Katsuhiro Otomo’s cyber-punk anime classic Akira may be as muddled and ridiculous as it is exhilarating, but there’s no denying its still-astounding animation. Otomo, adapting his own 2,000+page manga, packs his convoluted film with too many extraneous side-stories involving anti-government protestors (angry about tax reform?), an army coup, and a romance between a rampaging superboy and a dainty waif. But as a purely visual experience, this science-fiction epic is a furious spectacle of lush colors and dynamic movement that deftly combines elements of Blade Runner, The Road Warrior, and William Gibson’s Neuromancer. In post-WWIII neo-Tokyo, the military-industrial complex maintains tenuous control over rebuilt Japanese society, biker gangs rule the streets, and one kid – Tetsuo, a picked-on member of popular Kaneda’s moto-delinquents – becomes an out-of-control semi-diety when he crashes into a psychic child. Mid-way through, Akira’s story – which, like so much anime, is concerned with man’s relationship with machines – unravels into incomprehensibility, though it’s clear the film functions as both a parable about technological (specifically, atomic) progress, and a coming-of-age story about one maligned kid’s angry retribution against authority figures. Yet to really enjoy Otomo’s masterpiece, it’s best to just turn one’s mind off and enjoy the incredible imagery.
Gibson's book is "Neuromancer". Jeez, I'm on fire.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg | March 20, 2005 at 07:56 PM
This is what happens when you don't edit the things you write because you're so busy. Good catch.
Posted by: Nick | March 20, 2005 at 10:20 PM
Once an editor, always an editor.
BTW, I like the new, red color scheme. (Haha.)
Posted by: Joe Grossberg | March 21, 2005 at 02:46 PM
I don't get the "red" joke. Maybe it's just because I'm too exhausted to think clearly.
Nonetheless, the "redesign" isn't complete. I still gotta get the finished logo up at some point, for one thing....
Posted by: Nick | March 21, 2005 at 11:45 PM
It was yet another "color blind" joke, because they're so preposterous.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg | March 29, 2005 at 10:03 PM