LMU_ANIMATION: Akira Plot is Pretty Cool for its Time

Akira is a very interesting movie. Probably one of the biggest understatements of the semester but I had no other way of starting my post. Anyway, Akira is a very interesting film plot wise. This is one of the first successful feature length animated films that had a dark plot with extremely violent themes. Sure, there were cartoons that were made for a more mature audience before this (Betty Boop, Looney Tunes), but there hadn't been an animated film that was realistically violent and dark. In Looney Tunes, Wille Coyote will get crushed by a ten ton boulder and pop up just fine, in Akira, Tetsuo kills hundreds of people in a multitude of bloody fashions, none of which bounce back from. There is no doubt that Akira is for a mature audience, and that makes it stand out in the animation industry. Akira was able to show the world that animation does not have to be geared towards children or super cartoony to be successful. Animated films can be gory and dark and open ended just as live action films can be. Akira helped in getting the world to realize that animation doesn't have to be solely for children or cartoon based, it can be whatever the medium can stretch to accommodate. And that's awesome.

Now, I have several observations/questions about the film that I would like to discuss. For one, the relationship between Tetsuo and Kaneda. At the beginning of the film, their relationship is a little hard to grasp, they seem to be friends but also brothers, yet rivals? However, over the course of the movie, their relationship begins to unfold with flash backs and monologues and continuos yelling of each others name. You get to see why Tetsuo is so angry with Kaneda and feels he has to prove himself to Kaneda, but you also get to see how much they care about each other too. It's interesting to watch and towards the end I felt myself getting attached to them, even through all of the name yelling.

Another observation I had was the use of music throughout the film. Most of it was very good, the upbeat, almost chaotic beats for the motorcycle gang, the opening credits use of silence and sound, the powerful, all consuming music during Tetsuo's rampage, the music showing the chaotic engergies of Akria and Tetsuo etc. However, I found during some of these parts that the music was too over the top and overwhelming. I know a couple of times that Tetsuo's music played, it would play for a couple of seconds and then cut to silence as some dialogue was spoken. Im interested in why that decision was made for the film.

Lastly, I wanted to know what liberties the film took in comparison to the manga they adapted it from. I read briefly that Akira is a main character in the manga and not a small side character like ke is in the movie. I wonder what else was changed in the movie to help fit the director's vision and beliefs and how that changed the feel of the story overall. I almost wonder if the manga had the same ending as the movie or if more is explained.

Anyway, that is all I have to say.