Akira

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“Akira (anime)” redirects here. For the franchise, see Akira (franchise).

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Akira
Japanese theatrical poster
Directed by	Katsuhiro Otomo
Produced by	Ryōhei Suzuki Shunzō Katō
Screenplay by	Katsuhiro Otomo Izo Hashimoto
Based on	Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
Starring	Mitsuo Iwata Nozomu Sasaki Mami Koyama Taro Ishida Mizuho Suzuki Tetsusho Genda
Music by	Shōji Yamashiro
Cinematography	Katsuji Misawa
Edited by	Takeshi Seyama
Studio	Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Distributed by	Toho
Running time	124 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	Template:¥ (Template:US$)
Box office	Template:US$

Akira (アキラ, Akira^?) is a 1988 Japanese animated cyberpunk action film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, produced by Ryōhei Suzuki and Shunzō Katō, and written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, based on Otomo's 1982 manga of the same name. The film had a production budget of Template:¥ (Template:US$), making it the most expensive anime film at the time (until it was surpassed a year later by Kiki's Delivery Service).

Set in a dystopian 2019, Akira tells the story of Shōtarō Kaneda, a leader of a biker gang whose childhood friend, Tetsuo Shima, acquires incredible telekinetic abilities after a motorcycle accident, eventually threatening an entire military complex amid chaos and rebellion in the sprawling futuristic metropolis of Neo-Tokyo. While most of the character designs and settings were adapted from the manga, the plot differs considerably and does not include much of the last half of the manga, which continued publication for two years after the film's release. The soundtrack, which draws heavily from traditional Indonesian gamelan as well as Japanese noh music, was composed by Shōji Yamashiro and performed by Geinoh Yamashirogumi.

Akira premiered in Japan on July 16, 1988, where it was distributed by Toho; it was released the following year in the United States by Streamline Pictures. It garnered an international cult following after various theatrical and VHS releases, eventually earning over $80 million worldwide in home video sales. It is widely regarded by critics as one of the greatest animated and science fiction films ever made, as well as a landmark in Japanese animation. It is also a pivotal film in the cyberpunk genre, particularly the Japanese cyberpunk subgenre, as well as adult animation. The film had a significant impact on popular culture worldwide, paving the way for the growth of anime and Japanese popular culture in the Western world as well as influencing numerous works in animation, comics, film, music, television and video games.

Plot

File:Akira-Neo-Tokyo-Geography-2019.png

Geography of Neo-Tokyo (2019). Notice the amount of land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay.

In 2019, following a world war triggered by the sudden destruction of Tokyo on July 16, 1988, Neo-Tokyo is plagued by corruption, anti-government protests, terrorism, and gang violence. During a violent protest, the hot-headed Shōtarō Kaneda leads his vigilante bōsōzoku gang, the Capsules, against the rival Clown gang. Kaneda's best friend Tetsuo Shima inadvertently crashes his motorcycle into Takashi, an esper who escaped from a government laboratory with the aid of a resistance organization. Assisted by fellow esper Masaru, Japan Self-Defense Forces Colonel Shikishima recaptures Takashi, takes Tetsuo away, and arrests the Capsules. While being interrogated by the police, Kaneda stated that he and his friends went to see his dying mother when the clown hurt Tetsuo and Kaneda lost his temper and sent 8 clowns to the hospital. The police don't know what to make of the story but are convinced the game wasn't involved. While waiting outside the office Kaneda meets/sees Kei, an activist within the resistance movement. Seconds later a protestor bursts out and pulls the pin on a grenade which sends everyone into a panic but the bomb was defective and the man is beaten before being brought back into the office. Kaneda and the gang are furious at the police's mistreatment, they are released but told to see their principal tomorrow, Kaneda tricks the authorities into releasing Kei with his gang. As they leave, the gang is wondering who that strange boy was and while the police wouldn't tell them what hospital Tetsuo is at. As they leave, Kaneda tries to ask Kei out, while not interested she is thankful to Kaneda for getting her out, she leaves before he gets her name.

At a secret government facility, Shikishima and his head of research Doctor Ōnishi discover that Tetsuo possesses powerful psychic abilities similar to Akira, the esper responsible for the singularity that destroyed Tokyo in 1988. Esper Kiyoko forewarns Shikishima of Neo-Tokyo's impending destruction, but the city's parliament dismisses Shikishima's concerns, leading him to consider killing Tetsuo to prevent another cataclysm. Meanwhile, Kaneda and the others receive a severe scolding from an instructor and are reminded that if they mess up in this school they will be done and they are all hit hard. Outside they meet up with their girlfriends who ask about the events of last night and they explain that the clowns not only put up a fight but also state there were protestors as well as army involvement and Tetsuo's accident. Tetsuo's girlfriend Kaori asks where he is and they tell her they only know he's in the hospital but they are not sure where leaving her worried. Tetsuo soon escapes from the hospital, Kaori finds him and says they were worried about him. He tells her what he remembers about the hospital and decides it would best if they left the city and get somewhere safe. The next day he steals Kaneda's motorcycle, and prepares to run away from Neo-Tokyo with Kaori, but they are ambushed by the Clowns. The Capsules save Tetsuo and Kaori, but Tetsuo begins suffering intense headaches and hallucinations and is taken back to the hospital.

After overhearing their plan to rescue Tetsuo and the other espers, Kaneda joins Kei's resistance cell, while hesitant at first they realize Kana's connection to Tetsuo could be of use. At the hospital, the espers try to assassinate Tetsuo via hallucinations, but the attempt is thwarted. He then searches for them in a fit of rage, easily killing any orderlies and militiamen blocking his path. The resistance group infiltrates the hospital, and Kiyoko draws Kei and Kaneda into Shikishima and the espers' futile attempts to stop Tetsuo. Kiyoko tells Tetsuo that Akira, located in cryonic storage beneath the Olympic Stadium's construction site, could help Tetsuo with his powers. After rejecting everyone around him, especially Kaneda, Tetsuo escapes the hospital and hunts for Akira. The three other children state that if Tetsuo keeps using his powers the way he is, it will kill him.

Kei, used by Kiyoko as a medium to stop Tetsuo, breaks her and Kaneda out of military custody. Shikishima stages a coup d'état against Neo-Tokyo's government and directs all of its military forces to destroy Tetsuo at any cost. At the Capsules' former hangout Harukiya Bar, Tetsuo confronts gangmates Yamagata and Kai over Kaneda's bike and kills Yamagata after his protest. Kai relays the news to Kaneda, who vows to avenge his friend, while Takashi brings Kei away. Tetsuo, mistaken for Akira by cultists, rampages through Neo-Tokyo, arriving at Akira's cryogenic storage dewar under the stadium. Kei fights Tetsuo, but he defeats her and exhumes Akira, only to find that his remains have been sealed in jars for scientific research.

Kaneda duels Tetsuo with a laser rifle, and Shikishima fires an orbital weapon at him. While the latter destroys his arm, neither is able to stop him. Shikishima and Kaori approach the stadium, where Tetsuo, now with a robotic arm, is in great pain and losing control over his powers. Kaori attempts to restrain Tetsuo while Shikishima offers to return him to the hospital, heal his injuries, and help control his abilities. Kaneda arrives and continues his duel with Tetsuo who, weakened from the missing arm, mutates into a gigantic mass of flesh, engulfing Kaneda and killing Kaori. As the mass grows, the espers revive Akira to stop it. After briefly reuniting with his friends upon his revival, Akira creates a singularity, drawing Tetsuo and Kaneda into another dimension. The espers teleport Shikishima to a safe distance as the singularity destroys Neo-Tokyo in a mirror of Tokyo's previous destruction, and they agree to rescue Kaneda, knowing that they will not be able to return to this dimension as a result.

In the singularity, Kaneda experiences Tetsuo and the espers' childhoods, including his and Tetsuo's friendship and the espers' psychic training before Tokyo's destruction. The espers return Kaneda to Neo-Tokyo, informing him that Akira will take Tetsuo to safety and that Kei is developing psychic powers. After witnessing the birth of a universe, Ōnishi's laboratory crushes him to death. After consuming most of Neo-Tokyo, the singularity disappears and water floods the crater left in its place. Kaneda, mourning the loss of Tetsuo, discovers that Kei and Kai have survived, and they ride off into the ruins while Shikishima watches the sunrise. Tetsuo humbly introduces himself at another unspecified plane of life and triggers the creation of a universe, transcending the limitations of human existence.

Voice cast

Character	Japanese	English
		Electric Media/ Wally Burr Recording/ Kodansha/ Streamline (1989)	Animaze/ Pioneer (2001)
Shōtarō Kaneda	Mitsuo Iwata	Jimmy Flinders	Johnny Yong Bosch
Tetsuo Shima	Nozomu Sasaki	Stanley Gurd Jr.	Joshua Seth
Kei	Mami Koyama	Deanna Morris	Wendee Lee
Colonel Shikishima	Tarō Ishida	Tony Mozdy	James Lyon
Doctor Ōnishi	Mizuho Suzuki	Lewis Lemay	Simon Prescott
Ryūsaku (Ryu)	Tetsusho Genda	Drew Thomas	Bob Buchholz
Kiyoko (No. 25)	Fukue Itō	Marilyn Lane	Sandy Fox
Takashi (No. 26)	Tatsuhiko Nakamura	Barbara Larsen	Cody MacKenzie
Masaru (No. 27)	Kazuhiro Shindō	Bob Berger	Travis Weaver
Kaori	Yuriko Fuchizaki	Barbara Larsen	Michelle Ruff
Yamagata	Masaaki Ōkura	Tony Mozdy	Michael Lindsay
Kaisuke (Kai)	Takeshi Kusao	Bob Berger	Anthony Pulcini
Nezu	Hiroshi Ōtake	Tony Mozdy	Mike Reynolds
Terrorist 1	Masato Hirano	Lewis Lemay	Steve Blum
Terrorist 2	Yukimasa Kishino	Wally Burr	Michael McConnohie
Shimazaki	Yukimasa Kishino	Tony Mozdy	Robert Axelrod
Colonel's Council Liaison	Kōichi Kitamura	Lewis Lemay	Michael Forest
Eiichi Watanabe	Tarō Arakawa	Bob Berger	Ted Rae
Mitsuru Kuwata	Yukimasa Kishino	Tony Mozdy	Skip Stellrecht
Yūji Takeyama	Masato Hirano	Stanley Gurd Jr.	Eddie Frierson
Groupies	Kayoko Fujii Masami Toyoshima Yuka Ōno	Deanna Morris Julie Phelan Barbara Larsen	Julie Ann Taylor Patricia Ja Lee Dyanne DiRosario
Lady Miyako	Kōichi Kitamura	Drew Thomas	William Frederick Knight
Inspector	Michihiro Ikemizu	Bob Berger	Steve Staley
Army	Kazumi Tanaka	Drew Thomas	Tony Oliver
Harukiya Bartender	Yōsuke Akimoto	Tony Mozdy	John Snyder
Committee	Kōichi Kitamura Yukimasa Kishino Masayuki Katō Masato Hirano Taro Arakawa Michihiro Ikemizu	Jimmy Flinders Lewis Lemay Barbara Larsen Drew Thomas Stanley Gurd Jr. Bob Berger	Peter Spellos Dan Lorge Bob Papenbrook Michael Sorich Doug Stone Paul St. Peter Christopher Carroll

Additional Voices

• Original: Issei Futamata, Michitaka Kobayashi, Hideyuki Umezu, Satoru Inagaki
• 1989 Dub: Drew Thomas, Barbara Larsen, Tony Mozdy, Bob Berger, Watney Held, Burt Walters, Christopher Mathewson, Brad Wurst, Jim Warrington
• 2001 Dub: Detroit Louie, Matthew Hustin, Mona Marshall, Jim Taggert, Ted Rae, Kurt Wimberger, Josil Ferhardt, Guy Pinkham, Harold Muckle, W.T. Hatch, Adam Sholder, Barbara Goodson, Chloe Thornton, Matt 'Masamune' Miller, Peter Lee, G. Gordon Baer, Reba West, Raphael Antonio, Frederick Bloggs, Lisa Tarulli, Joe Romersa, Mike Lembaw, Ethan Murray, Richard Plantagenet, Jackson Daniels, Christopher Joyce, Lex Lang

Releases

Box office

Akira was released by Toho on July 16, 1988. At the Japanese box office, it was the sixth highest-grossing Japanese film of the year, earning a distribution income (distributor rentals) of Template:¥ in 1988. This made it a moderate success at the Japanese box office. By 2000, the film had earned a Japanese distribution rental income of Template:¥. The film's 4K remaster received a limited Japanese IMAX re-release in May 2020.

Fledgling North American distribution company Streamline Pictures soon acquired an existing English-language rendition created by Electric Media Inc. for Kodansha, which saw limited release in North American theaters on December 25, 1989. Streamline became the film's distributor, with Carl Macek leading the distribution. Upon its initial limited US release, Akira grossed about Template:US$ in the United States.

In the United Kingdom, Akira was theatrically released by Island Visual Arts on January 25, 1991. It debuted at number three on the UK box office charts, grossing Template:GB£ in its opening weekend. It was fourth place the following week, was in the top ten for four weeks, and in the top 12 for seven weeks, grossing £878,695 by early March 1991. It was re-released on July 13, 2013, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the film, and again on September 21, 2016.

In Australia, Akira was theatrically released by Ronin Films. In Canada, the Streamline dub was released by Lionsgate (at the time known as C/FP Distribution), who would eventually become Manga Entertainment's owner through their media operating unit Starz Distribution, in 1990. In 2001, Pioneer released a new English dub which was produced by Animaze and ZRO Limit Productions and was presented in select theaters from March through December 2001. It was the 20th digital cinema release in North America (Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was the first in 1999).

In 2020, Manga Entertainment announced they would be releasing Akira in 4K and IMAX in the UK. The re-release in October 2020 debuted at number three on the UK box office charts, grossing £201,124 in its opening weekend. The restored 4K version was shown in North American movie theaters on September 24, 2020, and for multiple days in select IMAX auditoriums and other cinemas worldwide.

Box office performance

Territory	Release(s)	Ticket sales	Distributor rentals	Gross receipts
Japan	1988	1,699,463 (Template:Estimation)	Template:¥	Template:¥
	1989–2000	103,359 (Template:Estimation)	Template:¥	Template:¥
	1988–2000	1,802,822 (Template:Estimation)(citation needed)	Template:¥	Template:¥(citation needed)
	2005–2007	111,253 (Template:Estimation)	N/A	Template:¥
	2020	(Template:Estimation)	N/A	Template:¥ ($1,130,351)
	1988–2020	1,914,075 (Template:Estimation)(citation needed)	N/A	Template:¥(citation needed)
United States	1989	252,000 (Template:Estimation)	N/A	$1,000,000
	2001	20,143 (Template:Estimation)	N/A	$114,009
	1989–2001	272,143 (Template:Estimation)(citation needed)	N/A	Template:US$(citation needed)
United Kingdom	1991	289,998 (Template:Estimation)	N/A	Template:GB£
	2011	3,419	N/A	$18,813
	2015–2018	15,108	N/A	?
	2020	31,629 (Template:Estimation)	N/A	£224,884 ($325,657)
	1991–2020	340,154 (Template:Estimation)(citation needed)	N/A	?
France	1991	96,461	N/A	?
	2020	68,336	N/A	?
	1991-2020	143,355	N/A	?
Spain	1992–2013	134,324	N/A	?
	2016-2018	2,018	N/A	?
	1992-2018	136,342	N/A	?
Finland	2020	6,262	N/A	?
Other European countries	1999–2013	25,047	N/A	?
	2014–2018	10,590	N/A	?
	1999–2018	35,622	N/A	?
Quebec (Canada)	2001–2002	532	N/A	?
Taiwan	2006–2008	40,000	N/A	US$230,000
South Korea	2017	10,574	N/A	Template:KRW
New Zealand	2017	?	N/A	US$36,342
Hong Kong	2020	?	N/A	US$148,415
Australia	2020	?	N/A	US$183,882
Worldwide	1988–2020	2,899,059+ (Template:Estimation)		Template:US$

Television

The Streamline dub version first premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s during their week-long anime events and Saturday Anime block. The Pioneer dub of the film has aired twice on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block, once on December 7, 2013, with a rating of TV-MA-V, and again on December 20, 2014, both times with explicit language and nudity censored. It has aired numerous times on Australian FTA station SBS. In the United Kingdom, the film aired several times on BBC Two between 1994 and 1997.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval score of 90% based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Akira is strikingly bloody and violent, but its phenomenal animation and sheer kinetic energy helped set the standard for modern anime."

From contemporary reviews, Tony Rayns commented in Monthly Film Bulletin that the narrative was paced at such "speed and complexity" that "viewers who come to it without prior knowledge of the manga (comic-strip) version tend to find it almost overpowering" concluding that "The film virtually demands to be 'read' alongside the manga, and amounts to a kind of commentary on it."Stub Discussing the story, Rayns found the film as "not particularly ground-breaking as science fiction" comparing the film to be between Blade Runner and 2001 with the films main achievement being "the sheer credibility of his vision of future-tech, as seen in fully though designs of vehicles, laboratory equipment." and that the film "yields some extremely arresting images in the film's closing scenes" and that "Simply as animation, Akira is an undoubted tour de force."Stub Variety praises aspects of the film "from the imaginative and detailed design of tomorrow to the booming Dolby effects on the soundtrack" but criticizes the "slight stiffness in the drawing of human movement". Chicago Tribune's Dave Kehr commends Otomo's "excellent animation-specific ideas: Vehicles leave little color trails as they roar through the night, and there are a number of dream sequences that make nice use of the medium's ability to confound scale and distort perspective".

From retrospective reviews, Anime News Network's Bamboo Dong commends the Limited Edition's DVD for its "superbly translated" English subtitles and the commendable English dubbing, which "sticks very close to the English translation, and the voice actors deliver their lines with emotion". THEM Anime's Raphael See applauds the film's "astounding special effects and clean, crisp animation". Chris Beveridge comments on the Japanese audio, which brings "the forward soundstage nicely into play when required. Dialogue is well placed, with several key moments of directionality used perfectly". Janet Maslin of The New York Times commends Otomo's artwork, stating "the drawings of Neo-Tokyo by night are so intricately detailed that all the individual windows of huge skyscrapers appear distinct. And these night scenes glow with subtle, vibrant color". Richard Harrison of The Washington Post comments on the pace of the film, stating that the author "has condensed the narrative sprawl of the comics to provide coherence, though there's a bit of "Back to the Future Part II" incompleteness to the story. That hardly matters, since the film moves with such kinetic energy that you'll be hanging on for dear life". Roger Ebert compares the film to Mad Max, calling it "very gory, very gruesome, but entertaining in its own demented way." Kim Newman of Empire commends the film's "scintillating animated visuals, with not one – not one – computer-assisted shot in sight". Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies claims that the anime "remains fresh and exciting, easily holding its own against the products of two decades of massive technical advancement". Meanwhile, in February 2004, Dan Persons of Cinefantastique listed the film as one of the "10 Essential Animations", simply referring to the film as "the film that changed everything."

Soundtrack

AKIRA: Original Soundtrack (Symphonic Suite AKIRA)
Geinō Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組)
Recorded	1988
Length	69:36
Label	Victor Music Industries, Demon Records/JVC Records, Milan Records
Produced by	Shōji Yamashiro

AKIRA: Original Soundtrack (Symphonic Suite AKIRA) was recorded by Geinoh Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組). The music was composed and conducted by musical director Shōji Yamashiro (pseudonym of Tsutomu Ōhashi), and performed by the collective Geinoh Yamashirogumi. The soundtrack draws heavily from traditional Indonesian gamelan music, in addition to elements of Japanese noh music.

It features music which was additionally re-recorded for release. "Kaneda", "Battle Against Clown" and "Exodus From the Underground Fortress" are really part of the same song cycle — elements of "Battle Against Clown" can be heard during the opening bike sequence, for example. The score is generally sequenced in the same order that the music occurs in the film. The North American version featured extensive production notes by David Keith Riddick and Robert Napton.

AKIRA: The Original Japanese Soundtrack; an alternate soundtrack was also released. This version included music as it appeared in the film with dialogue and sound-effects albeit ordered out of sequence.

The soundtrack spawned an album of electronica remixes from Bwana, called Capsules Pride. Samples from the Akira soundtrack have also been featured in numerous other hip hop and electronic music tracks.

Adaptations

Video games

In 1988, Taito released an Akira adventure game for the Famicom exclusively in Japan. Another Akira game for the Atari Jaguar, Super NES, Genesis and Sega CD was being developed, but canceled along with prospects of another Akira title for the Game Boy and Game Gear handheld consoles. International Computer Entertainment produced a video game based on Akira for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 in 1994. To coincide with the DVD release in 2002, Bandai released Akira Psycho Ball, a pinball simulator for the PlayStation 2.

Live-action film

Main article: Akira (planned film)

Since 2002, Warner Bros. acquired the rights to create a live-action remake of Akira as a seven-figure deal. The live-action remake has undergone several failed attempts to produce it, with at least five different directors and ten different writers known to have been attached to it. By 2017, director Taika Waititi was named as the film's director for the live-action adaptation. Warner Bros. had scheduled the film for release on May 21, 2021, and filming was planned to start in California in July 2019. However, Warner Bros. put the work on indefinite hold just prior to filming as Waititi had chosen to first direct Thor: Love and Thunder, the sequel to Thor: Ragnarok which he had also directed.

Legacy

Template:See

Akira is now widely regarded as one of the greatest animated movies of all time and prompted an increase in popularity of anime movies in the US and, generally, outside Japan. It is still admired for its exceptional visuals. In Channel 4's 2005 poll of the 100 greatest animations of all time featuring both film and television, Akira came in at number 16. On Empire magazine's list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, Akira is number 440. It showed again on Empire's list of The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema, coming in at No. 51. IGN also named it 14th on its list of Top 25 Animated Movies of All-Time. The Akira anime also made TIME magazine's list of top 5 anime DVDs. The film also made number 16 on Time Out's top 50 animated movie list and number 5 on the Total Film Top 50 Animated Films list. The film was ranked No. 1 by Wizard's Anime magazine on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America" list in 2001. It was ranked No. 4 on The Hollywood Reporter critic's list of "10 Best Animated Films for Adults" in 2016. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times selected Akira as his "Video Pick of the Week" in 1992 on Siskel & Ebert and the Movies. For its wider 2001 release, he gave the film "Thumbs Up."

Akira has also been regarded as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. It was ranked number 22 on The Guardian's list of best sci-fi and fantasy films, included on Film4's list of top 50 science fiction films, and ranked number 27 on Complex magazine's list of 50 best sci-fi movies. Phelim O'Neill of The Guardian draws a parallel on Akira's influence on the science-fiction genre to Blade Runner and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Akira is considered a landmark film in the cyberpunk genre, particularly the Japanese cyberpunk subgenre. The British Film Institute describes Akira as a vital cornerstone of the cyberpunk genre, along with Blade Runner and Neuromancer. Rob Garratt of South China Morning Post calls Akira one of "the most influential sci-fi visions ever realised" on film, comparable to the influence of Blade Runner. Akira is also credited as a breakthrough for adult animation, proving to global audiences that animation was not just for children.

Cultural impact

Akira is regarded by many critics as a landmark anime film, one that influenced much of the art in the anime world that followed its release with many illustrators in the manga industry citing the film as an important influence. Manga author Masashi Kishimoto, for example, recalls becoming fascinated with the way the poster was made and wished to imitate the series' creator Katsuhiro Otomo's style. The film had a significant impact on popular culture worldwide. The film led the way for the growth in popularity of anime outside Japan as well as Japanese popular culture in the Western world. Akira is considered a forerunner of the second wave of anime fandom that began in the early 1990s and has gained a massive cult following since then. It is credited with setting the scene for anime franchises such as Pokémon, Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto to become global cultural phenomena. According to The Guardian, the "cult 1988 anime taught western film-makers new ideas in storytelling, and helped cartoons grow up".

Akira has influenced numerous works in animation, comics, film, music, television and video games. It inspired a wave of Japanese cyberpunk works, including manga and anime series such as Ghost in the Shell, Battle Angel Alita, Cowboy Bebop, Serial Experiments Lain, and Elfen Lied, live-action Japanese films such as Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and video games such as Hideo Kojima's Snatcher and Metal Gear Solid, and Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII. Outside of Japan, Akira has been cited as a major influence on Hollywood films such as The Matrix, Dark City, Kill Bill, Chronicle, Looper, The Dark Knight, Midnight Special, Inception, and Godzilla, television shows such as Batman Beyond and Stranger Things, and video games such as Core Design's Switchblade, Valve's Half-Life series and Dontnod Entertainment's Remember Me. John Gaeta cited Akira as artistic inspiration for the bullet time effect in The Matrix films. Akira has also been credited with influencing the Star Wars franchise, including the prequel film trilogy and the Clone Wars film and television series. Todd McFarlane cited Akira as an influence on HBO animated television series Spawn.

Akira has also influenced the work of musicians. The music video for the Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson song "Scream" (1995) features clips from Akira. Kanye West cited Akira as a major influence on his work, and he paid homage to the film in the "Stronger" (2007) music video. Lupe Fiasco's album Tetsuo & Youth (2015) is named after Tetsuo Shima. The popular bike from the film, Kaneda's Motorbike, appears in Steven Spielberg's film Ready Player One, and CD Projekt's video game Cyberpunk 2077. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided video game developer Eidos Montréal also paid homage to the film's poster. The season four premiere of Rick and Morty ("Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat") features a scene in which Morty, and then Rick, are transformed into a giant tendrilled monster that Jerry and Beth later refer to as "an Akira". The 2000 South Park episode Trapper Keeper has references to Akira, such as one of the characters transforming into a giant blob organism before absorbing several other characters, not unlike the movie.

When Tokyo was chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 2013 bidding process, several commentators claimed that Akira predicted the future event. In 2017, Akira was referenced in several Tokyo Olympic promotions. In February 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic and 147 days before the Olympics, a scene in Akira which calls for the cancellation of the 2020 Olympics (147 days before the event) led to a social media trend calling for the cancellation of the 2020 Olympics. The Summer Olympics were eventually postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

References

Sources

• Rayns, Tony (March 1991). "Akira". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 58 no. 686.

External links

• [http:// Official website] Template:In lang
• American site (archived by the Wayback Machine)
• Akira at IMDb
• Template:First word Akira at AllMovie
• Akira (in ja). Japanese Movie Database.
• Template:Anime News Network
• (2011) "Akira (p. 11)", 100 Cult Films. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-84457-571-8. 

Template:Akira manga Template:Katsuhiro Otomo Template:TMS Entertainment Template:Portal barLinks to authority control.