Despite some of Akira's flaws it will always be a classic because of it's legacy and impact on modern pop culture, this more of an abridged version of it's manga which I plan to read but have not yet
It's nice to see a positive video on AKIRA lately, it's really hard to find people still talking about it nowadays. But there's something I wanna talk about that relates to your video, the fact that you mostly refer to Tetsuo as "edgy", to be honest, I disagree with that. And I know that's your opinion and I respect it, but I want to try and explain my thoughts on why Tetsuo isn't really as "edgy" as most people think. I believe that all what Tetsuo wants is to be taken seriously and to be cared about, I mean think about it from his perspective, he's a orphan without a family taken into a biker gang by his best friend who gets into fights regularly, he gets beaten up and always looked down upon by others. For a normal teenager, this is the absolute worst thing to deal with, for a emotionally stunted teenager, this must be absolute HELL. And let's be honest here, Kaneda isn't exactly the nicest person, nor is he the most understanding. Most of the conflicts in the film happen because of their lack of understanding for one another, and Kaneda only realizes this at the end of the film. Take for example, the scene where Tetsuo beats up the clown member in broad daylight, Tetsuo is unleashing his anger at this man, who was responsible for humiliating him and almost doing something absolutely unforgivable to his girlfriend. Kaneda tells him to stop, and although he is worried for Tetsuo, he doesn't really get the cause of his rage. Tetsuo storms off but gets taken by the military, that where things get really crazy. You see, when Tetsuo awakens his powers, he automatically becomes much more emotional than before. His powers are linked to his inner rage towards the world that called him weak, notice how whenever he uses his power, he has a angry or pained expression? That's how he's much more powerful than the espers, who despite being much more older and having experience, they're much more emotionally mature than Tetsuo. But once Tetsuo's power gets out of hand and starts to control him, in his transformed state, he looks like a baby. It represents how Tetsuo's emotions fuel his power, and how the power, which are his emotions transformed him into something that doesn't even look like him anymore. Babies are known for being over emotional, so the metaphor works here. But Tetsuo's journey doesn't end there, for when he becomes a universe, he says "I am...Tetsuo." It shows that Tetsuo knows who he is now, and that he finally grown up. So when you think about it, AKIRA could technically be Tetsuo's coming of age story. So whenever someone calls Tetsuo "edgy" (which happens a lot) just seems to me that they didn't really understand his character...Or the meaning of the word edgy, which the definition in the "Know your Meme" website states: "Edgy” is an English slang term used to describe things, behaviors or trends which are provocative or avant-garde, and is often used to describe things that are dark and gothic in nature.
You've expressed here one of the deepest insights I've ever read about this story, and I've known this story since it first started showing up as translated and colorized chapters of the manga at the end of the 1980s.
Oh man are you right on the money when you mentioned that this movie makes you think deeply about certain ideas and themes present, even if a bit much. First saw this film in high school and for a couple weeks I couldn't shake the ending from my mind, especially the music where they solemnly chant "Tetsuo...Tetsuo". You just can't help but feel really bad for Tetsuo even though he became an edgy villain to everyone around him except his girlfriend. Her final moments still make me cringe to this day. Still have yet to read the manga fully but I'm afraid of what body horrors await me in those final pages. Edit: Also if you want extra nightmare fuel to that fetus baby, listen to the french dub. The emotional output in those voices will haunt you for weeks...
The only director who should be allowed to direct a live-action adaptation of the AKIRA manga is *George Miller*. And it would have to be 2 parts. Though, given the track record of live-action anime adaptations, a live-action AKIRA would likely not be worth it.
One of the greatest comic book stories ever. The anime only captures a fraction of its magic. Otomo's art is just amazing. Both the manga and the anime hit the west in '88 and were pretty hard on the heels of The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen. They were epochal in their impact. I can remember as a kid standing in the comic shop just staring at the images from Akira -completely captivated.
Oh god so many points about your video cringe to me. I like that you enjoyed it but your explaining on things was well showed you didn’t watch the film properly. Firstly The film was made in 1988 and the last volume of the manga was made in 1990 so it not based on the whole manga just the beginning and the ending of the manga is based off the film. The film is basically the first half of the first volume to the end half of volume 6 with the middle part made up in a way to put the film together. Secondly Tetsuo turned into a baby because as they said the energy for telekinesis is from the mind and that could been even when we evolved into human and from the first evolution form, so showing a baby as the beginning of life makes sense. He lost control due to he took the capsule drugs that why it became such a bizarre form. Thirdly you said they dismantle akira body for science but no it was the remainings of akira of when he did his Big Bang (beginning of his own universe) on the 1988 explosion and due to lacking science they left them where they were and protected for future science to have more understanding Anyways that my rant just so you have abit more understanding of the film