Probably the best Anime movie ever. Of course, I've seen many.

I'd have to say that Mononoke-hime rivals it. Of course, in Japan, Mononoke-hime is the second most successful movie of any type ever.

So, can anyone explain exactly who Akira was? And, what was with "I am Tetsuo"?

This is, of course, a great film, but a little hard to understand at times.

"Akira" - a great film? Only if you like Dragonball Z. (I don't care for the animation style). See "Perfect Blue" is you want to see great anime and story line. Another fav is an oldie "Ninja Scroll". "Akira" is very over rated and the story has been done before...many times.

Anon, on what do you base this assessment? For those that have seen both Akira and DBZ, are the animation styles that similar? And what about the plot has been done before? Sure, we've had our string of 90s movies about it, but Akira was late 80s.

Of course, these are the words of an incurable Sailormoon/Tenchi/Ranma/Utena/Bubblegum Crisis addict with a minor in AH! Megami-sama, so your mileage may vary...

I do prefer Mononoke Hime, to Akira, if only because it makes more sense. And, it is more emotional, and, well, I like it more.

I do have to get around to see Ninja Scroll; it's hard to find, though.

Incidentally, I noticed that the music in the Quantum Leap episode "Hurricane" sounds EXACTLY like that of Akira.

So, has anyone seen the Akira Special Edition on dvd?
As for my own reactions, I was initially disappointed by the American dubbed version of the film when I first saw it in the late 1980's because I'd been reading the English language version of the comic book...you wouldn't BELIEVE how much stuff was left out, but then again, the movie would have to be 36 hours long to fit it all in. Still, the animation quality was great, especially considering most of it was cel animation; CGI was still in its infancy back then. My biggest complaint about the film was with the voice casting. Some of the voices "cartoonified" the film. (This has been somewhat rectified in the Special Edition dvd with re-looped--and more accurately translated--dialogue tracks, but even better, it includes the original Japanese soundtrack.)

In fact, the original English dub used several of the same actors as Ninja Turtles... which is why they seem so familiar.

But, though the new dub is better translated, the original Japanese dialogue is a must if you want to hear good voice acting.

So "Akira," huh?

Some light spoilers ahead.

I recently got around to seeing this film, the one many claim is responsible for the anime fandom in America, the way it is today. Watching the film, I think I realize why I dislike the American anime fandom.

When the movie began, I was enjoying it. It struck me as a kind of anime "A Clockwork Orange." Soon though the plot takes a completely different turn and I start to enjoy it less. The middle section of the movie is composed mostly of setting up the third act, which is strangely not the last act. It introduces alot of characters and a lot of ideas and most of them don't make a lot of sense. It was here that I first realized that the makers of this film were trying to squeeze several long volumes of manga into one two-hour movie. This only results in the viewer being confused and over-crowed trying to keep straight of everybody. The only stalwalt here is Tetsuo who is works alot like the viewer, basically he can only stand and watch while the plot assaults him. So in that case, maybe the filmmakers did their job correctly. The high-light of this area is some of the surrealism thrown in and we all know I love that.

Then the movie sets out into the third act and I enjoy it again. Basically this act is composed of Tetsou going around and wrecking havoc while his friend who's name I can't remember tries to deal with it. This part deals with the "Brother Turned Against Brother" concept and I liked that. Not to mention some good old ultra-violence, again, never a bad thing.

Now, as far as I'm concerned the movie should have ended with Tetsou discovering that Akira is a lie and basically a hoax. Then it could have gone into Kaeda (Was that his name?) and Tetsou destroying each other. Instead the movie goes in another direction and again I enjoy it less. Basically we go back to the status of the second half, i.e. trying to cram to much info around. The movie stops making sense and not in the good David Lynch kind of way. I have a feeling that this would have faired better as an eight-hour mini-series. Then the movie goes into hyper-drive and the audience is completely and utterly lost. Then it ends, and I was left feeling a little on the cheated side. Basically, I just felt that maybe if the movie stuck to what it was good at instead of trying to pull in as much of the manga as posible it would have been world's better.

Back to the point I was making, the anime community is generally (Notice I say generally, not everyone of them is like that. Noted I rank myself as part of this community.) composed of obsessed and protentious people that can't take a joke for the life of them. I feel this movie fits that bill quite nicely. I enjoy some of it, but was left feeling like maybe I missed the bus on this one.

Hmm. The animation was nice. Two and a half out of four stars.

Akira is an example of the problem encountered when an immense manga (or any book) is condensed into a two-hour film. It is convoluted and disjointed; it works best as a spectacle.

In any case, your comments about anime fans are simply unjustified and totally off the mark. My favourite thing about Akira is the music... the movie doesn't quite work.

I'm just saying, the majority of the anime fans I know are like that. Didn't mean to offend, simply saying what I see. Maybe I should get out more?

Well, maybe it's those anime fans who should be getting out more...

Anyway, what else have you seen? Check out Ghost in the Shell or any Miyazaki film (all now available on DVD) for something a bit more coherent.

Interestingly, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is also based on a long manga, but it was adapted properly.

Many of my friends who are anime fans thik that Akira is really overrated.

I've seen Ghost in the Shell, and liked it quite a bit and am a big Myazaki fan. Princess Monokee is one of my favorite movies.