled with biker gangs. As a first, I can explain what cyberpunk films are. Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction, a world dominated by cybernetic enhancements or advanced technology in general. Though what makes it different from futuristic views is the societal views in cyberpunk films. The society is rampant of crime and illegal acts, along with the general idea of a profit-driven government, hell-bent on power and money than the people they rule. Back to Akira, we are first introduced to the main characters Tetsuo and Kaneda, both apart of the Kaneda biker gang.
Kaneda is the face of the movie with his awesome red motorcycle tuned to his riding style. So it shows Tetsuo, the runt of the group who was envious of Kaneda’s bike, try to ride it but fails. Their introduction is a motorcycle chase against the Clown biker gang. Which really does consist of masked clowns on bikes. The biker gang decides to hunt the Clown gang. This is a fantastic introductory scene as it is a bike chase through the city of Neo-Tokyo where holograms and tall buildings are at every turn. As they chase through Neo-Tokyo, we get a second story introduction of a little boy running away from the army with a strange man with a gun. The kid’s name is Takashi, which is oddly the color green. Which in my head raised flags as he must be something special to be running from the army with a strange unnamed man. The two run through a parade eventually getting cornered. The man gets shot down, and they kid witnesses a death which pushes him over the edge. The most significant part about the animation is the feeling portrayed in the shockwaves and emphasis on the character’s body movements. All of this combined makes you feel the child’s power when he decided to destroy buildings nearby and blow up the army. The kid runs to a close highway as we resume back to Tetsuo chasing the Clown gang ahead of Kaneda.
In Tetsuo’s perspective, we see how the confrontation with the Clown gang wasn’t for a birthday and more of a violent drive by. Kaneda’s gang is one of the orphan kids in an impovered school with teachers who don’t care about them and they could care less about the school. So they cannot afford weapons of high caliber, so they make do with bats and pipes they find on the streets. Kaneda ends up slowing down after a bit warning Tetsuo of crossing territories is dangerous. Tetsuo being the impulsive kid he is wanted to show his strength and pushed on to get one Clown and chase a Clown onto a highway… Long story short Tetsuo ends up getting the Clown and nastily meeting Takashi. The way Tetsuo says hello is by crashing his bike directly into the kid ending in a massive explosion. Kaneda ends up catching up to see his friend Tetsuo unconscious on the floor. A second later the army surrounds Kaneda’s gang and Takashi. Tetsuo and Takashi get taken, and Kaneda and his gang get sent to prison for questioning. While in the police station Kaneda meets a girl named Kei who is coincidentally in a rebellion against the government’s secrecy and corruption. They all get released, and Kaneda’s scene gets faded into Tetsuo being detained and tested on. Takashi is revealed to be an esper or ESP project guinea pigs. Takashi is not the only one as there are 2 others, Kiyoko and Masaru. A trio of experiments which have unexplainable power like telepathy and telekinesis. Through them, they awaken Tetsuo’s power, and he goes on a drunken rampage. He is confused with his ability and goes around the laboratories killing many army men and scientists to get to the espers.
Kaneda is resumed to be hanging with his friends and spots Kei trying to rebel by killing a corrupt governor and follows her. After this, he meets the rebellion Kei is in and teams up with them to get Tetsuo back and end the government with a swift covert mission. As he does this Tetsuo is destroying the facility and Kaneda with Kei traverse the sewers to get to him. Tetsuo is about to kill the espers, but Kaneda comes in time to try to calm Tetsuo down, but that enrages him more as Kaneda tries to calm him with tough love. Which in my opinion is something Tetsuo is not too hot with as he was left from his parents and was the punching bag of the group being the youngest kid in the gang.
Which I can see why Tetsuo is so motivated to show them he is not a mistake.
Tetsuo ends up storming off and into the streets of Neo-Tokyo. This is where we learn why the movie is called Akira. Akira was a young boy who had extreme universal powers, powers that ended half of the world. The espers told Tetsuo before he left that Akira was held at a secure point near the Colosseum.