Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
kiner_shah
I feel there's a lot of context missing in this movie!
It seems this movie is adapted from a manga but this movie fails to explain a lot of things. It seems it was left to the watchers to figure things out, make assumptions about what's going on or I don't know, it was expected that they read the manga. It was a good movie to watch for passing time though. It had a lot of action, blood, mystery - keeps one hinged to the screen until the end.
Story wise, it's a sci-fi movie involving futuristic city, military experiments, politics, action, little romance and mystery.
The character design was good. Main characters Kaneda and his gang are shown as typical old bike gang members who are constantly using curse words, are short-tempered, and getting into fights without hesitation. For me, it w…
Read at the sourcechumchummaru
I never would have thought I’d watch this movie or read the manga.
I’m glad I read the manga first, so I was surprised when I watched the movie—it’s completely different from the manga. It borrows a few scenes, but ultimately doesn’t stick to the source material at all and goes its own way. That said, the manga didn’t really blow me away either. I just can’t appreciate it, but even if—God forbid—I did understand it, that wouldn’t change the fact that the movie differs from the manga.
What interests me most is the point—what is the author trying to say?? While watching/reading, I didn’t feel any particular emotions, so in the end, it was good for killing time, but unfortunately, it didn’t excite me enough to give it more of my attention. Unfortunately, I can’t appreciate something that ulti…
Read at the sourcek-0da
Akira is a visual marvel on levels I cannot accurately describe; even so, I did not resonate with this film, and perhaps this review serves as an interrogation as to why.
Akira looked real, real good, especially on the big screen. Unfortunately, my theater’s version had the top 10% of the cells cut off, but the movie was still gorgeous even with that blunder. Neo-Tokyo writhes in nuclear sunlight, alive in spite of nuclear decimation, as well as because of it. To delegate the city’s aesthetics as merely “cyberpunk” seems unfair; Akira is a quintessential cyberpunk movie, so it feels odd to give it its genre flowers when the majority of the genre pales in comparison to this movie’s artistic beauty. This is a movie about the atomic bomb and more important present anxieties surrounding it;…
Read at the sourceHotDoggoneit
I finally got around to watching Akira after hearing so much hype about this movie. Going into it, pretty much the only thing I knew was that the animation was supposed to be top class. I didn't really know anything about the story. I'd seen some clips of it on YouTube where people deliberately show you these cool 10 or 20 second sequences, usually the characters riding their bikes through the city. Just so you know, that only makes up maybe 10 minutes of this two hour movie, and I'm being generous.
The first part of the movie is actually really, really good. It gives you that old school 80s and 90s vibe from the time period and the city itself. This came out in 1988, and the animation is absolutely incredible. I'm not even going to give it a 10 out of 10. I'm going to give it a 12 out of…
Read at the sourcePezguy97
Akira is a story about a delinquent who accidentally gains very strong psychic powers.
Akira is one of the classics. It's probably belongs on the list of mandatory viewing for anime fans. It sports great visuals and sound design. The soundtrack was really interesting because it incorporates Indonesian music which anime usually does not do. There are a few problems with "Akira". The first is the movie is simply a bit too long for its own good. The second is that the character design is not exactly great. The last problem is that for all the time we have spent in Neo-Tokyo, nothing that happens ever really feels like it has stakes. Everything on the screen just kind of feels like something that is happening, and it does not really give anyone a reason to care about what happens next. The l…
Read at the sourcePitBoy
This is an all classic, from the storytelling to the animation techniques and there is nothing new to add to the conversation by my part. However I'm gonna judge this as a horror movie, because I'm a big fan of Horror and this movie is tag as such. And I must say that the movie doesn't feel like horror. The suspense that you get through out this films is the kind that you find in any action / adventure movie. Not saying that the body horror scene isn't a good horror moment, but if I'm looking to watch some sci-fi horror, Akira is not coming into mind.
I marked this review as "Not Recommended" because of what I said earlier, but I totally recommend this movie for what It is, an well written and animated, sci-fi, action/adventure movie.
Read at the sourceChanrey
I rewatched Akira with a 4K Blu-Ray that had finally arrived. The impact that this film had on filmmaking is incredible, it was a major piece of work that has lead to the direct popularity of one of my favourite medians (anime) in the west, during a time when Hollywood executives saw this film and thought it would fail in west, because nobody wants to watch a cartoon with mature and adult themes and ideas, fortunately for us they were very wrong, as now we have anime movies that outgross a lot of the big Hollywood movies this year.
Now getting onto what I actually think of this gem, starting off what you would notice just looking at any frame of this movie is the visuals and animation. The work in the backgrounds are incredibly done, there is so much effort and detail put into the backgr…
Read at the sourceSpike_Spiegel06
Honestly, I knew this film was gonna be great, but it somehow managed to blow my expectations even more.
The animation in Akira is genuinely one of the best I’ve seen, I really love 80’s/90’s anime aesthetic. from the explosions, the bike scenes, the gun shots, Neo Tokyo, etc. everything was amazing, fluid and meticulously crafted, and the fact that this film is almost entirely HAND-DRAWN is Genuinely impressive.
The story was great, I really loved how it offers deep social commentary on post-war trauma (like the nuclear bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki), governmental distrust, unchecked technological advancement, and societal breakdown. The characters were well written and interesting, especially Kaneda, Tetsuo, and colonel shikishima.
Honestly tho, i really wish Kodansha would app…
Read at the sourceLeogos
Akira is absolute trash, the only reason why it is so hyped is because someone feels edgy and thinks they are cool for watching it, or pretend to have acquired taste.
This might have been a hit back in the day, but it was only due to being absolutely weird and having animation that no other animated film had and that's it.
If you watch it in modern day you realize that it just doesn't live up to any hype and is actually very very bad, characters are dull, there is no development, anime has no message, story doesn't make any sense, and nothing is connected.
Only good thing about this anime is Music and Animation.
Read at the sourceSoxlarp
Akira is a revolutionary Anime, but its not a full adaptation of the story in the manga, this is the main reason why its criticized and i kind of agree. i didn't really understand why some of the characters were doing bad things like their motivations, this movie feels very fast.
The animation in this is extremely good, the Music is fine. The characters are really interesting, because i dont understand them and i want to. The story is another thing thats pretty good, but still gets confusing at times.
it feels weird that i didn't like it as much as i expected it to, i love sci-fi anime. Akira is one of the most popular anime, its pretty good and defenitely worth a watch.
Read at the sourceKrohanar
In short:
If you're into the cyberpunk genre and like a chaotic, dystopian future, this is for you! It has aged well and is still a fun watch. If you don't like stories where "the world is degenerated" and not everything is explained clearly, well, this might not be for you.
Intro:
Akira is a landmark in the cyberpunk genre. Some people say it was Akira that brought anime and manga to the wider world, especially the US, and made it popular with a younger audience. So, if you care about the "history" of anime, you should stop and watch this movie.
Art: 10
Akira changed the way anime was made, and the techniques used in the movie were truly game-changing. Especially in the voice acting, they recorded the voices before animating the characters' mouth movements (a process called pre-scoring)…
Read at the sourceelumizu
Akira stands as one of the most influential works in animation history, a movie that transformed global perceptions of what animated storytelling could achieve. Set in the sprawling dystopian metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, the story unfolds decades after a catastrophic explosion destroyed the original city and triggered the events leading to World War III. Amid political unrest, corruption, and social decay, the narrative follows two teenage friends: Kaneda, the confident leader of a biker gang, and Tetsuo, a quieter and more insecure boy who constantly struggles to live in Kaneda’s shadow. The story begins as a street-level tale of delinquent youth navigating a chaotic city filled with biker gangs, government conspiracies, and anti-establishment movements. However, the narrative rapidly expands…
Read at the sourcetheo1763
When fans talk about anime that transformed all, Akira is always included in the first batch of names. Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo and released in 1988, it plunges us into the neon-glazed dystopia of Neo-Tokyo, which is a city of violence, instability, and corruption. It begins with Kaneda and his biker gang tearing up the city streets, but it all spirals out of control when Tetsuo, Kaneda's childhood friend, gains destructive telepathic powers from illegal government experiments. It begins as a street gang rivalry and then becomes an enormous battle between humanity, science, and forces far greater than anyone can control.
The characters give the story depth. Kaneda is the cocky and reliable anchor, whereas Tetsuo is the most tragic and memorable anime character. His destruction is frigh…
Read at the sourcemiauzoca
I was recommended this movie 7 years ago, and today I finally watched it. I thought the film was fantastic in what it set out to do. I understand it could have had greater character development, but given the format of a movie, that might not have been possible. I grew attached to those three children and wanted to know more about them. I felt sorry for Kaori, who suffered in several moments without having more depth than just being Tatsuo’s love interest. Tatsuo, who always lived in the shadow of his best friend, Kaneda, sees his life transformed and corrupted when he gains powers while gradually losing his soul.
The greatest charm of the film lies in its visuals, the settings, and the way the city transforms throughout the story—in this regard, the ending was spectacular. It tries to br…
Read at the sourcefh1478
Tetsuo!, Kaneda!!!
Akira Is a cyberpunk classic that is about two boys who keep yelling at each other.
one of the first things that stands out is just how stylish and nice it looks. the bikes that leave light trails, the psychic stuff that looks awesome, the bodyhorror that is out of this world. and character design that makes everybody look very mature. And the detailed backgrounds that are some of the best I have ever seen.
The music that is so distinct where they use mouth sounds like a instrument, and it gives it an entire Vibe of its own.
And the story is fun we get thrown into it, like the main characters and have to figure out. the main character is so nice, He has a pure motive of wanting to be with this girl and he will do it and also save his friend, but it's just such a nice…
Read at the sourcekuratzu_
A psychedelic trip through a dystopian cyberpunk reality, following irrelevant, unknown, and completely charisma-free characters, throughout a plot that wears the cloak of "ingenious subjectivity," but is nothing more than a pitifully weak, inconsistent, and incomplete script.
A film praised for what it once did, but that today falls short in its most important aspects, and only survives on the nostalgia of its legacy.
Its story overflows with potential, placing topics like politics, ethics, morality, and society on the table and keeping them there from start to finish, but never actually diving into any of them. We get crumbs and glimpses of ideas that end up reduced to mere background context.
People with psychic powers appearing out of nowhere? Interesting idea, but poorly developed,…
Read at the sourceNarkit
Akira is meh in most of its aspects the only aspect it shines in is its cyberpunk legacy in other media and it's animation for it's time the characters are bland and nothing is ever explained I get that it's trying to be eccentric but not explaining anything realy isn't the way the thing is that it should have told way more than it did but then it would have needed to have a sequel or it should have been a series and not a movie that's my main gripe with Akira but also there are other things like the characters they are blander then school cafeteria mashed potatoes.
TLDR: If you like eccentric animes and some cyberpunk then you will be able to tolerate watching it but if you don't then don't even bother watching it it's not worth it if you aren't a meme hunter or wanna see the iconic Aki…
Read at the sourceSayoari
While Akira has a very interesting concept and themes that leave you thinking about them after the story is finished the execution leaves quite a bit to be desired. Characters flip alliances without any inner conflict while others are treated as a plot device with little narrative other than to show how the Actual characters are progressing. For me I love a Powers brought on by a secret organization story but Akira sadly misses the mark in crucial areas. I do believe this is still one of the classics and if you enjoy it great. If you haven't watched it I would still recommend it as its a great piece of History in the long line of Anime.
Read at the sourceSibirPrizrak
despite its huge popularity, this is one of my least favourite anime films. the story is barely explained, and nothing makes sense. no characters are fleshed out; it's just pure dark action. the animation is peak and iconic, but the story is dark for no reason other than to be dark, and it all grows exponentially bad with it, in the end ending in a bloodbath and disaster, but there are never stakes, and we never fully grasp why this is happening. good animation but a really bad plot.i watched it one time and understood almost nothing, and don't blame me; the film makes no effort to explain anything. It's definitely not a bad film, but it's not a good one either. a film with this level of animation with an actually consistent plot would have been too good to be true.
Read at the source051819
How could a film that emphasizes action and thrill turn out to be so anticlimactic and boring? Action as a genre in general is one where the main focus seems to be the typical macho-defined action, but without the macho guys. Basically, a common pattern rises where tropes take a hold over the aspects of a film which actually make it stand out. Akira falls into the former, because the only difference between it and other films are the character’s defiant biker gang and the additional post-war themeing. Akira sufficiently captures all the usual hallmarks for an action film, given how fast-paced and show-off the visuals tend to be. The main allure of the film is clear, the animation is definitely a highlight. However, it is difficult to see this of this film as transcendent aside from its wel…
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