Dissecting Akira

[Daniel]

Hey all.

I'm busy working on trying to find more members right now, so I'm not sure how much time I've got to entertain this topic, but I wanted to post this with the intent that, particularly as we (hopefully) start getting more members, those looking for a more intellectually deep discussion can pick this up and take off with it.

The topic at hand is, what do you see in Akira? What do you think it means (or doesn't mean)?

For example, try drawing out the meaning (or arguing for the absence of meaning) in various parts of the movie.

What do you think the ending means?

And so on.

[greg]

I haven't read the manga, but on another forum these guys who did read the manga say that the movie barely scrapes the top of the manga. Since the movie is much different from the manga, they prefer the manga to the anime much more.

I own the Akira movie soundtrack that was released in English, and I believe the liner notes say that the movie version's story was arranged to follow the pattern of a Noh play, in which a character is turned into a demon, and his friend is forced to defeat him.

From what I've seen, the manga's violence can be rather gruesome, so it's not my cup of tea.

[Ender424]

I know this post is a bit old but couldn't help but chime in and say if you're a fan of the Akira movie then I HIGHLY recommend the manga.

Greg is absolutely right in that the movie barely covers what's in the manga. If the movie seems confusing or empty it's because they left out large chunks and vital parts of the story from the books. You can scratch your head for months trying to figure out the meaning behind the scenes but the books are pretty straight forward...and awesome.

[llj]

I liked both the manga and the film. The film works well enough as it is because it is a film and not a manga series.

I didn't find the film confusing at all. To me, it's a classic monster movie, with the monster being a raging teenaged boy rampaging through the city. One critic once described Akira as the horror of an out of control adolescent. I think that's an apt description for the film. There's some science and mumbo jumbo here and there, but that's just to provide requisite backstory, similar to the scientific jabber in Godzilla. In fact, Akira pretty much can be thought of as something of a kaiju film. I honestly think too many people either overthink the film or try to reconfigure it as simply a poor summary of the manga. ("Otomo did the film before he finished the manga!" I believe is the common cry) But it isn't a summary. It plucks the elements of the manga that is best suited for a film. As Greg said, teen turns into a monster, monster wrecks havoc on the city, friend destroys the monster. End of story.

The manga is more of a "hard" sci-fi story than a monster movie, there's a stronger emphasis on social commentary and classic manga/anime themes like the morals of science, the function of authority in society, etc,.

Both narratives fit their mediums. I am not a big proponent of films being literal adaptations of their source material.

[Ender424]

I love the film too and certainly don't want to sound like I'm knocking it. To this day I think Akira has some of the best animation, design, and music (oh god the music...sooooo good) in any anime.

[llj]

Yeah, I know you weren't really knocking it badly, I just felt like I wanted to put that out there. I feel like the the film is actually pretty simple, but that's a good thing.

I wouldn't say I ever fell in love with Akira. I saw it when I was 12 or 13, but I don't count it as being a watershed anime moment for me. Instead I've sort of just admired it from afar, and the more I watch it, the more I feel it really does work quite well as a film. I'm not sure I'd ever count it as a favourite of mine, but objectively, I think it is a pretty tight film and deserving of its status.