Akira: The Great Influence To Many Great Works

"Akira can be looked at on two levels: as a fresh expression of an alienated youth's search for identity and as a cyberpunk meditation on apocalypse." - Susan Napier 

I would like to begin looking at this incredibly stunning film by looking at it's cyberpunk aesthetics and how it has influenced modern media as a whole. Firstly, I would like to note the futuristic city of Neo-Tokyo in the year 2019.

While the 1982 dystopian science fiction film, Blade Runner, came before Akira, Akira took the style of Blade Runner's future cities much more further. 

Blade Runner's Future City

And it is not just the fact that the shot selection was different or that fact that Akira showed more buildings (well it had to show all that destruction from Tetsuo...). However it is the fact that the colors in the shots made Akira not only more visually appeal, but it set the tone very well. I think Caitlin put in a very good comment on the city's appearance:

"Look at that city! That is the perfect environment for a dystopian, post-apocalyptic cityscape; skyscrapers stacked on top of each other like dominos ready to collapse (as they do in the end of the movie) on its own dark hedonism, primal instincts, and internal warfare." 

While yes it is the perfect environment for a dystopia, Akira also shows a place that is very lively, whether good or bad within this dystopia. Yes there are terrorist attacks, yes there are bike gangs that ruin the highways, yes the world sucks because of all the wars that have taken place, however within all of that there is good. The city gives a sense of livelihood and possible "good" living for anyone and everyone that chooses to do so. Good science fiction is not about being technical and one sided, it is about showing multiple sides of present emotions within an advanced universe. It is within the person's view of how they want to show good emotion in a bleak state. I believe that Akira does this well with it's vibrant colors and city structure, but less on the story. So while Blade Runner gave Akira a good starting ground for a city, Akira took it much further.

Better yet, Akira's style can be seen in many modern media. While Justin mentioned a music video of Kanye West imitating Akira,  there is a lot more where Akira's themes and style touched as well. Here is a list of what I think Akira has influenced:

Ghost in the Shell

Matrix

Cloud Atlas

Chronicle

Looper

Batman: The Animated Series / Batman Beyond / Any Arkham Video Game

Teen Titans

Cowboy Bebop

Dragon Ball Z

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Snow Crash (a famous science fiction book)

Ready Player One (another really freaking good science fiction book that all fans of video games, sci-fi, 1980's, and dystopias should read)

Now not everyone may agree with me on this list, but I would say a lot of this is very clear. Ghost in the Shell, Matrix, Cloud Atlas,  Batman: The Animated Series / Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, and tons more have been influenced by the way Akira shows Neo-Tokyo. Chronicle, Looper, Snow Crash, Ready Player One, and others have been influenced through the storytelling of Akira's storytelling of either an anti-hero, a dystopia, or a cyberpunk genre medium. Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Dragon Ball Z, and a whole load of anime are directly influence by Akira's popularity in the West. In my mind the best part of Akira's influence is how many different mediums there are because of Akira. In my list, there are animes, Western cartoons, video games, live action film, and books that have been influenced by Akira and I am sure there are a ton more.  Sure we would have had good works, but we probably wouldn't have had a lot of the good works that I mentioned above. (Yes I know people will disagree about a lot that are above... *cough* Looper *cough*) And it is without those other influential work that Akira has touched that we wouldn't have other modern masterpieces that we all love such as Avatar: The Last Airbender. Even though I had some issues with it, I still enjoyed Akira not only for it's complex storytelling, but also how it has influenced a lot of works that I have grown to love.

Thanks for reading! If you would like to discuss more, feel free to do so in the comments!

See You Space Cowboy