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The anime that started it all for me. I love AKIRA. it's up there with Berserk, Paprika, Ghost In The Shell, Hellsing Ultimate, Another, Corpse Party, Claymore, Ninja Scroll, Wicked City, Vampire Hunter D, etc. In fact, AKIRA isn't just an anime, it is the essential anime.
The reason Tetsuo became a big monster is because his powers were so big that, like physics dictate, energy requires a bigger mass, so it absorbs everything around him, like an amoeba. The manga is a lot more understandable but through metaphor you can still feel the themes of rebellion, creation, destruction and power in this movie.
I love the manga and make my friends read it. "I saw the movie, I am good." READ THIS NOW! *time passes* "Holy crap! The movie ends in the second book but it keeps going!?" Yep, and Tokyo get's blown up a couple more times...
@@richardjared960 the baby was symbolic of his mental state, Tetsuo has always been a sensitive kid trying to live up to the level of coolness of his friend Kaneda, and when he finally gets that power to be above him, his resentment for Kaneda putting him down all his life grows, corrupting him into a savage, invincible monster, but when that power becomes too much to handle, the facade crumbles, and he reverts back to what he was before: a scared child
Probably because, in spite of its legacy, it's an animated Japanese film which normally doesn't get a lot of people talking unless they're in the anime community or they're made by Miyazaki.
If you would like to see the most ambitious animation ever made, but remains unreleased do to studio fuckery, check out The Thief and the Cobbler. It's 24fps animation as opposed to 12 and it really shows. Also takes twice as long per second to animate, making it twice as expensive.
Check out Redline. This beautiful movie is almost entirely hand drawn and took 7 years to make. I'd say it beats out even Akira in terms of sheer animation quality
Comparing what I know from James, based off of AVGN, Monster Madness, James and Mike etc, I imagine when his friends mention Evangelion and Dragonball Z James is just thinking "What the frigg are these shows?".
@@toastpoppin I'm sure everyone's at least heard of Dragonball, but what do you think the odds are that he'd be aware of the characters Goku and Vegeta, or that they epitomize a hero and rival trope?
You guys should watch Princess Mononoke. The name is throws people off, but it's a freaking masterpiece. Hayao Miyazaki is one of the best animators of all time, and this is my favorite movie of his.
@@sporeham1674 Not exactly. They start the same, but the last volumes weren't made yet when the movie was made. And the movie, in turn, inspired a bunch of details used in the continuation of the manga.
@Linda Niemkiewicz they mean digitally created more colors, the movie was made in the late 80's and colored movies were still pretty new, I don't think they literally created new colors but ion know lol
this movie along with GITS blew my freakin' mind as a kid, and to this day i'm yet to feel anything remotly close in a holywood film. Absolute Master Pieces by any standards not only animation.
When I picked up the complete manga about 20 yrs ago I was shocked at how much story was there and what didn't and could't make it into the movie for time. The movie literally ends around the second volume and there are 4 more to go.
@@worsel555 actually the manga wasn't even finished when the movie was being made. The creator Katsuhiro Otomo made both. He knew how the manga was gonna end but there was no way you could fit all of the details into one movie so he shrunk it down. The movie takes place in the spand of like a week where the manga is like a few years. I heard he'll be making an Akira anime series to be more accurate to the manga.
The reason why is so weird, is because based on the manga, also by Katsuhiro Otomo. The manga is around 2,000 pages and wasn’t even finished by the time the movie came, so a lot of things are left out of the movie. Check the manga, its very good. Also both the manga and then the movie predicted the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
The ending in the manga is just as abstract and weird as in the movie, so it actually doesn't explain much more. It's still a must read though as the movie "skips" roughly half of the manga.
There's probably tons of stuff (particularly from the 80's and 90's) that's right up his alley, he just doesn't know it yet. Whoever put the Cyber City clip in this video, and the Satoshi Kon recommendations from Justin and the comments will steer him right though.
Series: Cowboy Bebop. Amazing production values and music. Feature Film: Ninja Scroll. Those two along with Evangelion and Akira changed my life! Great vid, as always guys.
If Akira was made today, using same techniques as in 1988, it would probably be so fantastically expensive that it would make any publisher studio shit their pants.
I heard a rumour Akira is getting a live-action adaptation, but the ones doing it are such big fans that they got permission from the original manga artist and had him consulting.
@@Deconstruction_Administrator there's been talks of making a new Akira film or TV show for a while now. TV show seems the most likely, which would be great as the story of the manga is way to big for a film.
They could still do it, It would just use computer assisted coloring instead of each CEL being hand painted. There are still some really talented Animators out there. The budget would actually be lower than back then because of this, or at least in the same ballpark. But yeah if the went back to hand painted everything then oach!!! Loved how it looked though.
On the topic of the animation, it probably won't surprise you to find out that being animated on 1s and 2s made it a very expensive film to make, so they had to form the Akira committee to make the film, which was a collaboration of about 5 or 6 different companies in order to make the film happen.
Oh yeah, it's one of the best movie soundtracks of all time. The Geinoh Yamashirogumi was an outstanding pick for the film, and I also suggest listening to Ecophony Rinne, the album that convinced Otomo to give them the soundtrack.
@@ninja3212 No, but I think the movie is old and iconic enough to have influenced the voters. I definitely would've voted for Japan for the olympics because of the film. I sooo hope they bring Akira soundtracks in the opening and or closing ceremony. That music is awesome.
This movie is an achievement that they were able to contain several volumes of the manga into just one movie. Doing something like that today is completely crazy to do.
@OtherWorlds AllWorldsYeah, you have to understand the movie was made something like 1/2 of the way into the manga, so half the story is basically missing. All that shit after Kaneda, with them riding into an unknown wasteland? Yeah, there's like an entire few issues (and BIG ones, like hundreds of pages) between Kaneda and Tetsuo's fight and the end...it does end on a similar note mind you, but there's a LOT more about the government, what's going on with it, world religions (like that "dude" on the chair declaring "Akira comes! Akira is here!" has whole sections...
It omits about 2/3rds of the story and most of the characters. The manga is a masterpiece. The film is beautiful, but from a story standpoint is really lacking. There's a whole second half of the manga set after the explosion, in the ruins of Neo Tokyo, which has a real post-apocalyptic Mad Max vibe, with rival psychic factions at war.
YES! Akira is probably my favorite movie of all time, so this review was a treat to watch! Be careful going into Evangelion though, if you thought Akira got abstract, then hoo boy... Now you HAVE to do an AVGN review of the Amiga game. I thought it was a huge missed opportunity that you didn't cover that legendarily bad movie tie-in in your Amiga CD32 video, but now's a great opportunity since you just saw the movie!
Most definitely,when i get into anime in the late 80's it was consider weird and out right misunderstood for it's time.Not like today where it's more mainstream.
I will add that my dad was involved in movies and stuff, so his friends kids and stuff probably thought the movie was cool because their dads would talk about how cool the movie was and revolutionary etc, I don’t think that many kids from school had seen or heard of it now that I think about it- but there was a few
@@grongy6122 It gets a lot of mixed to negative reviews from hardcore anime/manga fans. Mainly because it's not a very good adaptation of the manga, which is considered an all time great. For me it fits into the category of "good movie, horrible adaptation" Alongside stuff like V for Vendetta and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
Wow James talks about the kingdom hearts games & Akira! Thank You James I’m a huge fan of anime & animation & I hope you talk about the Neon Genisis evangelion but James you need to understand that Akira is a manga & they didn’t have a full budget to put all the manga in the film but it did have a budget of 8.5 million yen
I wouldn't mind Evangelion, I'd also like to hear his opinions on Gundam as well, But if i could put in an animated film for James to review, than Spirited Away is the way to go.
He thought Akira would've scarred him as a child? But I mean both of these films weren't really meant for a child audience as they both do have adult themes. But oh boy that eclipse would show him a thing or two.
On the whole, I don't enjoy this movie (it's fucking disturbing)...but it's got MANY scenes and cinematography sequences that I admit are just AMAZING.
What's the best way to watch it? When I lived in Japan, my friend kept trying to get me to watch it because he said it was one of the best anime series. Is there any streaming services that have it?
The last 6 episodes is where the shit gets real, real fucking insane I still don't have a clue as to what happened at the end and after watching end of evangelion, I'm even more confused than I was Despite that, I fucking loved it
Watching these guys standing around talking about the things they're passionate about is a constant reminder of what life could be like with friends... Akira was freaking awesome. And that Akira commercial they showed had a Record of Lodoss War VHS tape. Epic series.
There are two versions of the English dubbed. One of them cast Leonardo from the TMNT cartoons as Kaneda but the one done after that is the best one and actually real good!
All great picks! Including 2 Kawajiri movies. Ninja Scroll is what made me an anime fan. And I adore Fist of the North Star. It's like comfort food for me. Stuff that I binge watch and just forget everything else
I show ninja scroll to anyone on the fence about anime. I always regret it when later i hear their into death note and shonen. Anime should have ended in the 90s.
Fun fact, Kaneda was originally voiced by Cam Clarke, but in the re-dub of the movie, Kaneda was voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, who is best known for his role as Adam in Power Rangers.
@@MacenW It certainly is and it's famously bad. I think there's a CD32 version out there, I'm surprised he didn't include it considering he went for the absolute worst of the CD32's library.
Fun fact: chris nolan for years was attempting to make a akira live action film but couldn't get proper funding. I believe dicaprio was attached at as a possible producer at one point. It would have been interesting to see what would it would have been like.
For Feature films? "Redline" comes really close to the same kind of production as Akira. Then you can go for modern productions like "Summer wars" or "your name". There's a lot of good anime features up to nowadays, but most are either high action tie-ins or original works, but very subdued and introspective.
Katsuhiro Otomo also wrote the screenplay for a modern adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's "Metropolis," based on Fritz Lang's 1927 film, and that looked pretty amazing.
Ehhh I wouldn't say a lot, hundreds of shows come out nowadays and most people hype them up and forget the majority of them in less than a year. High end productions in the vein of Akira are more of a commodity now, especially since most of them take place in high school -_-
@@moosemaimer I saw it in 2002 when it premiered in the US. Brilliant work. The character designs reminded me of the Fleischer Bros who worked on the Popeye cartoons in the 1930s.
I’m surprised no one mentioned or knew that the director of this movie is also the Mangaka. Or even the fact how trippy the freaking Soundtrack is. “Tetsuo” and “Dolls Polyphony “ bring chills down my spine
James needs to see “Vampire Hunter D” since he is a horror fan! That was my gateway to Anime back in the early 90’s and what led me to renting “Akira”!!!
Finally. Yes, Akira and Jenova from FFVII. This is not discussed or realized enough. Both have affected my mind. Seeing Akira after Jenova, same vibe. Damn graphics and storytelling, why do they have to be so effective?
Akira is awesome but it only tells roughly half of the story, sucks they never made another anime to follow the manga, especially with how successful it was. Tetsuo basically becomes Akira's henchman and a lot of other stuff happens that wasn't included in the anime. BTW The original English dub had Cam Clarke (Leonardo) the modern dub does not.
So i remember watching this when it came out, so a while ago now. Can you guys clear something up? The title, is Elfen Lied..as in, someone lied, right?? Many friends said "Leed" like it was German or something.
So, did a bit of googling, refresh myself. Indeed it is German. Title has fucking nothing to do with the anime. Read the poem on the wiki page too. Nope. Great anime though!
This is my brother's favorite anime ever, if not one of his favorite movies. I was very proud of this because I recmmended Akira to him, knowing he hated most anime. I haven't felt so powerful in so long.
I love akira. This was my introduction to anime. I was about 10 years late to it (1999) but i remember it being revolutionary for media here and changed the way anime happened.
Personally I'd recommend Street Fighter 2 The Movie. You being a gamer, I think you could compare it with the game's and then have a laugh, compare it with the awesomely bad Van Damme movie.
Akira was released in theaters in the US cities. NY,LA ,etc. My cousins in Brooklyn saw posters for it all over the city. That’s how I found out about it.
I think it would have been important to mention Otomo was in the middle of his Akira manga when he directed Akira the movie. The movie is a highly truncated version of the manga and had to be adapted with it's own ending like GOT or the Fullmetal Alchemist anime. Just as the Akira film is groundbreaking within it's medium, the manga is just as amazing and Otomo is a master of sequential art.
I think James would like Evangelion, because it is sort of a "monster of the week"/kaiju sort of thing (but way deeper) and also, the director, Hideaki Anno, did the recent Godzilla movie that James liked
The anime that got me into anime. A friend had it on VHS, and let me borrow it. I loved it as a kid. DBZ, Kenshin, Gundam Wing, and the other Toonami block solidified me as an anime fan. Then the internet made it more accessible. But Akira is what started it for me. So I have a soft spot for it.
Dude Kaneda and Michelangelo are *NOT* voiced by the same guy. Kaneda is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, the same guy as Ichigo from Bleach. Did nobody do a fact check before they put in a whole gag about it?
This legendary movie is a must see for anyone! It's an absolute touchstone in cinema history and should be seen by everyone! It's not just good. It's an international treasure!
One of my personal favorite movies, I picked up the remastered DVD a couple years back. So many classic anime references and jokes throughout and the animation budget must have been insane with how fluid everything looks.