Akira
Japanese promotional poster
Directed by	Katsuhiro Otomo
Produced by	Ryōhei Suzuki Shunzō Katō
Written by	Katsuhiro Otomo Izō Hashimoto
Starring	Mitsuo Iwata Nozomu Sasaki Mami Koyama (Japan) Cam Clarke Jan Rabson Lara Cody (USA) Johnny Yong Bosch Joshua Seth Wendee Lee (DVD)
Music by	Shoji Yamashiro
Cinematography	Katsuji Misawa
Editing by	Takeshi Seyama
Distributed by	Toho (Japan) Orion Pictures (USA)(lapsed) Geneon (USA)(current) Manga Entertainment (Australia, UK)
Release date(s)	July 16, 1988 (Japan) 1989 - 1990 (US) January 25, 1991 (UK) May 8, 1991 (Australia) May 8, 1991 (Theatrical Release) (France) May 9, 1991 (Germany)
Running time	124 min.
Language	Japanese
Budget	¥1,100,000,000 US$10,000,000
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Akira (アキラ, Akira^?) (pronounced [ɑkiɺɑ] a-ki-ra) is a 1988 Japanese animated film co-written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo based on his manga of the same name. The film is set in a neon-lit futuristic post-apocalyptic Tokyo in 2019. While most of the character designs and basic settings were directly adapted from the original 2,182 page manga epic, the restructured plot of the movie differs considerably from the print version, pruning much of the last half of the book. Akira is regarded by critics as one of the greatest animated films ever made.^[1]

The movie led the way for the growing popularity of anime in the West, with Akira considered a forerunner of the second wave of anime fandom that began in the early 1990s. One of the reasons for the movie's success was the highly advanced quality of its animation. At the time, most anime was notorious for cutting production corners with limited motion, such as having only the characters' mouths move while their faces remained static. Akira broke from this trend with meticulously detailed scenes, exactingly lip-synched dialogue—a first for an anime production (voices were recorded before the animation was completed, rather than the opposite)—and super-fluid motion as realized in the film's more than 160,000 animation cels.^[2] Notable motifs in the film include youth culture, delinquency, psychic awareness, social unrest and future uncertainty weighed against the historical spectre of nuclear destruction and Japan's post-war economic revival. The film also explores a number of psychological and philosophical themes, such as the nature of corruption, the Will to power, and the growth from childhood to maturity both in individuals and the human race itself. Elements of Buddhist symbolism are also present in the film.

Plot summary

The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (April 2008)

The film is set in the year 2019, over thirty years after a mysterious explosion destroyed Tokyo and subsequently started World War III. Neo-Tokyo has been built on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, and is soon to host the Olympic Games. Despite its appearance as a glittering metropolis, it really under seige by a corrupt government, political unrest, and violence in the streets. A gang of teenage bikers called the Capsules, is led by smug 16-year-old delinquent Shotaro Kaneda, engage the Clowns, a rival gang, in a street fight. While pursuing two Clowns, Kaneda's best friend, Tetsuo Shima, has his bike inexpliably explode when he finds a boy with the face of an old man blocking his path. The boy, Takashi, had been previously set free from a government facility with help from the terrorist Resistance. Kaneda's gang arrives to see Army soldiers, led by Colonel Shikishima, collect Takashi and the injured Tetsuo. The Capsules are arrested at the scene.

When the gang is brought in for questioning, the interrogators are soon convinced the boys are not members of the Resistance. Kaneda recognizes a female Resistance member named Kei from a picture in a book and, finding her attractive, gets the soldiers to release her. Kei abruptly leaves the scene, leaving a spurned Kaneda behind. When the boys are returned to their vocational training school, they are harshly disciplined by the school administration. Meanwhile, the Colonel is summoned to a government lab by Doctor Onishi, who is examining Tetsuo. The boy is displaying strong mental frequencies that are reminiscent of something called "Akira," prompting the Colonel to order the Doctor to kill Tetsuo without hesitation, should his power grow beyond control. However, Tetsuo later escapes and meets up with his girlfriend, Kaori. The couple decide to run away together to a place far from Neo-Tokyo.

Tetsuo and Kaori steal Kaneda's bike at the school, but the vehicle stalls just as the two are leaving the city. They are immediately attacked by Clown members, who assault Kaori and are about to destroy the bike when Kaneda and his gang show up and defeat them. Tetsuo and Kaneda later enter a confrontation during which Tetsuo declares his longstanding resentment for Kaneda, reveling a long-concealed inferiority complex. Tetsuo then has a painful headache accompanied by disturbing hallucinations. The Doctor, monitoring Tetsuo nearby, becomes alarmed and orders Tetsuo to be taken back into custody for treatment. Scientists arrive -- accompanied by the Colonel and his men -- inject him with a sedative, then carts him away back to the lab.

That night, as the gang hangs out in the city, a terrorist attack occurs. Kaneda glimpses Kei and Ryu, and follows as they flee the scene. Kei separates from Ryu and enters the sewers, but is spotted by soldiers; Kaneda aides her as they prepare to attack her. In the scuffle, Kei shoots and kills one of the soldiers. Kei and Kaneda flee the scene. Kaneda and Kei make their way to the hideout of the Resistance, which deeply distrust Kaneda. After locking him in a room, the Resistance members privately review their next assignment: to gain access to a government facility to rescue a new test subject named Tetsuo Shima. After being discovered eavesdropping, Kaneda explains to the suspicious group that he and Tetsuo are friends, and that he can help. After Ryu meets with the Resistance leader Nezu, and they both agree to use Kaneda as a decoy should there be any trouble, the group later decides to bring him along.

At the government nursery, Kiyoko, another psionically gifted yet wizened child (an Esper) like Takashi, tells the Colonel that she dreamt of Akira's coming return and Neo-Tokyo's imminent destruction. The Colonel and the Doctor agree that it might be Kiyoko's precognition at work. The two soon travel to Akira's underground cryonic storage chamber near Neo-Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, finding all of its systems to be operating normally. Later appearing before the a committee of bureaucrats called the Supreme Executive Council, the Colonel is angered when the Council members scoff at his requests for further funding for the psionic project, and question his sense of duty as a soldier. The Resistance leader Nezu is revealed to be a Council member, and thus the government mole Colonel was talking about eariler in the film. Frustrated by the Council's arguing on better ways to spend the project's budget, the Colonel abruptly leaves the meeting.

The Espers -- Takashi, Kiyoko, and a third child named Masaru -- have by now become concerned about Tetsuo, who has begun to display growing psychic powers that they fear will become a destructive force if left unchecked. They launch at attack on Tetsuo in his hospital, posing as gigantic, sinister toys. Tetsuo, confused and afraid, dodges their advances and cuts his foot on a broken glass. The sight of blood scares the children and they vanish -- not before letting Tetsuo see the faces of his attackers. His powers now growing stronger, he breaks free of his room and makes his way towards the Espers' nursery, killing any scientists or soldiers that get in his way.

Meanwhile, Kaneda and the Resistance group, having made it into the facility disguised as cable workers, are spotted sneaking into the lab through the sewers and a shootout ensues. In the violent onslaught, Kaneda manages to hijack a "flying platform" -- a small aerial vehicle flown by soldiers -- and rescues Kei as they flee the scene. Kiyoko possesses Kei and leads Kaneda to the nursery, where Tetsuo has already arrived, wreaking destruction.

Tetsuo has begun using his mind to attack both the Colonel's soldiers and the Espers. He comes to learn about Akira and is eager to find out what it is, hoping to make his headaches stop. Reading Kiyoko's mind, Tetsuo further learns about Akira's cryogenic chamber beneath the Olympic Stadium and escapes in a flash of light.

Kei and Kaneda are captured and locked in a holding cell. Kiyoko speaks through Kei once again, warning of Tetsuo's immense and growing power. She described that children like the Espers and Tetsuo are humans who have evolved before their time- they are compared to an amoeba with the strength and knowledge of a human. She also explains that Akira once tried to manipulate all the energy in the universe, but destroyed Tokyo in the process. The cell door becomes unlocked and the two escape. They later meet up with Kaisuke, a gangmate of Kaneda, who tells Kaneda about Tetsuo's murder of Yamagata, another gang member, the previous night. Kaneda vows to kill Tetsuo. Takashi appears and takes away Kei, the two of them disappearing before Kaneda's eyes.

Colonel Shikishima, in his pursuit of Tetsuo, uses his forces to mount a coup d'etat against the government, and orders all members of the Supreme Executive Council arrested. Upon hearing the news at his home, the mole Nezu murders his staff and attempts to flee with a suitcase full of money by himself. When a wounded Ryu arrives to tell him about the failure of the mission to rescue Tetsuo, an enraged Nezu shoots him. Nezu later dies of a heart attack in an alley way; Ryu, having pursued his former mentor, dies of his gunshot wounds.

News of the Colonel's coup causes civil unrest and riots in Neo-Tokyo, but the rioters grow curious of news coverage of a teenage boy destroying the Colonel's forces, apparently single-handedly. Tetsuo has begun to wreak havoc across the city on his way to the Olympic Stadium, destroying tanks, helicopters, and a bridge. He eventually makes his way to Akira's cryogenic chamber, where he is challenged by Kei, again possessed by Kiyoko. However she is thrown aside. Tetsuo lifts Akira's cryogenic chamber from the ground and destroys it, but finds nothing except a bunch of canisters containing human organs. Colonel Shikishima, speaking to Tetsuo through a microphone, tells Tetsuo that Akira has been long dead, his remains dissected and subjected to various tests , which to this day, yeilds no results. When Tetsuo attacks again, the Colonel decides to use a orbital weapon called SOL to stop Tetsuo.

Kaneda, now armed with a laser rifle taken from a dead soldier, confronts Tetsuo at the ruins of the chamber, and they to taunt each other. The two eventually start a physical battle, Tetsuo using his immense psychic powers against Kaneda's laser rifle. In the middle of the fight, the Colonel fires SOL at Tetsuo. The onslaught results in the loss of Tetsuo's arm. Enraged and in pain, Tetsuo flies into space and manages to attack SOL and drag it out of its orbit and into obilivion in the atmosphere.

The battle momentarily over, Tetsuo uses his powers to construct a mechanical arm. He hides out at the Olympic Stadium, where Kaori finds him screaming in pain. His arm has begun throbbing before finally bursting, beginning to absorb surrounding objects. The Colonel appears and asks Tetsuo to come back to the lab so he can get more medicine, but Tetsuo rebukes and attacks him. When the Colonel shoots back, Tetsuo's arm transforms into a horrific blob-like mixture of flesh and metal that attempts to swallow and kill the Colonel. Kaneda arrives on his bike and shoots the monstrous appendage, causing it to recede. Meanwhile, the Espers have arrived at the stadium and seem to be communicating with the canisters containing Akira's remains.

Tetsuo and Kaneda fight again. Kaneda shoots Tetsuo's mechanical arm, causing Tetsuo's body swells into a techno-organic blob composed of expanding flesh and parts of machinery. The power Tetsuo is developing is too much for his physical body to withstand and his mutation expands his body to a monstrous size. Kaori gets enveloped in his mass and is crushed to death. Kaneda is catapulted and swallowed up inside the form. On the verge of being killed, Kaneda unleashes several bursts of laser fire, allowing him an escape from Tetsuo's body.

Akira's canisters shatter, releasing his consciousness and causing him to suddenly appear, and he is revealed to be a young boy. His arrival triggers another explosion. Kiyoko teleports the Colonel to safety. The explosive energy sphere starts to absorb Tetsuo, who pleads for Kaneda's help. Kaneda, desperate to save his "redeemed" friend, follows Tetsuo into the energy sphere. In an effort to save Kaneda, the Espers decide to enter as well, intending to use their combined powers to free him. Inside Akira's sphere, Kaneda enters expanding and receding waves of the Espers' and Tetsuo's dreams and memories. We get a view of how the Espers got their powers and early Kaneda and Tetsuo lives and how they met. The Espers tell Kaneda that Akira will be sending Tetsuo "away", to a unknown location.

Kaneda then seems to be ejected from the inside of Akira's onslaught, awakening outside the explosion upon hearing Kei's voice calling his name, perhaps telepathically communicated by the Espers. The sphere suddenly vanishes and the city is being destroyed when it leaves. Kaneda seems to be teleported back to Olympic Stadium where Kei finds him. He catches the light that remains from the Akira's explosion and thanks Kei for "helping" him. Neo-Tokyo is destroyed by the violently expanding sphere; buildings are either slanted or destroyed by the event. Streets are gutted and flooded also by the event. Doctor Onishi sees through a measuring device that a universe is being "created" , just as his laboratory collapses, killing him. Kaneda, Kei, Kai, and the Colonel survive. The former three meet up at the ruins of the Olympic Stadium, wondering if Tetsuo is truly dead. They ride their damaged bikes across a bridge into the ruined city to start over.

Somewhere, a stylized "big bang" breaches the cosmic darkness and God -like Tetsuo's voice echoes, "I am Tetsuo."

Characters

• Akira (アキラ) – The eponymous, principal subject of the story. Akira was a young boy who developed transcendent psionic, nearly god- like abilities when serving as a test subject for secret government ESP experiments in the 1980s. He subsequently lost control of this power and annihilated Tokyo in 1988. After the cataclysmic event, Akira's dead body was recovered and subjected to every test known to modern science, which proved unable to solve the mystery. His remains were placed within a cryogenic chamber underneath the Neo-Tokyo Olympic Stadium, to be entrusted to the study of future generations.
• Shotaro Kaneda (金田 正太郎 Kaneda Shōtarō) – The anthology's main protagonist, Kaneda is a carefree gang-leader who boasts a custom-modified motorcycle. He and Tetsuo have been best friends since early childhood. He is brash and not above teasing Tetsuo despite feeling affection for him as a younger brother. Upon rescuing Kei, Kaneda becomes involved in the activities of her group of anti-government guerillas in hopes of locating Tetsuo.
• Tetsuo Shima (島 鉄雄 Shima Tetsuo) – Kaneda's best friend since preschool and the second principal subject of the story's theme. Tetsuo is shown as a black sheep in the gang he and Kaneda are part of, and quietly suffers from a deeply rooted inferiority complex. He admires his friend yet at the same time strongly resents his own reliance upon him. After his psychokinetic abilities manifest, Tetsuo quickly becomes Kaneda's nemesis; he desires Kaneda's motorcycle (a symbol of status and power), and seeks to prove himself supremely powerful, without need of protection.
• Kei (ケイ) – A young female revolutionary whom Kaneda meets and becomes enamoured with on his quest to find Tetsuo. She is a member of an anti-government faction that Ryu and Nezu are also involved in. Although she does not possess preternatural abilities, Kei is employed by the espers as a type of medium on several occasions.
• Colonel Shikishima (敷島大佐), also known as simply The Colonel – The head of the ongoing government project which was responsible for inadvertently unleashing Akira's power thirty years earlier.
• The Espers – Masaru (マサル, codename "Number 27"), Takashi (タカシ, codename "Number 26") and Kiyoko (キヨコ, codename "Number 25") – Akira's fellow psychic test subjects kept in a perpetual yet aging childhood. They exhibit a variety of paranormal powers which they use to influence the course of events to the best of their ability. While individually of lesser strength than Akira or Tetsuo, their combined effort proves decisive in the story's final confrontation.
• Nezu (根津) – A mole in the government, who is responsible for Takashi/Number 26's kidnapping.
• Yamagata (山形) – One of the most prominent members of Kaneda's gang. He often derides Tetsuo, which leads to harsh feelings between them that will ultimately seal his fate.
• Kaisuke (甲斐) – Another member of Kaneda's gang, Kai plays an important supporting role in the eventual battle against Tetsuo. He appears to be close friends with Yamagata given that they remain together when the gang breaks up.
• Kaori (カオリ) – Tetsuo's girlfriend. She stands by Tetsuo even though he treats her rather harshly sometimes.

Principal cast

• Nurse: Steven Blum (Animaze Version)
• Animaze's Additional Voices by William H. Bassett, Josil Ferhardt, Rebecca Forstadt, Jessica Gee, Dougary Grant, W.T. Hatch, Matthew Hustin, Christopher Joyce, Lee Kelson, William Frederick Knight, Lex Lang, Patricia Ja Lee, Peter Lee, Mike Lembaw, Detroit Louie, Cody MacKenzie, Mona Marshall, Dan Martin, Michael McConnohie, Steve McGowan, Derek Stephen Prince, Ted Rae, Joe Romersa, Tony Sarducci, Adam Sholder, Michael Sorich, Skip Stellrecht, Sam Strong, Jim Taggert, Lisa Tarulli, Julie Ann Taylor, Chloe Thornton, Kirk Thornton, Ezra Weisz, Kurt P. Wimberger, and Dan Woren
• Streamline's Additional Voiced by Eddie Frierson, Watney Held, Melora Harte, Lewis Lemay, Julie Phelan, Tony Pope, Burt Walters, Bruce Winant, and Brad Wurst

Production

Akira Committee was the name given to a partnership of several major Japanese entertainment companies brought together to realize production of Akira. The group's assembly was necessitated by the unconventionally high budget and ambitious scale of the cinematic project, in order to achieve the desired epic standard equal to Otomo's manga tale.

Akira Committee consisted of:^[2]

• publisher Kodansha Ltd.
• Mainichi Broadcasting System, Inc.
• Bandai Co., Ltd.
• Hakuhodo Incorporated
• distributor Toho Co., Ltd.
• Laserdisc Corporation
• Sumitomo Corporation
• animation producer Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd.

The film was completed and released in 1988, two years before the manga storyline officially ended in 1990. Otomo had immense difficulty completing the manga; he has stated that the inspiration for its conclusion arose from a conversation that he had with Alejandro Jodorowsky in 1990, but Jodorowsky cannot recall what he said to Otomo.

Katsuhiro Otomo is a big fan of the classic 1950s manga Tetsujin-28 (Ironman-28, known as Gigantor in the US). As a result, his naming conventions match the characters featured in Tetsujin-28: Kaneda shares his name with the protagonist of Tetsujin-28; Colonel Shikishima shares his name with Professor Shikishima of Tetsujin-28., while Tetsuo is named after Shikishima's son Tetsuo Shikishima; Akira's Ryūsaku is named after Tetsujin's Ryūsaku Murasame. In addition, Takashi has a "26" tattooed on his hand which closely resembles the font used in Tetsujin-28. The namesake of the anime, Akira, is the 28th in a line of psychics that the government has developed, the same number as Tetsujin-28.

The sound of Kaneda's bike engine was produced by compositing the engine sound of a 1929 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a jet engine.

In the early 1990s, Kodansha Ltd. was in negotiation with Sony Pictures to produce a live-action remake of the film. Talk circulated again a decade later,^[3] but the project has yet to materialize. Rumors circulated that the project was cancelled in both instances when the projected budget for the film was upwards of $300 million. Recent talks have begun again as Warner Brothers has signed on to produce the movie with Stephen Norrington (writer) and Jon Peters (producer).[1]

Film

Main article: Akira (2009 film)

Akira will be developed into two live action films with the first scheduled for a summer 2009 release.^[4] Warner Brothers and Apian Way will adapt the two movies from the manga, with each one covering three volumes. Akira will be Ruairi Robinson's directorial debut for a feature film. He was nominated for a short film Oscar in 2002 for Fifty Percent Grey. Gary Whitta is writing the script. Andrew Lazar, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Davisson will produce the film. No announcement has been made regarding the cast.

Releases

The original July 16, 1988 release by Toho in Japan set attendance records for an animated film. Fledgling North American distribution company Streamline Pictures soon acquired an existing English-language rendition (originally dubbed for the Hong Kong market)^[5] which saw limited release in North American theatres from late 1989 throughout 1990. Streamline is reported to have become the film's distributor when both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg labelled it unmarketable in the U.S.^[6] VHS releases included the initial Streamline Video offering (May 1991), later wider distribution by MGM/UA Home Video, and a subtitled edition from Orion Home Video (September 1993). The Criterion Collection released a laserdisc edition in 1993, and Pioneer Entertainment issued a DVD and a VHS with a new English dub in 2001.

In the UK, Akira was theatrically released by ICA Projects on 25th January 1991, and then on video by Island World Communications later that year. The success of this release lead to the creation of Manga Entertainment, who later took over the release. In 2002, Manga released a two-disc DVD featuring the new Pioneer English dub followed in 2004 by another two-disc set containing the original Japanese as well as both the Streamline and Pioneer dubs. This version did not contain standard English subtitles, only closed captioning subtitles. In 2005 Manga Entertainment and Boulevard UMD released Akira on UMD for the Sony PSP (Playstation Portable) using the original Streamline English dub.

In Australia, Akira was theatrically released by Island World Communications distributed by Satelite Entertainment. The original VHS release of Akira started up Manga Entertainment Australia and VHS distribution was handled by Ronin Films and Polygram until 1994 when Siren Entertainment took over all of Manga Entertainment Australia's distribution including Akira under a special license from Polygram, who handled Island's video distribution. Akira was re-released on video in 1994, and again on DVD in 2001 and distributed by Madman Entertainment and The AV Channel. There is no schedule for a blu-ray release of Akira in Australia.

In 1988 Taito released an Akira adventure game for the Famicom.^[7] An Akira game for the Super Famicom was cancelled and never released. International Computer Entertainment produced a video game based on Akira for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 in the 1994. ^[8] To coincide with the DVD release in 2002, Bandai released Akira Psycho Ball, a pinball simulator for the PlayStation 2. ^[9]

DVDs

DVD features

The available DVD releases of the movie each have their own particular features, including a 'making of'.

Special Edition

For the 2-disc Region 1 Special Edition DVD:

UK Collectors Edition

• Make Your Own' Akira Trailer
• Production Report - 'Making of Akira' Featurette (English dubbed version)
• Multiple Choice Quiz whereby correct answers will allow you to gain access to particular parts of the akira2002.com website
• Stills Gallery

UK Ultimate Edition

Blu-ray Edition

A Blu-ray edition of the movie was expected to be released in summer of 2007^[10]. It has now been delayed towards late 2008.

Soundtrack

Akira: Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack by Geinō Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組)
Released	1990
Recorded	1988
Length	69:31
Label	Demon Records
Producer	Shoji Yamashiro
Alternate cover

Akira: Original Soundtrack was recorded by Geinō Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組). The music was composed and conducted by musical director Shoji Yamashiro. It features music which was additionally rerecorded for release. "Kaneda", "Battle Against Clown" and "Exodus From the Underground Fortress" are really part of the same song cycle – elements of "Battle" can be heard during the opening bike sequence, for example. The score is generally sequenced in the same order that the music occurs in the film.

A second soundtrack was released featuring the original music without rerecording, but also including sound effects and dialogue from the film; the recording was probably a direct transfer from the film.

Symphonic Suite AKIRA is the same version than Akira: Orignal Soundtrack, but without the voices and sound effects

Track listing

1. "Kaneda" – 3:10
2. "Battle Against Clown" – 3:36
3. "Winds Over Neo-Tokyo" – 2:48
4. "Tetsuo" – 10:18
5. "Doll's Polyphony" – 2:55
6. "Shohmyoh" – 10:10
7. "Mutation" – 4:50
8. "Exodus From the Underground Fortress" – 3:18
9. "Illusion" – 13:56
10. "Requiem" – 14:25

Second Soundtrack Track listing

1. "Kaneda" – 9:56
2. "Tetsuo 1" – 12:36
3. "Tetsuo 2" – 12:33
4. "Akira" – 7:56

Differences between the anime and manga

Although they feature the same characters, premise and themes, the anime and manga versions of the story are quite different. Apart from numerous details of plot, very few scenes or lines play out the same way in both versions.

• The most significant variation is in the role Akira himself, who in the film adaptation is relegated to backstory and only appears very briefly in the main action, and even then in a limited form, as his remains are revealed to have been dissected for study and stored via cryopreservation under the site designated for the 2020 Tokyo Olympiad. The manga, by comparison, has Akira as a major character from the end of Volume 2 onwards, joining forces with Tetsuo to preside over the city after it is destroyed by Akira.
• The film is set in the year 2019; the manga is set in the year 2030.
• The anime cropped the whole of the manga's destructive aftermath scenario caused by the title character, which notably included: the establishment of the Great Tokyo Empire, with Akira serving as its divine emperor and Tetsuo as its operational minister; Tetsuo's partial destruction of the Moon; and the arrival of an American assassin sent to kill Akira.
• In the manga version, Akira destroys Neo-Tokyo halfway through the story. In the film version, he destroys the city at the very end.
• In the film, Tetsuo manages to fly into space to destroy SOL, the Japanese military's laser satellite. In the manga, Tetsuo does not destroy SOL, but the Americans have a satellite with the codename FLOYD, which Tetsuo sends crashing down on the American naval fleet.
• In the film, Mr. Nezu, the Parliament mole, dies of a heart attack, and not by the Colonel's soldiers, as in the manga.
• Ryu dies after being shot by Nezu in the film, whereas he dies from falling debris in an elevator shaft in the manga.
• In the film, Kaori, Tetsuo's girlfriend, is crushed to death inside Tetsuo's grotesque, swelling, and mutating body; in the manga version, she meets a less gruesome fate when she is shot by Tetsuo's lead henchman.
• The Doctor, the Colonel's scientific advisor, is crushed to death in the movie when his mobile laboratory collapses; in the manga, he is frozen to death.
• Lady Miyako, an esper who heads a temple in the manga, is turned into a fanatical follower of Tetsuo in the film, and then hit by a sliding vehicle when Tetsuo destroys a bridge; in the manga, she dies while helping Kei face off against Tetsuo. In the manga she is a major character, in the anime she is a 'throwaway' character.
• In the manga, Tetsuo becomes the leader of the Clown gang, ousting Joker from the position. Joker later joins forces with his former enemies Kaneda and Kaisuke in attacking Tetsuo. In the movie, Tetsuo does not become involved with the Clowns and Joker does not play a role in the film beyond his initial skirmish with Kaneda.
• Chiyoko, an important ally of Kei and Ryu and a major supporting character in the manga, is completely absent from the film.
• In the manga, Akira destroys Tokyo in the year 1982 (1992 in the western editions), as opposed to the year 1988 in the film.
• In the film Kaisuke and Yamagata meet Tetsuo in the bar and Tetsuo kills Yama offscreen, Kai later reports this to Kaneda. In the manga Tetsuo uses his power to crush then explode the back of Yamagata's skull.
• Kaori is not in the manga until the fourth volume, she attempts to get pills from Tetsuo to save her father but instead stays with him and Akira. In the film she is, and has been, Tetsuo's girlfriend.
• Tetsuo's character design is slightly different in the manga. Instead of boots and a sleeveless shirt, he keeps the slippers from the hospital and completely lacks a shirt. He also keeps his robotic arm obscured behind his cape. In the Anime Tetsuo's right arm is shot off, while in the American translation of the manga it is his left. This is due to the American version being mirrored for easier reading. Furthermore, Tetsuo's Hair goes from a pitch black to a light brown, then finally to a whiteish-grey.
• Tetsuo is not designated "Number 41" in the film, which is a piece of information in the manga to which frequent mention is made.

Katsuhiro Otomo decried his fame and said that his conclusion of Akira was false in both the Japanese and American editions, and that he could never truly finish his epic.^{citation needed} Nevertheless, Akira is widely considered a masterpiece of graphic storytelling.

Critical reception

Roger Ebert selected Akira as his "Video Pick of the Week" in 1989 on Siskel & Ebert and the Movies. For its wider 2001 release, he gave the film "Thumbs Up".

References in other media

Akira has been referenced in popular culture many times, perhaps owing to its great international popularity.^[11] Clips of the film are used in the music video for Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's 1995 song "Scream". ^[12] In the video for Kanye West's 2007 single "Stronger" pays homage to Akira by reenacting scenes using CGI.^[13]

The Philadelphia based jam band The Disco Biscuits created an improvised score to the film during the third set of their epic New Year's Eve 1999 concert at the Theater of the Living Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The film was projected onto a screen facing the crowd while the band watched on monitors and provided the completely improvised score. ^[14]

Alex Jaegar of Industrial Light and Magic has said that the Akira-class starship from Star Trek, which he designed, was named for the film.^[15]

In the South Park Episode "Trapper Keeper" Cartman transforms into a massive biomechanical monstrosity which merges with various people and technology. This is strikingly similar to Tetsuo's final transformation, in addition the music played in the background is similar to the background music from Akira.

The stop motion animation TV show Robot Chicken has made numerous references to Akira in skits such as Tetsuo! and A Very Dragon Ball Z Christmas, in which Tetsuo appears briefly and Mrs. Claus transforms into a gigantic fleshy blob.^[16]

The character of K9999, who appears in the 2001 and 2002 editions of the King of Fighters series, draws heavy influence from Tetsuo, to the point both are voiced by Nozomu Sasaki.

See also

• Thematic similarities in Altered States and Childhood's End.
• Akira (video game)
• Freedom Project
• Buddhist symbolism
• Will to power
• Delinquency
• Telekinesis
• Katsuhiro Otomo

References

External links

• Akira Official Website (Japanese)
• BlueBlade AKIRA (English-based fansite)
• Akira at the Internet Movie Database
• Akira at Allmovie
• Akira at Rotten Tomatoes
• "ＡＫＩＲＡ" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
• Battle vs. Clown, Remix of the OST

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