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アキラ (1988)

Akira is one of the most influential anime films ever made which revolutionized the industry like never before. The anime was popular to fans in the west and was a big influence in anime like NGE, Ghost in Shell, etc. which came in later on. A near perfect sci-fi film which borrows its story from a near perfect manga is a tale about friendship, jealousy, and the consequences of unimaginable power. The animations are as fluid as they can be and the background are so well done that each frame has countless things happening around while the story moves ahead. With a real great hero and a real great story not much can go wrong with akira. The only real problem is how much it skimmed considering the manga is 200 chapter long and the movie a mere 2 hours. Yet, it is an immensely enjoyable and philosophical watch.

There are only a few anime movies which have been able to touch movie audience of the west. Akira is one of those thrilling anime experiences which opened up the doors to various possibilities an anime movie can do. This is one of the few early movies which was successful in the ability to animate light. Neon lights, lights from an explosion, Traffic lights. This ability to animate light was an extraordinary feat compared to now. Katsuhiro Otomo-San has done a wonderful job in bringing such a wonderful gem to the audience.