Akira

Katsuhiro Ôtomo's anime classic Akira (1988) offers a cyberpunk deconstruction of all that animation traditionally offers in its narrative and, formally, it is still very much a masterpiece. Concerned with urban and governmental control in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, the film touches upon issues of nuclear warfare, political activism, psychological trauma and aggression, authority, and the individual. More than these issues, though, the film is just damn cool to watch.

Kaneda is the figurehead of a youth gang that is surprisingly old school about only inflicting justice and not vengeance on the rival gangs that are threatening to spread out over the urban city. When one of the other members of the gang, the victimized Tetsuo, is injured and taken by the government for underground tests, Kaneda sets out to rescue him. However, the tests have given Tetsuo reservoirs of power that were previously untapped, and the struggle to save Tetsuo becomes more spiritual than physical.

At times, the film does not always make narratological sense, as some of the issues of political activism with the Council that tries to shut down the government are too convoluted to make sense when you reconsider elements of the plot. However, Tetsuo's shift from a normative psychology into psychopathology is handled with greater success, as Ôtomo substantiates in the film a past history that psychologically verifies the mental assault that has been ravaged upon Tetsuo. Indeed, Tetsuo's earlier trauma as the threatened gives his character greater weight than traditional villains, since the ramifications in Akira apply to all victims of trauma.

The film concludes with the traditional endfight, but Ôtomo also interweaves a more pacifistic tone into the film, so that the confrontation is less about blowing stuff up than it is about trying to psychologically save Tetsuo. As a result, the film succeeds in its psychological focus and stands as one of the better analyses of trauma in anime. Solid and enjoyable.

Akira: 8.5/10