Akira (1988) Review: Neo-Tokyo Still Burns Brightest

Is Akira worth watching?

Yes. Akira is a landmark of animation and science fiction, a furious, dazzling vision of a city tearing itself apart, and nearly four decades later its images still look astonishing. Katsuhiro Otomo turns his own manga into a film of relentless energy, full of motorcycle chases, political conspiracy and body-horror spectacle. The reservation is its story: compressed from a much longer comic, the plot races through ideas and characters, and its second half can leave first-time viewers struggling to keep up.

What is Akira about?

In 2019, three decades after a catastrophic explosion destroyed Tokyo and triggered a world war, the rebuilt megacity of Neo-Tokyo is a place of neon towers, riots, terrorist bombings and heavy-handed military control. Shotaro Kaneda (voiced by Mitsuo Iwata) is the brash leader of a teenage biker gang, and his childhood friend Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki) rides with him, tired of living in Kaneda’s shadow.

One night, a road crash brings Tetsuo into contact with a strange child who has escaped a secret government project. Tetsuo is taken away by the military and begins to develop terrifying psychic abilities. Kaneda, searching for his friend, falls in with Kei (Mami Koyama), a member of an underground resistance, and discovers that the government is hiding something called Akira.

Akira is directed by Otomo and adapted from his manga. It is a Japanese animated film in Japanese, running 124 minutes.

Hand-drawn chaos, drawn with precision

The film’s visual achievement is extraordinary. Every frame is hand-drawn with a density of detail that makes Neo-Tokyo feel like a real, decaying metropolis: streets packed with traffic, crumbling buildings and neon signs reflected in rain. The motorcycle sequences, with their streaking tail lights and fluid movement, remain some of the most imitated images in animation, and Kaneda’s red bike has become an icon.

The action is staged with a kinetic sense of speed and weight, and the destruction sequences have a physical force that makes the city’s collapse feel real. The dialogue was recorded before the animation, allowing unusually precise lip movements and giving performances a naturalism rare in anime of the period.

A soundtrack like no other

Geinoh Yamashirodan’s score is as distinctive as the images. Built on percussion, chanting and traditional Japanese and Indonesian influences, it gives the film a primal, ritual energy that heightens both the chases and the mystical scenes. It sounds unlike any other science fiction soundtrack and plays a huge part in the film’s lasting power.

The voice cast is strong too. Mitsuo Iwata captures Kaneda’s swagger and loyalty, and Nozomu Sasaki makes Tetsuo’s resentment and growing instability both frightening and pitiable. Their friendship, strained by jealousy and power, is the emotional thread running through the chaos.

A manga squeezed into two hours

Otomo was adapting a manga still in progress, and the film has to condense a vast, complex narrative into two hours. As a result, political factions, secret projects and supporting characters appear and disappear quickly, and some motivations remain unclear. The climax is overwhelming in scale but can feel more like sensory overload than a satisfying conclusion. Viewers familiar with the manga will notice how much is left out; newcomers may simply feel lost.

Who should watch Akira?

It is essential for fans of animation, cyberpunk and science fiction, and anyone interested in how anime shaped global pop culture. At just over two hours, it moves at breakneck speed. It contains graphic violence, gore, body horror and some sexual violence, making it strictly for adults and older teenagers.

Where to go next:

• Princess Mononoke, another epic Japanese animated film that combines stunning action with serious themes of destruction and power.
• Grave of the Fireflies, released the same year, a very different and deeply moving animated film about the scars of war.

The verdict

Akira is a monumental achievement in animation, a breathtaking and brutal vision of a future city on the edge of apocalypse. Its compressed story can be confusing, but its visual brilliance, iconic score and raw energy make it essential viewing for anyone who cares about science fiction or animation.

Rating: 4.5/5