It’s a famous example of Japanese anime that is still cited as one of the greatest in the genre 35 years later. “Akira” tells the story of a new Tokyo having rebuilt from the cataclysm of a third world war, leading to a dystopia of an increasing social inequality, injustice, police brutality and government corruption. Extremist groups fight against the government, leading to further and more extreme crackdowns. Into this comes an apparent child with super powers, and a teenage gang member who is experimented on by a government organization, leading to extreme super powers of his own.

The environment of the film seems disturbingly realistic by today’s standards. The gleaming towers suggest wealth and power, but there are many on the streets that have little power or place. Poverty, as always in the world, leads to criminality, and the young gang members have fancy bikes to ride only because they were stolen. Their own fight against a rival gang is against a backdrop of protests and riots. The boys who are arrested are taken to some kind of school, but the young people there pay no attention to the disinterested teachers and take off as soon as possible, reflecting schools of poorer areas today. The youngsters are orphans, and it seems quite clear that they only have each other.

Power corrupts in “Akira”. This is most clear in the character of Tetsuo, the gang member who is taken away and injected with an unknown substance, causing him to suffer extreme pain and some rather creepy hallucinations. He begins to develop psychic powers, and this leads to Colonel Shikishima, in charge of the city’s security, becoming worried when Tetsuo seems to be in danger of surpassing a character known as ‘Akira’. Akira is referred to variously as a psychic who was responsible for destroying Tokyo during the war, a force of cosmic power, even a god. Children are even less likely to cope with power, as they do not have the maturity or emotional control to curb their urges. None of the teenagers in the story have had the security of a loving home and good parenting.  Tetsuo’s youth, rough upbringing and resentment against his friend Kaneda (who is always better at everything than him), is a breeding ground for the boy to use his new powers to wreak havoc. The downtrodden of the city hail him as Akira, and want to worship him as a god, leading to their deaths, when Tetsuo causes destruction, and ultimately loses control. This leads in turn to some rather unpleasant body-horror imagery. As an antithesis of the superhero idea, Tetsuo thinks only of serving himself, and the power destroys his already frail mental state.

There are some aspects of the film that are not clear. The three government psychics are a bit of a mystery. If they are children, who do they look old? If they are old, why are they small like children? (not to mention their weirdly-coloured skin). Is it a side effect of experimentation? This is not answered in the movie. Unlike Tetsuo, however, they handle their abilities and are not overcome by them. Their main purpose in the story is to be a foil of sorts to Tetsuo, an indication that power does not have to be a corruptive influence, that it can be beneficial. What kind of experiment the government is conducting, with what aim, is also a little unclear. We see the scientist looking at some kind of three-dimensional display that makes a musical sound and is similar to a waveform. We know he is excited and interested by this, but the film never really explains what it means. There is a lack of clarity in many aspects of the plot, especially towards the end, probably because the film is an adaptation of a series of manga comics and a lot of development is left out.

Most of the characters seem to exist in a morally grey area, I believe because they all have their own agendas and what they believe to be right doesn’t necessarily correspond with the attitudes of others. That being said, unlike many animated features, the characters are very believable. How would the young characters be anything other than the way they are, given the lack of love and guidance in their lives? How would the military man be anything other than authoritarian given the corruption he is working inside, leading him to believe that only taking charge will fix things? As I mentioned before, the three psychics are in many respects the most frustrating characters, because their background, agenda and opinions are barely touched on. They seem to have some kind of idea of what is going on, but they don’t tell anyone so we, the audience, don’t know.

The hand-drawn animation in this movie is brilliant, smooth and brilliantly coloured, very much ahead of the curve at the time of its creation. Being co-written by the creator of the manga comics, Katsuhiro Otomo, who also directed, probably helped the adaptation, but even so, there are some areas which are really unclear. Watching the beautiful visuals to some extent overcomes the limitations of the plot.

The thematic richness of “Akira” is its greatest aspect. What it has to say about power, violence, corruption, and the fate of the world when humans (however well-intentioned) seem so intent on destroying it, makes this movie well worth watching. A word of warning – it is not suitable for younger viewers. I would definitely recommend this film to any lovers of animation or science fiction.