Akira - (Ultimate Collection) > Reviews > The greatest anime ever? Probably.

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	The best anime you'll find .
Disadvantages:	Complex plot, Special features are pants

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Akira is a film based on a graphic novel written by Katsuhiro Otomo. I have written an opinion on the comic and with the benefit of hindsight, I may appear to have given the film a hard time so I thought I should perhaps put the record straight.

The film (like the comic) is set in Neo Tokyo, a futuristic city built over the remains of Tokyo. The film opens years earlier when Tokyo is destroyed by a huge explosion, presumed nuclear.

The film then moves on to the story of two members of a biker gang - Kaneda, the brash, arrogant leader and Tetsuo, the youngest member plagued with insecurity and resentment towards Kaneda.

During a gang war Tetsuo chases two rival members across the city towards the crater left by the enormous explosion years earlier. Here we see the truly magnificent attention to detail taken by the animators. Each panoramic view of the city is beautifully painted and the animation is flawless. As the two gang members are despatched in typically violent fashion, the action suddenly comes to a screeching halt as Tetsuo is involved in a horrendous crash while trying to avoid a wrinkly child.

He is taken off, with the wrinkly child by the military while Kaneda and the rest of the gang, clearly concerned about the welfare of their friend, are kicked in and arrested.

This is where it all goes a bit mental.

Tetsuo is subjected to various experiments and while in the military's custody , starts to be haunted by horrific hallucinations. Following a brief escape and re-capture, Tetsuo starts to develop tremendous psychic powers. His hallucinations become more frequent, he suffers agonising headaches and he keeps hearing a voice repeating the name 'Akira'. As his powers develop, he becomes too strong for the military to contain. He escapes his captors by despatching them in a Saving Private Ryan-style and looks for 'Akira'

Meanwhile, Kaneda has escaped from the police and is trying to get his freak on with a young lady named Kei, who also happens to be part of an underground resistance trying to uncover the secret behind Akira. Handy in terms of plot structure because it means that both Kaneda and Tetsuo meet again for a final apocalyptic battle.

There have been complaints leveled at the film for being a bit incoherent. I accept that the film can be difficult to follow but as I mentioned in my other review, the film was made halfway through the writing of the graphic novel. So basically the story is incomplete.

But when compared to the majority of other anime movies, the story is head and shoulders above the rest.

Even if you don't follow the story, there are enough audio and visual fireworks to keep a goldfish sat down from start to finish. Besides the superb artwork and animation, the direction is breathtaking. Each action scene is brilliantly paced and the director (Otomo, rather unsurprisingly) has a remarkable ability to build tension.

The soundtrack is a masterwork. Rather than use up to date futuristic music, it is primarily a frenetic drum track. Why is this great? Well imagine an up to date futuristic soundtrack from 1987. Now it would sound like dated, synthesised pop rubbish that would make you want to wrench out your eardrums.

So that just about covers the film. Hows about the DVD. Well, this is where the film loses its star. Yes, the film has been remastered and the soundstrack is thumping.

But you get two discs. Surely if you are going to give us two discs, you would come up with something a bit better than:

1. A painfully dull documentary from 1987
2. A photo gallery which can be bettered quite easily by simply pausing the film while you watch it
3. A 'make your own' Akira trailer (because we all just love trailers, don't we)
4. A link to the website (a bit of html)
5. Hidden bonus material (that I still haven't found. A clue would be appreciated)
6. A multiple choice quiz (with the chance to win.....nowt)

I'm sorry. Maybe I've been spoiled by the bounty of special features that come with the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings movies. But surely if you can fit an entire film on one disc, you can come up with better than this.

But who buys a film for special features anyway? The film is the still the best of its kind and thanks to stunning animation and a timeless soundtrack will never appear dated.