Akira fans...

[kah]

I need your help. I finally watched Akira last night. While I can say that some of it made sense, for the most part- I have no idea what the hell I just watched! Someone please enlighten me.

[Minion]

Well...most of the problem is that Akira is based off of a gigantic manga series and thus they pretty much condensed that massive story down into a two hour flick. It works, but it can be confusing without repeat viewings.

Basically, the movie is set 30 years after World War III in Neo-Tokyo, which is the rebuilt version of Tokyo after it was destroyed in WWIII. I'm not sure if it's stated outright in the film, but it at least hints at the fact that WWIII was started by the uncontrolled growth of the superhuman powers of a child named Akira. Akira was the focus of secret government experiments in psychic research.

Tetsuo crashes on the highway after colliding with Takashi, one of the other children who was (and still is) part of the government experiments. The government sees an opportunity in Tetsuo, and so they take him to their labs and begin to run tests on him. It appears he also has latent psychic abilites that are incredibly strong, almost as strong as Akira's were. Obviously, the government can't control Tetsuo and he escapes as well. Kaneda is just doing his best to try and save his friend, but he doesn't understand whats going on.

It ends up with Tetsuo not being able to control his powers. It represented in the film in a strange fashion, but that's the jist of it. Neo-Tokyo is destroyed again, just like in the first Akira incident, and presumably it will be rebuilt. All the other stuff going on in the film, the gangs fightings and the government coups, etc. are all semi-weak attempts at social commentary. The beef of the film however is exploring how Kaneda and Tetsuo are going through this experience, and how both of them are changed in the process.
It's strange how vastly different the manga are from the movie, but they're both pretty strong in their own right.

Minion: Loves him the Akira.

[Vaya]

I would also guess that there may be translation issues. Particularly when Kay is explaining what this power is.

[kah]

Ok, I got most of that. I suppose the background would've been really helpful. Kaneda really did change. He started out as a punk kid with an anger problem, and became a hero. That part of the story translated really well. I liked watching him mature. A lot of the movie seemed superflous, and distracting, though. Thanks for the help, Minion.:)

[fastcar]

It represented in the film in a strange fashion, but that's the jist of it.


And hillariously hinted at in the South Park Episode where Cartman gets the Trapper Keeper.

[Trazalca]

And, if I may add, it is far more comprehending to watch it with subtitles,
as opposed to the English version.

And yes, I want that bike. :D

Funny, it's been a while since seeing that movie, and the only
thing I could quote from it would be-

"Kanedaaaaa!!!!"

"Tetsuoooooo!!!!"

"Kanedaaaaa!!!!"

"Tetsuoooooo!!!!"

:smirk:

[Cncrman]

You mean this bike (http://www.burningart.com/meico/moto/akira/)? :wink:

[fastcar]

Still a great movie and the soundtrack was awesome.