Akira 9781838713638, 9781844578085

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Acknowledgments We would like to express our gratitude to Andrew M. Butler, Mark Bould, Elizabeth and Paul Billinger, and Gavin and Hanako Bell. We are indebted to Jenna Steventon, Sophia Contento and Chantal Latchford at BFI Publishing/Palgrave Macmillan for their support with this book. Special thanks to our family, Tony, Christine, Marc, Joan and Truus. For Marika and Hiroki, who are already anime aficionados, even if Akira will have to wait for a few years.

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Introduction: ‘If you awaken Akira ... no one will be able to stop him’ For many Western audiences in the early 1990s the Japanese film Akira was one of the coolest, strangest and most shocking cinema experiences they had ever come across: an animation where action and adventure collided with gang warfare, politics, militarism, technology and biology in a manner that was fantastical, thoughtprovoking and violent. Complex, confrontational and visually stunning, it made for challenging viewing. Without Akira there would be no ‘Cool Japan.’ There’s no denying that for many non-Japanese back in the early 1990s. The anime adaptation of the manga Akira was for them the first taste of a drug that ultimately drove the addicted to seek more highs like it, and it caused a pandemic of interest in Japanese pop culture that still exists today.1

Akira is anime, a term derived from the Japanese custom of condensing words, in this case, ‘animation’. It has links to but is distinct from manga, which are Japanese comic books. Akira started out as a manga, a 2000+-page magnum opus, written by Katsuhiro Otomo between 1982 and 1990. Although Akira was one of the first anime to receive a significant cinema release in the West, Japanese animations had actually been distributed in Western countries since the 1960s and were generally shown in the US and UK in dubbed form, broadcast on children’s TV slots and often censored to suit local audience tastes. Contemporary Western audiences may not have realised that Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu, 1963), Kimba the White Lion (Jungle Taitei, 1965–6), Speed Racer (Mahha GoGoGo, 1967–8) and Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman, from 1972) were actually anime. In Japan, anime and manga appeal to a broad range of markets, from very young children to adults and the subject matter

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covers an incredibly diverse range of genres. These demographics are not clearly defined, however, and some stories ostensibly aimed at the younger market may have sophisticated narratives and themes that appeal to adult readers and viewers. Indeed, in the early 1980s, publishers Kodansha recognised that there was a market for high-school and university students and saw an opportunity to establish Young Magazine, which serialised the original Akira manga.2 It’s Disney on PCP, mean, rotten, psychotic, but incredibly vivid.3

Animations targeted at the adult market have been part of mainstream viewing in Japan for many decades, but the perception of animation in Western countries is generally that cartoons are for the children and family markets and this was particularly true in the early 1990s. That isn’t to say that there were no animations with themes that would appeal to adults, but these tended to be independent short films and one-off features, such as Martin Rosen’s Watership Down (1978) and The Plague Dogs (1982) or René Laloux’s La Planète sauvage (Fantastic Planet, 1973). Some aimed to be deliberately unacceptable or controversial, such as The phoenix metropolis, Neo Tokyo

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Ralph Bakshi’s Fritz the Cat (1972) or the violent science-fiction comic adaptation Heavy Metal (1981). Shocking and surreal animations were not unprecedented either, but animations by great directors such as Jan S˘vankmajer or Walerian Borowczyk had generally been distributed in art-house cinemas. Indeed Akira was originally released as a subtitled print in the UK on a short run in London and selected regional cinemas but it received a VHS release some months later. Akira was fundamental in changing audience perceptions of what animation was and, importantly, what it had the potential to be. Akira approaches its story from many different perspectives: it has the high-speed motorcycle chases of an action movie, the dystopian society and cyberpunk themes of a science-fiction film, drama in the buddy-buddy relationship between two childhood friends, the fervour of teenage rebellion, the horror of biochemical mutation and a stunning apocalyptic ending. At the time of its release, it was, for many viewers, the first anime feature film they had ever seen: stylish, dynamic, intelligent and visceral. A cult following of aficionados swiftly developed, but the acceptance of anime as an art form took its time in the West because the mainstream perception was that animation lay in the realm of the family market. There were controversies – the pornographic and violent Urotsukidoji, Legend of the Overfiend (Choujin Densetsu Urotsukidouji, 1989) caused much consternation among viewers who didn’t realise it was entirely unsuitable for family (or indeed mainstream) viewing, despite its 18 rating. Anime’s recognition in the public consciousness has relied more upon Hayao Miyazaki’s delightful animations, enhanced by the publicity of an Oscar win for Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, 2001) which are, in the main, aimed at family audiences. A remarkable technical achievement in every respect, from the imaginative and detailed design of tomorrow to the booming Dolby effects on the soundtrack.4

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What stands out about Akira is the ambition of the production. It was a truly cinematic endeavour, the most expensive anime to be made at that time, using techniques that were cutting edge for the format. It was made using traditional cel animation, the standard process for the time, but it was an early adopter of (limited) computer-generated imagery (CGI) and it made extensive use of multilayered backgrounds, perspective and rapidly edited sequences that required immense numbers of cels to be created, coloured and filmed. Its soundtrack was original and innovative, from its uses of pre-recorded voice acting to the experimental music renditions that provided the film’s score. But it was Otomo’s attention to detail – from the elaborate mise en scène to the dynamism of the movement and the accurate lip-synching of the characters’ dialogue – which ensured that the viewing experience was immersive and thoroughly engaging. Akira doesn’t make for easy viewing. Amid the spectacle, there is a demanding plot. On its initial release outside Japan, reviews were mixed, to say the least. Charles Solomon of the LA Times described it as ‘… a compendium of the worst clichés of Japanese animation – two hours of chases, laser attacks, machine-gun battles, spilled stage blood, computer-animated backgrounds and hokey dialogue’.5 The density of the plot made it difficult for some reviewers to appreciate anything beyond the visual spectacle; it was perceived to be overly complicated. Some declared the film a ‘convoluted muddled mixture of decades of science-fiction and fantasy themes’6 and others concluded that ‘the narrative seems exceedingly rushed and needlessly twisty’.7 It is undeniable that such a complex story might be hard to follow amid all the action, horror and violence – but this is what makes Akira so rewarding. It is a film so rich in ideas that it easily bears multiple viewings. And the negative reviews of the time were countered with admiring recommendations of this new treasure. Janet Maslin of the New York Times declared, ‘Its post-apocalyptic mood, high-tech trappings, thrilling artwork and wide array of

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bizarre characters guarantee it a place in the pantheon of comic-strip science fiction.’8 Whether it was loved or loathed, Akira provoked a response. Akira is not a long cartoon, but an ambitious animated feature that can be seen as a parable of scientific responsibility and cosmic rebirth, or just an action-packed serial. Or it can be seen as a visceral example of the future of animation.9

Film technology has continued to develop with the advent of CGI permitting many visual effects that could once only be created using animation, to be achieved in live-action cinema. With the popularity of high-budget, high-concept superhero franchises and their technical capability to realise spectacular effects, the manner in which these superhuman powers are presented could make Akira seem dated. But Otomo’s vision is so clearly defined, with its distinctive visual style, hyper-detailed design and dynamic action, that Akira’s world – showing an alternative future – remains timeless. Originally filmed using 70mm film gauge, it has also made the transition to highdefinition home viewing with ease; it looks and sounds as sharp as the day it was first projected in cinemas. Simply put, no Akira, no Matrix. It’s that important.10

Akira’s legacy not only lies with the fact that it introduced the astonishingly diverse world of anime to a generation of enthusiasts, it also proved to have a huge impact on film-makers both in Japan and Western countries. Many films have been influenced by Akira and several film-makers have commented on how important Akira was in shaping the vision for their own creations. The Wachowskis, for example, cited Akira as a direct influence on their film The Matrix (1999), which itself would set the standard for future Hollywood action and science-fiction cinema. ‘We liked Ghost in the Shell and the Ninja Scroll and Akira in anime. One thing that they do that we

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tried to bring to our film was a juxtaposition of time and space in action beats.’11 But Akira’s influence did not simply extend to its visual effects. Its story has resonated with directors of modern science-fiction films, including those as recent as Chronicle (2012) and Looper (2012).12 Over twenty-five years since its release, it is testament to the film’s qualities that Akira remains an enormously popular film as well as a thrilling and exhilarating viewing experience. Neo Tokyo is about to explode On 16 July 1988, Tokyo was destroyed in a vast explosion, an event that triggered World War III. In 2019, Neo Tokyo has apparently made a strong recovery; it is even due to host the Olympic Games the following year. However, despite the neon veneer, the city has a number of problems. Many of its citizens are protesting about the weak government and terrorist activity is rife. Motorcycle gangs, known as bosozoku, roam the streets. One such gang, the Capsules, led by Kaneda, get into a high-speed confrontation with their rivals, the Clowns. Kaneda’s best friend Tetsuo crashes his bike while trying to avoid hitting a stranger, Takashi, on the road. Takashi looks like a

The 1988 destruction of Tokyo

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young boy but has a prematurely aged appearance. He was previously kidnapped by a group of freedom fighters but his abductor was shot by the police. The authorities, led by Colonel Shikishima, arrive at the accident scene in helicopters. The boy is persuaded by another agedlooking child, Masaru, to return with them. The Colonel also takes the injured Tetsuo to a military hospital, while the police deal with the remaining bikers. Kaneda, noticing an attractive girl at the police station, convinces the authorities that she is with them and should be released. She is Kei, a member of an anti-government organisation. Scientists examine Tetsuo at the institution, scanning him in a hi-tech machine. They are intrigued that he seems to have similar powers to a being they call Akira, possibly as a result of Tetsuo’s contact with Takashi. Frustrated at his enforced incarceration, Tetsuo escapes, finds his girlfriend Kaori and steals Kaneda’s bike. However, they run into the Clowns and are viciously attacked but the Capsules arrive to save them. Tetsuo develops a searingly painful headache and begins to hallucinate. The authorities arrive, administer drugs and take Tetsuo away once more. At the facility an aged girl confined to her bed, Kiyoko, foresees the future destruction of Neo Tokyo. Concerned about her The bikers tear through Neo Tokyo

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prediction, the Colonel meets with the city’s executive council and asks them for funding but the council refuses. After the terrorist bombing of a shopping mall, Kaneda spots revolutionaries Kei and Ryu; he inadvertently saves Kei from being captured by the authorities and joins her group. Further experiments are performed on Tetsuo and it becomes clear that his abilities have developed, but he is becoming increasingly emotionally unstable. The rebels break into the facility at the behest of government mole, Nezu, with the objective of gathering data on the new subject. Kaneda and Kei arrive at the aged children’s room at the institution (the ‘baby room’), guided telepathically by Kiyoko. Tetsuo rejects his friend and declares that he doesn’t need protecting any more. He learns that it is Akira who has been invading his consciousness and that he is located beneath the Olympic stadium construction site. Then he smashes through the facility walls and escapes. The Colonel heads out to the Olympic site, but is confronted by military police who have been ordered to strip him of his command. However, he rejects their demands and announces a state of emergency. Tetsuo visits his old haunts to procure drugs, but kills the

Kaneda and Kei break into the facility

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bar owner and a member of the Capsules, Yamagata, before commencing upon a psychic rampage through the city and heading to the stadium. Kei and Kaneda have been detained but Kiyoko releases them using her telekinetic skills. The three children take Kei, who confronts Tetsuo at the stadium. He recognises that she is representing them, channelling their power. Having learned of the death of Yamagata from gang member Kai, Kaneda heads for the stadium, determined to stop his friend. Tetsuo opens the vault where Akira has been stored but finds only glass jars of biological samples. Desperate to contain Tetsuo, the military employs SOL740, a giant laser located in orbit above the Earth. A beam from SOL temporarily halts Tetsuo, severing his right arm, but he flies into space to demolish the equipment before returning to the stadium where he and Kaneda continue to clash. Tetsuo uses his power to regenerate a new arm, a writhing mass of metal and flesh. Tetsuo’s girlfriend Kaori finds him and the Colonel tries to convince him to return to the institution. The regeneration of Tetsuo’s arm goes out of control, however, and the teenager transforms into a monstrous creature, assimilating those around him and crushing Kaori. He appeals to his best friend to help him. In a flashback, we see the pair’s friendship develop at an orphanage, Kaneda standing up for Tetsuo who has been bullied. We also learn of the project where the children, including Akira, were experimented upon; their power to be used to develop weapons. Back at the crumbling stadium, a scientist discovers that this energy pattern appears to indicate the creation of a new universe. The three children decide to free Tetsuo by merging with him. Akira is reconstituted from his remains so that he is able to take them all away. They can save Kaneda. In a flash of blinding light and a burst of tremendous energy, much of Neo Tokyo is destroyed. But the energy recedes. Kaneda escapes and meets with Kei and Kai. As the flashes of light fade, we hear a lone voice: ‘I am Tetsuo.’

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‘What the hell is this Akira thing?’ Akira epitomises the ethos of the cyperpunk genre with its depiction of biker gangs in a Tokyo of the near future. Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction. Any definition has to take both elements of the word into account ... . The various types of augmented life – where flesh is supplemented or replaced by the mechanical – are collectively referred to as post-human. The punk is The Akira Project

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referring to the low life, the working or middle class, the have-nots, who populate such fiction. Rather than rocket scientists or beautiful daughters, cyberpunk features drug dealers, drug users, musicians, skateboarders as characters, as well as various hackers.13

Otomo’s manga Akira was conceived in the early 1980s, a time when cyberpunk was gaining attention as a genre. The best known cyberpunk novel was William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984), set in a dystopian near future which is dominated by corporations and complex computer networks. It was also set in Japan. As Gibson later acknowledged, ‘Japan was already, somehow, the de facto spiritual home of that influence, that particular flavour of popular culture.14 Another notable cyberpunk work, often mentioned, is Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) which was created during the same year that Otomo started writing the Akira manga. Coincidentally, it is set in the year 2019, in a world of cross cultural-conflicts, violence and intrigue which all stem from a city’s history of big corporations and powerful technology. Together, these three works defined the cyberpunk genre of dystopian science fiction and established the archetypal image of a futuristic Neo Tokyo, rising from the rubble of apocalypse, that’s burned into the psyche of sci-fi fans everywhere.15

Akira is a film that doesn’t have easily definable heroes. Its primary focus is the relationship between Kaneda and Tetsuo, characters who initially appear to be the very antithesis of the heroes usually depicted in anime aimed at the boys’ market. These heroes are usually plucky and good-hearted, with strong purpose and much determination, who work together as a team to achieve their goals. Akira’s bikers are punks, living for kicks with no thought for the future, because they don’t consider that they have one. However, as the story progresses, we learn that Kaneda, although he remains anti-authoritarian, is both loyal and courageous. Otomo also imbues both Kaneda and Tetsuo

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with a degree of sympathy, using flashbacks to show us their miserable childhoods and a friendship founded on defending each other in a home for abandoned children. Their personal story, set against the wider backdrop of militarism, paranormal power and conspiracy, is what gives Akira an emotional edge. ‘Tetsuo’s our friend. If someone’s going to kill him, it should be us.’ Kaneda, at sixteen years’ old, is the elder of the pair, by a year. He has been friends with Tetsuo for most of their childhood. ‘Ever since we were in the children’s home everyone teased him, wanted to make him cry.’ In Japan, the seniority relationship between older and younger people has specific conventions. This is common throughout Japanese society, from high-school friendships to workplace colleagues. Kaneda is the senpai, effectively a mentor to his kohai Tetsuo, the equivalent of a protégé. The senpai’s role is protect his kohai and, in return, the kohai is expected to respect and obey his senpai. Kaneda is not only the eldest, he is the strongest, the most competent biker. Even though the social structure of the gang is anarchic, it still follows defined conventions and Kaneda is clearly the leader, expecting his gang to follow him without question. When Tetsuo covets his friend’s amazing motorbike, Kaneda simply advises him to ‘steal one for yourself’. Tetsuo not only disrespects Kaneda as the gang’s leader, he also breaks the sempai/kohai rules when he turns on his friend. He does indeed steal a bike, but he takes Kaneda’s, when fleeing the authorities, although he cannot figure out how to use its customised controls and he runs into more trouble with the Clowns. Tetsuo is immature and frustrated at being perceived as the weak member of the gang, the one who Kaneda always has to rescue. When he gains enormous power he abuses it, turning on his group and shunning their friendship. When Kaneda confronts Tetsuo at the stadium he is absolutely prepared to kill his friend. Violence is the only way to assert his authority. It is only when Tetsuo loses control

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and mutates, his body becoming a grotesque mass of pulsating flesh, that he begs Kaneda to help him. Once Tetsuo has acknowledged his position in their social hierarchy, Kaneda relents. We learn of the origins of their friendship, when Kaneda defended Tetsuo when the younger boy was being bullied at the orphanage, returning his toy robot (a Gundam mecha model, from the TV anime Mobile Suit Gundam) and this cements their bond. Although Kaneda is undoubtedly a tough guy and a strong leader, he becomes remarkably gauche when he attempts to form a relationship with revolutionary Kei. Although all the bikers have groupie girlfriends, who hang around outside the school, he is not interested in such easy pickings. Kei is feisty, resourceful and utterly dedicated to her cause. She is smart, and she sees right through Kaneda’s boyishly naive attempts to woo her with his roguish charm. He needs to earn her respect, which eventually he does, despite his gung-ho approach to revolution. If any character could be perceived to be heroic it would be Kei, although she is a terrorist, a freedom fighter, and is prepared to kill if that is necessary to achieve her objectives. The organisation that she works for is aware that the authorities have been concealing information about the Akira Project. That she becomes psychically Childhood friends

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linked with Kiyoko, who is conscientious about containing Akira using the knowledge and the powers that she has, reflects their desire to do the right thing. ‘Tetsuo is our new companion. He’s our friend too.’ The three children, Kiyoko (no. 25), Takashi (no. 26) and Masaru (no. 27), are wizened creatures, Akira’s (no. 28) companions, who survived the original destruction of Tokyo. They have retained their psychic skills but their bodies have been damaged; Masaru can no longer walk and moves around in a floating capsule, Kiyoko is confined to her bed. Their outward demeanour is that of children, but they have aged and are old enough to be adults (Kiyoko wears make-up and has manicured fingernails). However, they have not grown up emotionally and reside in a nursery at the institution. Their entire existence a state secret, they have been kept away from the real world for too long. But they realise that ultimately they can help to resolve the situation. All three take responsibility for dealing with Tetsuo, even at the expense of their own lives. The children remain under the protection of the Colonel, isolated from the world. The Colonel is old enough to remember the original destruction of Tokyo and is one of the few people who fully Kei demonstrates her bravery

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understand the Akira Project and the implications of letting paranormal powers get out of control again. He has access to the executive council, but it does not listen to his advice. Given the situation he has been assigned to deal with, he acts with integrity and according to his conscience. He is professional, referring to the children by their numbers to the scientists, but compassionate enough to use their names when talking to them directly. We do not know whether he approves of the project but he is clearly devoted to his duty – ‘I’m not a scientist, I think like a soldier.’ Director Jaume Collet-Serra, who has been associated with a potential Hollywood live-action remake of Akira, made some controversial statements in an interview in 2014, citing that he was planning to bring stronger characters to his adaptation. ‘Nobody’s interesting. Tetsuo’s interesting because weird shit happens to him, and Kaneda is so two-dimensional. That’s part of the Japanese culture, they never have strong characters. They’re used as a way to move the other philosophy forward.16 Collet-Serra’s assertion would appear to be mean-spirited and, in the context of tarring a rich history of Japanese literature and cinema with a sweeping generalisation, unfair, but one can understand why he might feel this way about the characters in Akira. The aged children’s nursery

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The film has an incredibly dense plot to incorporate into its two-hour running time and many of the film’s commentators have felt that narrative dominates at the expense of characterisation: ... the compression of this long-running manga serial into a feature-length film curtailed the development of the multiplicity of subplots which developed individual characterisations, enhancing the film’s sense of fragmentation and disruption of the narrative flow. For in Akira, there is no one central character; there are multiple characters who interact within a given set of circumstances, reducing the film to a montage of patterns of action.17

‘Amoebas don’t build their own houses and bridges do they?’ There is one important character in Akira and that is Neo Tokyo itself. Beyond mise en scène, the city is not just a setting, it is a vital element within Akira’s narrative. Otomo has stated that he wanted to ensure that Akira had a strong sense of Tokyo about it, to create a science-fiction story that would take place in a chaotic city.18 This is an age where Neo Tokyo faces threats from terrorism, military coups, psychokinesis or even laser destruction from satellite hardware. Location and set design (both in animated and live-action films) are often integral to creating a sense of place but few manage to achieve this in quite the way that Akira does. Noir films, such as Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949) often use the city setting to confuse and beguile, and science-fiction films such as Sin City (2005), Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927), Rintaro’s anime Metropolis (2001), Alex Proyas’s Dark City (1998) and, of course, Blade Runner have created such distinctive milieus that they could be said to influence the characters’ identities and motivations, becoming essential to our understanding the story. Akira shows us a Neo Tokyo of the future, which very much reflects the Tokyo of its present.

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Modern Japan simply was cyberpunk. The Japanese themselves knew it and delighted in it. I remember my first glimpse of Shibuya, when one of the young Tokyo journalists who had taken me there, his face drenched with the light of a thousand media-suns – all that towering, animated crawl of commercial information – said, ‘You see? You see? It is Blade Runner town.’ And it was. It so evidently was.19

Akira’s opening sequence establishes many of its themes and introduces some of its lead characters, using a blend of cinematic and animation techniques. More importantly, it showcases Neo Tokyo, while delivering a thrilling action sequence. Otomo deploys the animation process in a manner that derives from live-action cinema, incorporating multidimensional movement enhanced by dynamic shots of the Capsules speeding on their bikes down the streets, and emphasised by emulating camera techniques such as light blurring and lens flare, which increase the sense of realism in a distinctly artinspired fantasy medium. Following the prologue showing the destruction of Tokyo, the film opens with the buzzing light outside a downtown bar in a dingy backstreet, a squalid emporium emblazoned with graffiti, the hangout of local denizens. Inside, a television flicks between entertainment channels and the news, the picture distorted by a poor signal. The broadcast reveals Neo Tokyo’s political and social situation. ‘Groups of unemployed workers, who have grown in number due to tax reforms enacted by the former Prime Minister, are rioting all across the country.’ This immediately identifies the city as an area of segregation between rich and poor, dominated by politics and social exclusion. This scene prepares us for an encounter between the Capsules and the Clowns. Having been introduced to this new society via the media, Otomo then visually reinforces our perceptions when the Capsules begin their rampage through the city in a violent confrontation with their rivals. Outside the bar, the camera pans down to the grimy alleyway, where the gang’s motorcycles are located. They are the only impressive objects in that filthy street ...

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because they have been stolen. As the gang members start up their bikes, the ignition process is replete with bolts of energy; then they tear down the street, the colour from their tail-lights burning across the screen, indicating not just movement but a celluloid cinematic depiction of movement. The Capsules’ confrontation with the Clowns gives us a tour of this phoenix metropolis. As the film’s distinctive score begins to drive the action, Otomo dissects the city using multiple camera angles, panning across shots of tall buildings, dwelling on an impressive cityscape with its searchlights and illuminated skyscrapers, cutting to close-ups of futuristic 3D holographic advertising hoardings followed by angular, comic-book-style aerial shots of the buildings and streets below. The Neo Tokyo depicted in Akira is a place of chaos and contrasts – from the grungy alleyways of the opening, we are now presented with an image of the futuristic city, risen from the ashes, that is preparing to showcase itself to the world as an Olympic venue. This is the technologically advanced environment of commercialism and industry, the representation of a post-war consumerist culture that the politicians wish us to see. But Otomo chose to show us the world of the have-nots before he revealed the magnificence of the reborn city. Akira’s target audience is ostensibly teenage males, and Otomo makes it very clear that we are to identify with the bikers. The yuppies in their sensible cars and fancy restaurants mean nothing to them. Otomo has portrayed a city which, while impressive, has clearly defined social and economic problems, in which significant numbers of the population are either protesting against the government or have turned to a form of religion. The first instances of violence occur when we view an innocent man in his car slamming on his brakes as the gangs hare past, before cutting to a close-up of his front window being smashed by one of the bikers. He escapes from his vehicle moments before his car is destroyed by a grenade. A further sequence demonstrates the city’s social inequality as one of the Clowns crashes through the window of a classy restaurant. The gangs assault each other and we see close-ups

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of the characters showing gritted teeth determination as they head through the streets towards the motorway, beating each other with iron bars, the neon cityscape providing a backdrop for their highspirited and ferocious antics. Tetsuo falls off his bike when turning a corner and is mocked by his comrades, another indication that he is one of the weaker members of the gang. But he demonstrates his tenacity when he quickly remounts and starts off in pursuit of his quarry once more. We cut to a sequence where the bikers ride along the highway. They leap onto each other’s bikes and beat each other up. Kaneda plays ‘chicken’ with a Clown, both hooligans racing towards each other, Otomo editing his shots increasingly quickly as the pair tears along the white line in the centre of the road. They miss each other by millimetres, Kaneda screeches to a halt at 90° perspective, sparks flying from his electrically controlled brakes while the Clown is hurled from his bike. The bikers hear police sirens but feel no compulsion to stop – ‘Damn, my motor was just warming up’ – so they head off down the highway for further confrontations, the camera panning up to admire the glow of the skyscrapers in front of them. Otomo then cuts to the point of view of Takashi’s injured kidnapper as he shuffles through the streets, dodging and weaving between the crowds of protesters, pulling the aged child behind him. Running past TV screens advertising dog food, the kidnapper knows that the police are using dogs to locate the scent of his blood. The rebel has no qualms about shooting these vicious hounds to prevent capture, and Otomo shows us a child onlooker in an adjacent car who is horrified by these actions as canine blood splatters over the vehicle. It’s an incidental detail, but important evidence of the brutality of the society. When the kidnapper is finally surrounded, lying in a pool of blood, Takashi is urged to run away and the aged child slinks into the shadows. Several policemen open fire on the helpless man, his body riddled with bullets, a sign of the authorities’ heavy-handed approach to law and order (this is later reinforced in the shots of the ensuing riot). As his kidnapper dies in front of him,

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Bikers battle

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Tetsuo’s encounter with Takashi

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the aged boy’s cries of distress shatter the windows of the surrounding buildings, raining glass upon the onlookers. Rebels Kei and Ryu look on and the aged child simply vanishes. Otomo returns to the escalating conflict between the Capsules and the Clowns. The chase intensifies, and begins to focus on Tetsuo. Kaneda and the rest of the gang call off their pursuit when a Clown throws an incendiary device which causes a fire inside a tunnel. Determined to prove himself, however, Tetsuo continues in his pursuit of his rivals. Tetsuo’s target eventually crashes his machine. Otomo increases the momentum of the chase, cutting quickly between shots of the bikers, but occasionally varying the pace, using slow-motion to demonstrate the impact of the crash as the Clown tumbles from his bike. Otomo then cuts to a shot of a gleeful Tetsuo advancing, iron bar in hand, who then smashes the face of the Clown. But the teenager isn’t looking at the road ahead. Takashi’s face suddenly appears in the headlight beam, the light from which bleeds across the screen. Tetsuo swerves and crashes his bike into Takashi, skidding on the road, his bike bursting into flames. The Capsules arrive, followed by the military. Masaru persuades Takashi to return and they take Tetsuo as well. Kaneda objects immediately, wanting to protect his friend. In sixteen minutes, Otomo has not only set up the film’s premise, he has immediately engaged the audience with a thrilling action set piece.

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1 Themes: ‘Open your eyes and look at the big picture’ Akira could be considered a film that reflects on Japan’s relationship with its past and its present, which envisions an alternative Tokyo of the future. Science fiction often says as much about the present as it does about the future and Akira speaks volumes about the time in which it was made. ‘The passion to build has cooled, … the joy of reconstruction forgotten.’ Many anime feature an apocalyptic event. Akira features two. Although depictions of the end of the world are not unique to Japanese cinema nor indeed to science-fiction cinema, it is a common theme in many Japanese art forms. Japan suffered greatly during World War II and is the only country on Earth on which nuclear bombs have actually been used on civilian populations, and this had a devastating effect on the Japanese consciousness. Japan is also vulnerable to the forces of nature. Located on the Pacific Rim, the Ring of Fire, it consequently suffers frequent earthquakes and occasionally tsunami. In a country where cycles of destruction (whether natural or initiated by humans) have occurred to a greater or lesser extent over many centuries, the Japanese accept the process of reconstruction. To this end, Susan Napier suggests that ‘the apocalyptic mode … is not simply a major part of anime, but is also deeply ingrained within the contemporary Japanese national identity.’20 Following the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to the Allies and this led to the end of World War II. It was a turning point in Japanese history. Poverty-stricken Japan was defeated and humiliated. The impact of the war and its

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aftermath has had a major influence on Japanese cinema, anime included. Some anime are based on the true stories of those who witnessed the horrors, such as Barefoot Gen (Hadashi no Gen, 1983) and Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka, 1988). In fiction, and particularly science fiction, the initial premise for many stories is post apocalyptic. Like Akira, many begin with a devastating event and depict the survivors’ attempts to reconstruct society with varying degrees of success. These include TV series such as Space Battleship Yamato (Uchu Senkan Yamato, 1974), a space opera where aliens have effectively desiccated the world, Cowboy Bebop (1998), a laidback SF Western, set in the solar system because the Earth is uninhabitable and Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shin Seiki Evangerion, 1995–6), a hugely popular and influential anime, which depicted a Tokyo devastated by alien invaders. Like other countries defeated during World War II, Japan commenced the arduous process of reconstruction during the 1950s and 60s, rebuilding its infrastructure and economy. By the time the 1980s had arrived, the time when Akira was conceived, Japan’s growth was being lauded worldwide as an ‘economic miracle’. In Akira, we are shown the destruction of Tokyo at the very beginning: the ‘camera’ pans over the city in silence, save the sounds of the wind. Then a ball of light and a cloud representing a nuclear explosion engulfs the city. That is all we need to see. We then flash forward to Neo Tokyo. It appears that it has recovered well following World War III. We do not know about the circumstances of the war, only of the event that started it. Despite the seemingly impressively restored infrastructure, much of the action takes place in deprived parts of the city or areas under construction. The holographic advertising hoardings are hollow representations of a thriving economy. This is a superficial reconstruction. Akira is set in 2019, the year before the official launch of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The fact that an actual 2020 Tokyo Olympiad is a reality is one of those delightful coincidences that all speculative fiction can relish. The Olympic theme is relevant to

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Akira, a link between fact and fiction, actualities and possibilities, and a connection with the relationships between wars, Olympic legacies and potential Olympic staging. For an event whose primary aim is to showcase multinational sporting excellence, the Olympic Games have had their share of controversial and political issues to contend with and these are, in many ways, reflected in the world of Akira with its themes of reconstruction, desolation, drug-taking, terrorism and multifaceted politics. The Games that were due to be held in Germany in 1916 were cancelled during World War I, but were finally held in that country, albeit as a highly politicised event, in 1936. The following two Games were cancelled during World War II including the 1940 summer Games which were due to be held in Tokyo, an event that would have to wait until 1964. Tokyo Olympiad (1965) remains one of the Games’ most renowned and well-constructed documentaries. It was directed by Kon Ichikawa and opens with a pulsating circular light which recalls the conclusion to Akira. This footage is immediately followed by shots of wrecking balls crashing into already partially destroyed Tokyo buildings that are further reduced to rubble to allow for the building of the new stadium. The initial sequences of this documentary are primarily concerned with reconstruction. Holographic neon advertisements

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Ichikawa also shows us the Olympic flame’s journey to Tokyo via Hiroshima in a manner that Akira also clearly addresses, a remembrance of futures past. The 1964 Games were hugely important for Japan; they represented the rebirth of the country, an opportunity for Japan to showcase itself to the world as a modern and confident new society. In Akira, some thirty years after World War III, this is precisely what the authorities wish to demonstrate although, as events transpire, that the final confrontation takes place inside a stadium that is destroyed before it has even been completed, is deeply ironic. ‘Puppets of corrupt politicians and capitalists.’ Another of Akira’s themes concerns power and control. Right from the film’s opening, we learn from TV news reports that the politicians have effectively lost control of Neo Tokyo. They are later shown to be both corrupt and self-serving. The Akira Project is of particular importance to the scientific, military and government authorities, although in 2019 each of these organisations have conflicting opinions about how to – or indeed whether they should – proceed with the project. These predominantly male institutions (there are no female council members, soldiers or scientists) established this project in order to understand and harness the magnificent energy. It is evident that the authorities were concerned about containing this power, while exploring the possibilities for nurturing and controlling it. The scientists are keen to explore Tetsuo’s synchronicity with Akira’s power but keep their findings from the Colonel, who is adamant that these abilities must be contained. Chief scientist Dr Onishi is fascinated by the nature of the power and of Tetsuo as a remarkable subject but his focus is on understanding its fundamental properties rather than exploiting them. As the Colonel notes, ‘Scientists are a bunch of romantics.’ The remains of Akira himself are located in a secret bunker, maintained at 0.0005 Kelvin, beneath the site of the Olympic

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stadium construction site. Neo Tokyo’s executive council does not have the funding – nor, apparently, the will – to contain Akira. As time has passed, other issues have taken priority. Indeed some council members do not believe there is proof that Akira was responsible for the original blast that destroyed Tokyo. They accuse the Colonel of using Akira to hide his misconduct, although this makes the Colonel a convenient scapegoat to conceal their own incompetence. Following Japan’s defeat in World War II, Section 9 of the Japanese Constitution declared that the Japanese people had renounced war and that the country would therefore not maintain land, air and sea forces. Japan has, however, maintained a ‘selfdefence’ force. There are no references to other countries in the Akira anime (although there are in the manga), as the narrative is tightly focused on events in Neo Tokyo, but Otomo has depicted a Japan with a strong military capability following World War III, a force that even possesses advanced satellite laser weaponry orbiting the Earth. Many commentators’ interpretations of the representation of the Colonel reference Japan’s Longest Day (Nihon no ichiban nagai hi, 1967) which depicted the attempted military coup on the night of the 14–15 August 1945, during the closing days of World War II, the purpose of which was to prevent the The scientists are fascinated by Tetsuo’s power

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Japanese surrender. A group of generals was determined to fight on to the bitter end, despite the Emperor personally wanting to end the war, accepting the ultimate shame of defeat in order to save his country from starvation. [this] historical signifier derives from the kurai tani (dark valley) period (1931–1941) of pre-war Japan when right-wing military factions combined with zaibutsu (industrialists) and vied with politicians for political control of the country. In Akira, the Colonel is symbolic of this military faction. The film’s representation of the Colonel is so constructed that he is easily identifiable with the portrayal of General Anami, the War Minister of Prime Minister Suzuki’s cabinet of 1945, in the highly successful film Japan’s Longest Day.21

The circumstances are very different in Akira but the Colonel strongly believes that he is acting with honour and integrity and does not hesitate to instigate a coup when he is challenged, for the sole purpose of preventing further destruction. He is determined to maintain a form of peace and to ensure that any future threat is contained. ‘My job isn’t to believe or disbelieve. It is to act or not act!’ He has tolerated the corrupt council and tried to argue his case to gain funding following Kiyoko’s prediction that Tetsuo will destroy Neo Tokyo, but when he fails, he acts alone. Actively working against the authorities are the revolutionaries, a band of freedom fighters of which Kei and Ryu are members. At the start of the film, they have kidnapped Takashi and we later see them break into the institution to gather information about Tetsuo. They are terrorists, their activities designed to cause as much chaos as possible, but they are also idealists, striving to bring down an inefficient government that has vitiated society. Ryu is working for Nezu, a beady-eyed, toothy and shifty-looking character (nezumi means ‘rat’ in Japanese), who is also a council member, a mole. He is present at the executive meetings but doesn’t contribute to discussions and we later learn that he is as unscrupulous and disreputable as any of the politicians.

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In the end, though, it is the outcasts, the bikers, who have the final say in the fate of Neo Tokyo. Tetsuo’s powers destroy large parts of the city, a rejection of the society he has been brought up in, causing widespread annihilation. And what destruction! We are shown, in detailed slow-motion, swathes of light engulfing the city, emanating from a central sphere of energy, the wind whipping buildings, vehicles and rubble through the air, like the tornado does in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Skyscrapers topple over, roads crack open, buildings plunge into the sea. Dr Onishi, looking at the readout from the energy patterns, declares that they are indications of the birth of a new universe, before he is crushed by falling infrastructure. But the city, while severely damaged, is not totally obliterated. The power wanes. Blue skies are reflected in the glass of the surviving structures and rays of sunlight shine through the parting grey clouds. There is – once again – hope for another recovery. The energy shrinks into an infinitesimal glow which passes through Kaneda’s hands before it disappears. It is undeniable that one of the pleasures of watching … is the incredible variety and range of catastrophic imagery that literally animates the screen and provides at least some viewers with an exhilarating form of catharsis … . Destruction of Neo Tokyo

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Freed from the restraints of language and live-action cinema, the abstract visual medium of animation works brilliantly to ‘convey the unconveyable’.22

Kaneda and the Colonel, both of whom became engulfed in the fleshy mass of Tetsuo’s sticky metamorphosis, survive. They have both rejected Neo Tokyo’s society and its values. While the Colonel was undoubtedly part of the establishment, he recognised its ineffective politicians and never hid his contempt for them, but The Colonel and Kaneda survive

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despite this disdain, his decisions were made in the best interests of the city’s population. He acted according to his conscience. Kaneda had never engaged with his society; he was never offered the opportunity. He and his gang simply existed on its periphery. But having proven himself through his courage and tenacity, he is considered worthy to reconstruct the new society. Both Kaneda and the Colonel are koha types, the embodiment of a hard masculinity to which actual bosozoku youths aspire ... . Since the Colonel and Kaneda are both representations of the koha school and are shown to be efficient, loyal and competent in their use and control of artefacts, they are obvious survivors in a film which seeks to promote this image of masculinity.23

And as for Tetsuo’s fate? ‘He just left.’ The final shots of the film give us an abstract light show, reminiscent of the ending to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – from grey and white concentric circles shooting beams of energy to the vivid red of a pulsating orb of light and streaks of dazzling energy, the debris of destruction transforming into galaxies in space. ‘These powers, are they real or just a hallucination?’ There is a sense that the science in Akira takes multiple forms – from mechanical inventions and sophisticated weapons to the biological – in the case of Tetsuo, the merging of teen and machine, a manifestation beyond that of pure mechanisation which becomes integrated to form a new biomechanical entity. It then moves into the realms of more extreme biological states. These elements of body horror recall David Cronenberg’s Videodrome (1983) and indeed many of his other films which link the biotechnological and horrific created from science and technology derived for disingenuous purpose with shocking and often grotesque results. Similarly, the body horror and visualisation of the monstrous in Shinya Tsukamoto’s hyperkinetic and utterly bizarre Tetsuo (1989)

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shares many ideas with those portrayed in Akira. It shows us the merging of a businessman and a metal fetishist into a dual-headed metal monstrosity, determined to turn Tokyo into a city of metal and rust. Tsukamoto declared, ‘If Blade Runner and Videodrome are the parents (of cinematic cyberpunk), then Akira is the son, and Tetsuo is the brother to Akira.’24 Beyond science, preternatural themes are central to Akira. Paranormal powers are not only a fundamental aspect of the narrative but they reflect the very being of Akira himself, as well as the others involved in the experimental regime, including Tetsuo. The results of scientific experimentation, the psychokinetic skills of the children are deep and powerful, especially when they are in a heightened emotional state. These psychic powers are justified to us in the narrative in a way that feels slightly superfluous, as though Otomo feels the need to provide an explanation. Kiyoko, speaking through Kei as her medium, tells Kaneda of an energy that exists in all creatures and how the authorities recognised this and tried to harness it. ‘Where does all that knowledge and energy come from?’ ‘What sort of memories are hidden within? ‘What if everyone shares these ancient memories?’ The premise that ‘It exists within everyone from the start’, has a loose connection with Japan’s indigenous religion, Shinto, which recognises spirits in all things. The Shinto faith … conceives of a superior or divine realm which informs and guides human existence. This realm is populated by a host of beings known as kami … . The Japanese word kami is often translated as deity, but in fact designates an extremely wide range of spirit-beings together with a host of supernatural forces and essences.25

In Akira’s SF context, the paranormal powers are the result of experimentation gone awry. The three known survivors of the Akira Project, Masaru, Takashi and Kiyoko, have been incarcerated by the military for many decades. Tetsuo has to become a part of their group although he is not initially aware of this and does not even

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know if the powers he has developed are real. His consciousness is sporadically invaded by Akira but he has no concept of who or what ‘Akira’ is. Otomo intercuts the sequences showing the development of Tetsuo’s increasing power, enhanced by the incredibly strong drugs administered by the military, with scenes that further progress the plot – Kiyoko’s prediction of the destruction of Neo Tokyo, the Colonel’s meeting with the council, the rebels’ attempt to enter the facility – until matters reaches a crescendo in the baby-room scene. Tetsuo experiences his first major hallucinations in the scene following his initial escape from the hospital and his encounter with the Clowns after they have sexually assaulted Kaori. This sequence is edited so rapidly that many of the shots are just a few frames in length: flashes of light, pulsating flesh, a little boy’s face – images that are almost subliminal in execution. Accompanying these horrific visions, a bell chimes and a child’s voice cries, ‘Akira’. The images invade the audience’s consciousness for less than a second – giving us the chance to experience briefly the force of the paranormal powers and foreshadowing the film’s conclusion. Tetsuo then falls to his knees, dropping to the ground as the pavement crumbles beneath him and his guts spill over the floor. Otomo reinforces our perception that this is an hallucination when he cuts to a shot from above and we see the teenager, sweating and drooling, scrabbling at thin air as he tries to scoop his imaginary innards back into his body. Back at the military hospital, he is assaulted by another set of powerful visions. Initially these appear to be a dream state, memories of his childhood – his resentment at being sent to a children’s home followed by happy recollections of him playing with Kaneda, drawing pictures of robots and monsters, climbing onto the slide at a playground. No one else is present in these dream memories, his closest friend is the one who means the most to him. The vision changes: a wind picks up as Tetsuo ascends the slide’s ladder and the skyscrapers tower above him, then crumble to rubble. His own shadow on the pavement starts to disintegrate and

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Tetsuo watches his hands and body fall apart. A young Kaneda looks on, laughing. Otomo then cuts to Tetsuo in the hospital bed, thrashing his arms. He cries out Kaneda’s name. When Tetsuo wakes later on, he needs water. Sleepy and confused, he reaches to his bedside table and, unconsciously, psychokinetically moves the glass into his hand. This confirms to us that his power is real, although Tetsuo himself still does not yet recognise this. Tetsuo’s dream state is given a terrifying dimension when he later has visions of the toys in his room – a teddy bear, a rabbit and a car (which we first see as an incidental detail at the foot of Kiyoko’s cot) – which appear to come to life, crawling onto his bed. Then they grow to monstrous size, reconstructed into increasingly lurid form, as the teddy bear’s paws are mutated into distinct monsters that are at once conceptual and disturbing – possessing sharp-toothed jaws and reptilian scales that recall the kaiju (strange creature) movies from the 1950s onwards, the most famous of which is Gojira (Godzilla). The walls crash around him and disintegrate into toy building bricks. Tetsuo, a tough and rebellious teen, is momentarily terrified by toys. He has visions of being immersed in a pool of milk. We discover that it is the aged children who are using their powers to create distinctive and very real manifestations of kaiju in order to scare Tetsuo. But their childish plan falls apart when he cuts his foot on a broken glass and they become frightened of the blood. Angry and confused, Tetsuo later escapes from his room, murders the hospital orderlies and military guards, deciding to confront the children in the baby room, a nursery where the aged children reside. It’s a wondrous room filled with trees and castles, where model aeroplanes and dirigibles hang from the ceiling and jungle scenes and fairytale murals are painted on the walls. As soon as he enters the room, the giant teddy with monster paws and jumbo toy car confront him; the children are too naive to attempt a different approach with their scare tactics but Tetsuo is now wise to their childish plans. He will attack them all. ‘How long are you

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going to keep playing around?’ he cries, a burst of power crashing the constructed monsters into their constituent components. Meanwhile, Kei and Kaneda have broken into the facility through the underground sewers in an exciting chase sequence, and the eminently sensible Kiyoko telepathically guides Kei towards the baby room. Tetsuo confronts the aged children, threatening to kill them outright. Otomo shows us a series of flashbacks of his initial encounter with Takashi as his memories return. When the Colonel and scientists enter the room and inform Tetsuo that he is experiencing pain because his power is not yet fully mature, it dawns upon the teenager that he has been the subject of an experiment – ‘You messed with my head!’ he cries in fury. Kiyoko tries to calm him, to communicate with him, Takashi translating, ‘Big people like you should never use the power in the way that you are.’ Despite the fact that the children are all older than Tetsuo, they behave as children, cosseted in their nursery; they have never been able to grow up and they are terrified of the freedom and anarchy Terrifying toys

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that the teenager represents. Tetsuo realises that it is Akira who has been invading his consciousness. As he telekinetically tears apart the baby room, Kaneda and Kei arrive. Tetsuo initially expresses surprise but his emotions quickly turn to anger when he realises that the obviously enthusiastic Kaneda has come to save him – again. But he is now the powerful one and he defiantly rejects his friend, even mocking him. ‘I won’t be needing you to come to the rescue ever again.’ Once he envied his friend but now he refutes Kaneda’s confused and then angry response by hurling building rubble around, demonstrating his new-found independence. As the rubble from the baby room floats up to the domed skylight, despite Kiyoko’s best efforts to keep the secret from him, Tetsuo learns where Akira now resides. This is the turning point in the narrative, where the walls – both literally and metaphorically – come tumbling down: Tetsuo recognises his power, Kaneda is shunned by his best friend and the Colonel realises that Kiyoko’s prediction is accurate and that he will no longer be able to contain Akira. The baby room walls come tumbling down

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‘Beyond SF there is horror.’26 Kiyoko, Takashi and Masaru’s long established psychokinetic skills (developed over decades) range from telekinesis and telepathy to clairvoyance and precognition. We witness the destructive nature of their power early on when Takashi, who has escaped into the world at large, witnesses the shooting of his kidnapper. His obvious distress shatters the windows of nearby buildings. It is not a power he revels in (unlike Tetsuo); rather, this psychokinetic turmoil derives from a highly emotional state and is a means of protecting himself. Despite their appearances, all three children are well into their thirties or older and attempt to behave in a mature and responsible way, but often fail. Not so Tetsuo who, following his hospital incarceration and the administration of powerful drugs, is transformed into a character of a distinctly dangerous disposition. He discovers that he can use these psychokinetic skills to control others, hurling them through the air like dolls, destroying the environment around him, shooting objects like bullets. Far more unpleasant, he can psychokinetically modify human bodies, often in horrific and sometimes fatal ways, even causing bodies to explode. In one instance in the manga of Akira, Tetsuo uses his newly discovered abilities to dispatch a rival in a distinctly gruesome fashion, bursting his head in a disgusting detonation of brains, bones and blood. This is akin to the psychokinetic horror in David Cronenberg’s Scanners (1981) which, like Akira, also includes precognitive skills and the protagonists’ abilities to manipulate others. Grotesque imagery is not unusual in anime, even in productions generally targeted at the youth market. One of the art form’s strengths is that the visual possibilities are limited only by the imaginations of their creators. The manga/anime Naruto (2002–), for example, regularly features ninja with remarkable abilities to transform their bodies and Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin, 2013) is utterly brutal in its depiction of giant humanoid creatures who eat people alive. Humans can manifest themselves as these giants, with gruesome and disturbing results.

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The representation of the shocking within uniquely Japanese genres may be motivated by a rich history of Japanese culture and how it has been adapted, for better or for worse, to complement the nation’s condition.27

The horrific transformation that Tetsuo undergoes also brings to mind the effects of radiation, particularly its dreadful potential to cause mutations in humans. There is also a link to the Akira Project’s paranormal powers because, like radiation, they cannot be seen (although their effects are all too apparent) and they can be deadly. Fear of radiation is another common theme in Japanese cinema, connected again with the atomic bombings during World War II but also with the Bikini Atoll atomic testing in the 1950s, during which a Japanese fishing boat was contaminated. More recently, the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 has re-awakened this anxiety in the Japanese consciousness. The Bikini Atoll incident also engendered a traumatic fascination with the effects of nuclear radiation, which spawned monstrous creatures such as Gojira (Godzilla). The spectacular, grotesque, utterly fascinating deformations of Tetsuo’s body are of this lineage. The workings of the psychic powers in Akira follow logically from nuclear radiation: invisible yet exceedingly powerful forces that act at a distance, including deformations of the human body.28

‘My body’s not doing what I tell it to.’ Akira mixes teenage delinquents with a group of (middle-aged) children and an older generation of leaders, proven to have failed at creating a new society. Takashi, Kiyoko and Masaru’s powers developed during their childhoods; their talents were recognised and nurtured by the authorities as part of the Akira Project. They survived the destruction of Tokyo. Although they have demonstrably aged, they have not been through puberty. Tetsuo, on the other hand, is developing his powers at a time of great change for him, both physiologically and psychologically. Tetsuo is, like the

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rest of his gang, a delinquent teenager who rejects society’s expectations. He is immature and has grown up without moral guidance. Filled with angst, he is bereft of emotional purpose beyond self-gain. He does not have any concept of responsibility which is unsurprising, given his background and the fact that the only adults who have paid any attention to him simply want to experiment upon him. Adolescent desires mutate into savage monstrosity when he discovers that he is no longer a boy; he now has substantial power, power that is tangible. He can use it to channel his frustrations against the society which has ignored him and, at a more personal level, the bikers who derided his weaknesses. When he discovers that he can actually destroy buildings and kill people, he immediately sets out on a rampage across Neo Tokyo. He fashions a cloak from a swathe of red material procured from a shop with a broken window, revelling in his might. At the Olympic stadium site, he seeks Akira. Ignoring the children’s attempts (speaking through Kei) to convince him that the power will eventually control him, he telekinetically raises the vault containing Akira in a spectacular sequence that shows the enormous globe rising from beneath the stadium, in slow-motion, steam hissing and bolts of energy buzzing over its surface. Laser beams shoot out from its core, destroying parts of the surrounding infrastructure. When Tetsuo finally opens the vault he finds nothing but a few jars with the remains of Akira inside. This completely defies Tetsuo’s – and the audience’s – expectations. With such a grand and technologically advanced means of containing Akira, we were expecting to see him revealed as a marvellous and powerful entity. We have witnessed the destructive nature of Akira’s power and know that he previously destroyed Tokyo. The Colonel takes advantage of the incredulous Tetsuo’s disappointment by confirming that the jars contain his ‘messiah’. However, this simply sounds patronising and Tetsuo refuses to return to the facility.

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When Kaneda arrives, Tetsuo is prepared to talk to him, although when the gang leader asks if Tetsuo’s been having some trouble he replies, with teen nonchalance, that he took care of it. Kaneda mocks him, stating that he was expecting to find him crying like a baby but Tetsuo responds, ‘you always show up and start bossing me around’. When the gang leader sarcastically declares that Tetsuo has become the ‘boss of a pile of rubble’, tempers flare, further dialogue is futile and a violent confrontation is inevitable. Tetsuo has transgressed all the rules that define his position in the gang, meaning that Kaneda must assert his authority. Otomo makes this a fair fight – Kaneda has witnessed the strength of Tetsuo’s power so arrives armed with a laser weapon. Otomo uses a shot/counter shot approach as he cuts back and forth between the protagonists as the friends taunt each other with words, then violence – Tetsuo telekinetically hurling rubble at his friend and Kaneda firing laser beams which also rip apart the stadium. Otomo cuts between mid-shots of the pair’s respective reactions and long shots to show the effects of their battle, continually maintaining the momentum of the scene. Kaneda scores a direct hit on Tetsuo, but his elation is tempered by the fact that his friend survives because the weapon’s battery has run out. Realising that he has lost any realistic means to take on his friend, Kaneda resorts to demanding a fist fight. When it becomes clear that Tetsuo has the upper hand, Otomo shoots Kaneda from above, forcing him to look up to his friend. But luck is on Kaneda’s side as the beam from SOL distracts and then wounds Tetsuo. Tetsuo’s metamorphosis at the conclusion has been foreshadowed through his increasingly bizarre hallucinations long before it reveals itself physically but his transformation is both horrific and mesmerising – half man, half metal, he morphs into an abundance of pulsating flesh and stupefying strength. And he loses control. He is forced to use his abilities on himself when his arm is severed. Initially, the reconstruction goes well as he creates a mechanical arm that combines metal rods and wires which merge with his tendons and muscles to create a new arm. But the

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transformation becomes unmanageable. As Tetsuo sits upon his selfappointed throne at the Olympic stadium, the jars holding the remains of Akira displayed behind him, his arm sprouts wires that merge with the stonework. Embarrassed by his lack of control, he tries to hide it with his cloak. After further confrontations with Kaneda, his robotic arm transforms into a grotesque mass of writhing flesh and tentacles. Then Tetsuo mutates into a giant disgusting baby. The manifestation of Tetsuo as an infant suggests a Tetsuo and Kaneda: confrontation

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rebirth – of himself at a personal level and, through his destructive actions, of the society in which he has been brought up. Susan Napier suggests that through this process he is, perhaps, trying to find or even recreate his own lost mother. She describes Tetsuo’s transformation as representative of an adolescent’s transition to adulthood. ‘Tetsuo’s metamorphosis is both a literal and a symbolic one: from ordinary human boy to, perhaps, a new universe; in other words from impotence to real power’.29 Tetsuo’s metamorphosis

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Variations on this theme have occurred in many anime in the years prior to and following Akira – often with different outcomes. These generally centre on a lead protagonist who is an adolescent coming to terms with psychological and physical angst as well as emerging sexual desires. These range from comedy fantasies such as Ranma 1/2 (Ranma Nibun no Ichi, 1989), where the teen protagonist transforms into a girl whenever he gets water on him to the more disturbing sexual violence associated with Urotsukidoji. Often, the focus is on the manifestation of metamorphosis, which takes either a temporary or permanent state, as the teenager questions or rejects authority and begins to acquire independence. Devilman (1972–3 and 1990), an anime series based on Go Nagai’s manga, features teenager Akira Fudo, basically a nice kid, who is being bullied. Following a ritual instigated by his ‘friend’, he becomes possessed by Amon but retains his soul, transforming into a savage demon with a burly adult body, fearsome claws, fangs and wings. This metamorphosis gives him awesome and brutal powers. In many of these stories, the protagonists’ character and disposition before the transformation has a direct impact on their actions postmetamorphosis. Like Tetsuo, Devilman’s Akira can use his powers to instigate massive destruction but instead he chooses a more constructive purpose and wields his strength to combat evil, dispatching vile supernatural creatures by means that are highly entertaining and extremely violent. Further teenage pubescent angst which develops into metamorphic terror is dealt with in an altogether more controversially pornographic nature in the notorious fantasy anime Urotsukidoji. It features copious scenes of sex, violence and sexual violence, but the plot is surprisingly complex although its tone is remarkably cruel. Tatsuo Nagumo is the quintessential high-school satyr, an unpopular student who is obsessed with girls. Unbeknown to him, he is believed to be the Chojin, a deeply demonic overfiend whose destiny it is to join the worlds of the humans, demons and man-beasts in a violent apocalyptic scenario, ironically creating a

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world of peace between the variant species who are more savagely obsessed with sex than he is. His metamorphosis into his demonic persona has terrifying consequences which, like Akira, reference past wars and generate an apocalyptic outcome. Like Tetsuo, once Nagumo has discovered this power, he uses it to punish society, demonstrating a nihilistic rejection of the world in which he has been brought up. In Akira, however, this nihilism is moderated by Kaneda’s intervention – based on their genuine friendship. Kaneda is pulled into Tetsuo’s mutating body, where he is able to touch Tetsuo’s memories, allowing Tetsuo to evolve beyond this reality. It is a beautiful, sentimental ending, in which Tetsuo recalls Kaneda’s brotherly kindness towards him. Recollection of kindness tempers his fanatical desire for power, and Tetsuo disappears into another realm, that of Akira; perhaps he has become pure energy or pure mind.30

‘I Like Fights And Girls.’31 As Akira is a film that reinterprets the past and present (albeit in a SF biomechanical cyberpunk context), so Neo Tokyo’s delinquents reflect Japan’s contemporary issues and particularly that of discontented youth. The lead protagonists are a gang of bosozoku bikers, who have shunned conventional Japanese values and represent rebellion and freedom. The Japanese have a proverb deru kugi wa utareru which means ‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered in’, and this reflects their desire for a harmonious and community-based society. ‘Great importance is placed on loyalty, politeness, personal responsibility and on everyone working together for the good of the larger group. Education, ambition, hard work, patience and determination are held in the highest regard.’32 Disaffected youth have long been portrayed within Japanese culture, in literature through the works of Haruki Murakami, whose protagonists can be quite introspective, to the rather more visceral stories by Ryu Murakami. Japanese cinema had its own brand of teen rebels. Director Koreyoshi Kurahara created a

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monster, also called Akira, in his film The Warped Ones (Kyonetsu no kisetsu, 1960). Recently released from prison, filled with anger and a desire for revenge, Akira embarks on a rampage through his old stomping grounds. Hip and trendy motorbike delinquents could be found in Nikkatsu’s Stray Cat Rock (Nora Neko rokku) series of films (1970–1) starring Meiko Kaji as a leader of a tough girl gang, the Alleycats (aka Stray Cats). These were variants on the male-youth biker films in the Wolves of the City/Delinquent Boss (Furyo bancho) series (1968–72) for rival studio Toei. Kaneda’s character33 has been likened to Yujio Ishihara, a ‘combination of punkish insolence and boyish charm’,34 who epitomised teenage cool in a series of films for the Nikkatsu studio and Ken Takakura, who made a number of yakuza gangster and action films in the 1950s and 1960s. While the source of various juvenile crimes may be similar – parental discord, weakening family ties, and the self-indulgence of young people – the symptoms vary. At least one manifestation, the bosozoku motorcycle gangs, has little to do with the creeping individuality feared by the authorities. The members of these groups are not seeking individual expression but a sense of

Bosozoku leader

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belonging that their society has taught them to need, yet refused to grant them. The bikers are generally disaffected youth seeking the interpersonal rewards of membership in one of the few places they can find it.35

Intrinsic to Kaneda, Tetsuo and their buddies’ delinquent lifestyles, as well as providing the impetus for some of the high-speed action, are their motorbikes, which mark the boys out as rebels. Despite the futuristic setting, the gang’s bikes have a distinct relevance to contemporary 1980s society. Their intensely cool design (so cool that a full-sized model of Kaneda’s bike was on display at a tribute exhibition to Otomo in Tokyo in 2013) reflects the timelessness of teenage rebellion. But the bikes are also part of their identity. When Kaneda learns of Yamagata’s death at the hands of Tetsuo, he rides Yamagata’s bike, with tears in his eyes, and sends it crashing into a wall, effectively ‘killing’ his friend’s machine. His tribute to the gang member as his leader is to ‘send him his wheels’. The bosozoku – speed tribes – are Japan’s discontented youth. A little under half of them come from broken homes. They revel in noise and spectacle and disturbing the quiet, orderly operation of Japanese society. But they are more than gangs of delinquents. They are also proving grounds for the yakuza.36

The Japanese term ‘zoku’ is often added as a suffix to descriptive words to convey the concept of a social grouping that is representative of certain cultural (normally media-led) styles, fashions, music, tastes or attitudes. Zoku means a tribe, race or group. In the late 1950s, Japan saw the emergence of one such tribe – kaminarizoku, the Thunder Tribe. It was one of Japan’s first groups of biker gangs (as the media dubbed them) and they were influenced by the character of Johnny Strabler, the cool delinquent leader of the gang the Black Rebels played by Marlon Brando in Laslo Benedek’s The Wild One (1953). In the film, biker gangs face each other and the law in a story that was considered controversial enough to be rejected by the BBFC on its original release in the

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UK.37 The juvenile delinquent’s need to rail against contemporary society’s values – ‘Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?’ – ‘Whaddya got?’ – remains a universal phenomenon. Some thirty years after World War II, biker gangs hit Japan’s headlines again. Now named the bosozoku (running wild, driving recklessly or speeding), they became more recognisable as the gang represented in Akira. (The kaminarizoku had been more of a rockabilly tribe before the emergence of the 1960s counter-culture). Sometimes the bosozoku scared the public, sometimes they mocked them, sometimes they simply rejected social norms and sometimes they were involved with crime. There is a criminal element in Akira but not to any great degree. The Capsules take drugs, as reflected in their name and the logo on Kaneda’s jacket, and use of amphetamines was common among some bosozoku groups. There was often rivalry between gangs, largely a case of turf warfare. This violence, bravura and territorial dominance could sometimes be seen as a route to joining the yakuza, and potential career opportunities in the underworld. Mitsuo Yanagimachi’s documentary God Speed You! Black Emperor (1976) explores the attitudes, groups, lifestyles and backgrounds of biker gangs. At the film’s opening, the titular gang (more patriotic than Brando’s Black Bosozoku confrontation

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Rebels) is shown in a confrontation with the police and authorities, condescendingly mocking them with a deliberate display of machismo. Rather like the teenage protagonists of Yukio Mishima’s The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1963), they are aware that their age makes it difficult for the authorities to prosecute them to provide any significant punishment. This is something that Kaneda and his gang take full advantage of when they are arrested in Akira. However, they discover that while there are limited legal consequences as a result of their youth precluding a prison sentence, they can be sent back to reform school where their teachers are all too willing to give them a good beating for their misdemeanours. God Speed You! Black Emperor also shows the background of some of the gang members, many of whom had come from troubled homes, motivating their escape into the fantasy life of biker gangs. Kaneda and Tetsuo are also from broken homes; their drugs, bikes and desire for sex, fights and fun, regardless of the consequences, are anti-authoritarian in a society that applies its laws with police (and, in Akira, military) power. On the other hand, it allows them to embrace their individualism within the safety of a group. Curiously, Akira became an influence on disaffected youth of the time. Bosozoku were a part of Japanese society (and still are, although to a much lesser extent) during Akira’s creation, and gangs were a cool subculture to belong to, a club that certain youths wished to join. Karl Taro Greenfeld spent time with the bosozoku and told the story of one such youngster, Tats: ‘as they rode around Arakawa Ward they reminded him of the kind of delinquents who were the heroes of Akira, his favourite comic book. So Tats joined.’38

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2 Production: ‘The door’s unlocked’

You know, a manga artist who is very attached to his work will always have the desire to make the film version himself. But those are exceptional cases, like Akira was for me.39

Akira was made in the late 1980s, at the height of Japan’s ‘miracle’ economy, a time when producers were more willing to experiment with unconventional ideas and had the budgets to realise them. Producing an anime from an unfinished manga was not unprecedented. In 1984, Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no Tani no Naushika) was a commercial success and would become one of Japan’s most beloved films. Akira was to become the most expensive anime produced at the time, with a budget of over a billion yen (over $8 million at 1988 prices). In order to realise the grand scale of the production, a number of prominent media companies collaborated to form the Akira Committee. Publisher Kodansha joined broadcasters Mainichi Broadcasting System, film production and distribution company Toho, anime producers Tokyo Movie Shinsha, PR company Hakuhodo Inc., games company Bandai Co. Ltd., Laserdisc Corporation and the Sumitomo Corporation. In addition, several animation studios became involved, and were given credit for animation co-operation. These included Gainax, a studio established by a group of anime fans in the mid-1980s, who had created the SF anime Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise (Oritsu Uchugun: Oneamisu no Tsubasa, 1987) and would go on to produce the acclaimed Neon Genesis Evangelion; and Studio DEEN, a prolific producer of some highly regarded TV anime. The production was to be filmed in 70mm. Otomo received creative control, which reflected an astonishing confidence in his abilities on the part of the

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Akira Committee, especially considering that Akira was to be his first feature film. Recognising that manga and anime are entirely different media and wanting to play to the strengths of the anime format, Otomo set about reconstructing Akira. The first thing he had to do was develop an ending. Otomo also realised that he didn’t want the anime simply to become a moving version of the manga. The biggest problem he faced, after devising the ending, was working out how to fit the story into a film with a two-hour running time. Otomo was aware that he was going to have to edit the narrative significantly but still capture the essence of the tale while ensuring that the result was an exciting and dynamic action film. He had a very hands-on approach to the making of Akira and was involved with every stage of the production. He personally storyboarded every scene. ‘I threw my energy into this phase because I knew it would help every other part of the production.’ Akira comprises 783 scenes, all of which were completed as a storyboard first. This would translate into 2,122 shots.40 From the outset, Otomo wanted to achieve the highest-quality production. Akira was made using the traditional method of cel animation, that is, drawing and colouring individual images onto cellulose acetate sheets which are then filmed. When projected at a rate of twenty-four frames per second, these give the illusion of movement. Many anime, particularly those developed for TV, necessarily take short cuts with the animation process. TV anime, often based upon popular manga, usually have gruelling production schedules which require animators to churn out about twenty minutes of material every week. Consequently, while the animation process strictly requires twenty-four frames per second, many TV anime are filmed at twelve or even eight frames per second to cut costs. Because Akira was a film intended for the cinema and hence a big screen, Otomo wanted to ensure that it was filmed at the highest frame rate. Indeed, some of Akira’s action scenes were

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‘filmed’ in slow-motion, a technique that requires an even higher number of frames. In total, Akira used over 160,000 individual frames,41 more than double the number used in most Hollywood animations. Otomo also demanded that the lip-synching, at least for the close-ups, should be perfect. In the end, all the scenes had accurate lip-synching. Otomo used various techniques to achieve this. Akira was the first Japanese animation to be extensively prescored, that is, the dialogue was recorded before the animation process began and the animators matched the characters’ movements to their voices. This technique was not new – it had been used by Disney since the 1930s42 – but it is a time-consuming and expensive process and it was highly unusual for anime. Otomo cast relatively unknown actors (at the time) for the roles of Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) and Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki), both of whom were in their late teens. Voice actors in anime are accustomed to having to dub their voices onto pre-existing animation and to adjust their timing based on the action on screen, but in this instance the actors had the freedom to express themselves more openly, bringing a dynamism to their performances. Otomo has commented that this was advantageous for some animators, who could mimic the actors’ motions through Nozomu Sasaki playing Tetsuo

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their drawings, lending realistic expression to their character movements. However, other animators found the process stifling believing it restricted their own ideas. The production used a number of tools to ensure the correct pacing and timing of the animation. Unlike live-action films, where the action is filmed and the footage edited in the post-production phase, animation is planned at the storyboarding stage; the film is effectively pre-edited. However, whereas the director of a live-action film can easily determine the pacing of the film with each take, and can retake a scene to achieve the desired effect, it is very difficult to determine how the pacing of the finished scene is going to turn out in an animation. With each second of film requiring twenty-four images to be drawn and then coloured, it is a time-consuming process and potentially expensive if the timing doesn’t work. It is very difficult to gauge the rhythm of the scene until you actually see it running at full speed. Animators on Akira used a device called a Quick Action Recorder for key scenes. It employs a video camera to digitise frames and then play them back at twenty-four frames per second. This ensured that motion timing could be assessed and any adjustments made before the cels were coloured. This was

Tetsuo’s psychic patterns created using CGI

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particularly important, not only in establishing the pacing of the sequences, but in checking that the lip-synching was accurate and looked realistic. Japanese has five main vowel sounds – a (as in dad), i (as in feet), u (as in flute), e (as in hey) and o (as in doe) – which can have either a normal or extended length. They can also be combined; for example, ‘e’ and ‘i’ combine to form an ‘ay’ sound, so that the name ‘Kei’, is pronounced ‘Kay’. Animated lipsynching is easier with Japanese than with Western speech, as Japanese generally requires fewer mouth shapes, but it is still technically challenging. Additionally, Akira makes limited use of CGI. The technology was still very much in its infancy and it was largely employed for artistic purposes, to add texture. When the scientists examine Tetsuo, the psychic wave patterns were created with CGI. Style and Design Stylistically Akira adopts many techniques from live-action filmmaking but adapts them in ways distinctive to anime, in particular, by showing sequences that – at a time prior to the large-scale adoption of computer-generated special effects – would have been complicated or expensive to create in live-action cinema. It manages to maintain its sense of otherworldliness, a consistent vision of a dystopian future, while employing a plethora of techniques that are distinctly cinematic. These include slow-motion, reflections, pointof-view shots (particularly the double vision experienced by Takashi’s kidnapper at the opening, which gives the impression of ‘hand-held’ ‘camerawork’), linear forward tracking (as well as the sideways tracking more usually associated with animation because of the background limitations), a multitude of dissolves, backlighting and even lens flare. In a live-action film, the light trails of the bikers’ exhilarating ride through the city would have been achieved by the use of long exposures shot with a conventional film camera, but these were part of the design and animated to achieve the effect. This is enhanced

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by careful consideration of colour and lighting that reflects the situations and the characterisation of not just the humans but of time and the city. After the explosive opening, the film shows us a city that is illuminated by vehicular activity and multimedia broadcast, even in the dead of night. It combines the darkness of the evening with Neo Tokyo’s artificially coloured lights and, often, the explosive illumination of distraught victims as the bosozoku tear around the city. The animation represents live-action depiction of motion

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Whereas many anime take short cuts, in Akira every scene is dynamic. There are many ways in which animators can depict the illusion of movement to bring down the cost of an animation – such as panning across a static scene, editing still images to give the impression of action or focusing on animating the main characters while those in the background remain motionless. Otomo rejected this approach and carefully considered minor characters and incidental details in the backgrounds, which add to the richness of the design. Freed from the restrictions of a conventional live-action camera set-up, Otomo also has the ability to choose how to frame each scene and which position to ‘shoot’ it from. As a manga artist with experience in comic-book composition, he uses different angles and sometimes breaks the 180-degree rule. The editing in Akira generally follows the conventional principles of continuity editing, but it is fast-paced, driving the story forward. Sometimes Otomo employs more unconventional editing techniques, for example during Tetsuo’s hallucinations following his escape from hospital. We are bombarded with images, some of only a few frames’ duration. We see flashes of shocking imagery – an insight into Tetsuo’s deranged psyche. Much of the action takes place at night and Otomo had wanted to achieve a very dim look, to give the proceedings a grimy feel. As a result, the designers needed to shoot the backgrounds with great care. In many cases, they overlapped drawings to reduce the light levels. Some sequences used up to nine layers of cels to achieve the desired effect. Additionally, whereas most night scenes in animations are coloured in varying shades of blue, Akira’s nights are awash with reds and greens. Kimie Yamana, the colour coordinator, used 327 different colours in total, some of which had such subtle differences in shading that they would be indiscernible on a standard TV screen, but would enhance the cinematic viewing experience. One of the most distinctive aspects of Akira is the attention to detail in the design of Neo Tokyo. All Otomo’s manga are

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remarkable in their observation of architectural design and this was retained in the anime. Art director Toshiharu Mizutani was responsible for the complex and intricate recreation of Neo Tokyo. The thousands of high-rise buildings that dominate the skylines were drawn with precision and designed to create perspective, giving a sense of scale and depth to the city. For the night scenes showing the office lights illuminating the buildings, each dot of light Process of design and cel colouring

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in the window was meticulously hand-painted; with a 3mm width for those in the foreground, 0.5 mm for those buildings behind, dots for those even further back and so on. Similar attention to detail was paid to the other primary settings for the film, the military hospital, the Olympic stadium and the desolate backstreets, all of which are as carefully observed as the city itself. Character Design Although there are exceptions, there is a particular style associated with the popular understanding of the manga/anime art form, largely epitomised by the work of the renowned manga artist Osamu Tezuka particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. The influence of his design work typifies much of anime’s stylistic conventions, itself derived partly from perceptions of American cartoon construction and animated film design from the likes of Walt Disney. Depiction of characters in a wide-eyed, exaggerated form, whether in a fantasy, science-fiction or contemporary dramatic context is very common in anime. Another convention is that the protagonists’ often have different hair colour or hairstyles to allow audiences to more easily distinguish between them. They are not meant to aspire to photographic realism even when they are portraying realistic or even real events. Akira, in many ways, is decidedly unconventional in its character design, at once portraying its characters in a realistic manner but also occasionally challenging these perceived conventions of characterisation and setting. In general the characters in Akira are correctly formed, properly proportioned and realistically portrayed. Otomo’s design ensures that his protagonists not only look realistic, they also have a distinctly Japanese appearance. The film has been criticised in some quarters because there is too little distinction between the characters. ‘The young people all seem to come out of the same mold and the adult characters all come out of a different mold. Some even wear the same moustache.43

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The net result is that Otomo has created a world, albeit in a newly imagined future, with its own distinctive realism. Akira uses lip-synched sound for dialogue and thus the characters all speak with the correct timing and mannerisms, something enhanced by their realistic facial attributes. But occasionally Otomo deliberately counters this approach – taking full advantage of the possibilities the medium affords. So, while characters are notable for their realistic features, there are occasions when the story requires the depiction of the extreme. The most obvious example is Tetsuo’s hideous half-man, half-machine mutation or when he uses extreme psychokinetic powers on others. Moreover, sometimes Otomo allows his characters to become slightly cartoonish in expression – for example, when Kaneda deliberately contorts his features to mock the authorities with his teen cheekiness, and also when he presumes (erroneously) that the same contortions will make him more appealing to girls. As Kaneda takes on Tetsuo at the Olympic construction site, he falls to the ground in a surprisingly comic way, bouncing off concrete and narrowly avoiding dangerous rubble. Because of the realistic motion of the characters (except for the monstrous mutations that Tetsuo undergoes!) throughout the film, this sequence feels slightly incongruous, but it injects a degree of humour into an intense and increasingly horrific confrontation. Also of note is that the female characters are depicted as realistically as the male protagonists. Female character design in manga and anime tends to veer towards the incredibly cute, with shapely figures and disproportionately large eyes. Otomo completely rejects this portrayal. Kei, in particular, is almost androgynous in design; she has short hair, minimal eye make-up and wears practical clothing – a natural portrait of a young woman who is down to earth, whose dedication to her cause leaves no time for fashion. Even the gang’s girlfriends, although they wear short skirts and skimpy tops, cannot be described as cute. They are all rather sorrylooking characters, lower-class girls who have nothing better to do than hang around outside the school, waiting for their men.

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Score and soundtrack Given that Akira is a science-fiction action movie featuring bikers as the lead protagonists, Western expectations of the film’s soundtrack would probably involve blistering heavy-metal, with wild guitar riffs and screaming saxophones, or perhaps a futuristic electronic soundscape or even a bold classical score. Akira’s soundtrack shuns these conventions and defies all expectations with its complex scoring and unusual use of instrumentation, the most notable of which is the human voice. The soundtrack was composed by Shôji Yamashiro (Tsutomu Ohashi), a composer Otomo admired for his versatility as well as his ability to create sound structures, and performed by the group collective Geinoh Yamashiro Gumi, which Yamashiro founded. Otomo was very clear in his choice for the collective. They don’t just let it go with individual pieces, they make them into an overall structure. Aside from that, I wanted to use a chorus … I thought they were really close to the image I had of Tokyo ... I felt that Akira wouldn’t hold together unless it had lush music. Plain classical and choral wouldn’t be enough. Something ethnic, with more rhythm. I like rhythm, you see. Their work has lots of rhythm.44

Geinoh Yamashiro Gumi creating Akira’s score

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Yamashiro was given artistic freedom to create the music, with no budget restrictions and minimal interference from Otomo; it took six months to complete. Akira’s score is very much a construction, a whole that fits together for the entire running time and one where the rhythm is as important as any melody. It is a driving score punctuated with moments of silence, or simple drumbeats. The opening sequence showing the destruction of Tokyo is filmed in complete silence, with only the Foley effects of the wind. Then we hear a dramatic echoing drumbeat before the title appears and then, later, the complex rhythms that accompany the Capsules’ exhilarating ride through Neo Tokyo. Yamashiro makes use of gamelan (from the Indonesian ‘to hammer’), an ‘orchestra’ of percussion instruments played together by the group, which complement the more ethereal nature of the voices. It’s a little difficult to discern for non-Japanese speakers, but if you listen carefully you can hear the lead characters’ names – predominantly Kaneda and Tetsuo, but Kei and Akira can also be heard – an abstraction of the words that uses the human voice as an additional instrument. Release Akira was released in Japan on 16 July 1988, the same day as the destruction of Tokyo in the narrative. Just over a year later, Streamline Pictures, established by producer Carl Macek and animation historian Jerry Beck, released Akira on a run in repertory cinemas in the US, and followed this with a VHS release. Streamline had already recognised anime’s commercial potential in the US, having previously distributed Hayao Miyazaki’s Laputa, Castle in the Sky (Tenku no Shiro Rapyuta, 1986).45 In the UK, Akira was shown in January 1991, courtesy of ICA Projects (the Institute of Contemporary Arts, based in London), and this was followed by a tour of regional cinemas some months later. The film was then released on VHS, in the same year, by Island World Communications, a subsidiary of Island Records. Its success led to

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the creation of Manga Entertainment. Although its name is slightly misleading, the company saw the potential for distributing anime in the UK. In just over two years over 60,000 copies of Akira had been sold on VHS. Akira would go on to make over $80 million worldwide.46 Akira has received multiple further home releases, including on DVD and Blu-ray formats. Two official American-dubbed versions have been produced. The film is continually popular and, even after a quarter of a century, it is still screened at special events, including a major festival in Tokyo, the Bakuon (extremely loud) event, which celebrated Otomo’s work.47 In 2012, Otomo displayed every one of the manga’s genga (original drawings) at a special exhibition in Tokyo48 which proved to be enormously popular. Akira: From Manga to Mass Media Adaptations from written or illustrated work to live-action or animated formats have always provided challenges for those who need to develop techniques to present the story in the best form for the medium. Adaptations from manga to anime are very common in Japan (adaptations of manga derived from anime do occur, but to a lesser extent). Some manga have their popularity boosted by TV anime adaptations, as production companies strive to maintain interest for the work’s multitude of fans. Series such as Dragonball (1986–), One Piece (1999–) or Naruto are so popular that their source manga cannot keep up with the televisual franchise exposure, resulting in ‘filler’ episodes where the anime develops new material that is consistent with the overall narrative of its source. With Akira, Otomo had to condense his intricate story. The running time for feature films is usually restricted to 90–120 minutes’ length and Akira, at over two hours, is long for a feature anime. Its source manga was still growing when Otomo was offered the opportunity to adapt it into animation – a monumental, multi-year work that had yet to reach its six-volume resolution but was already hugely influential and important. He realised that it

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was essential to adapt the existing story into a narrative that would be enjoyed by those who already knew and loved the manga but also to newcomers to the story. Developing Akira as a standalone work was never going to be easy and, for some commentators, Otomo didn’t achieve this. ‘Buried in the morass is a story of sorts, but anyone who isn’t well-grounded in the Akira comics, which are set in post-apocalypse Tokyo, circa AD 2030, will be hopelessly lost by the end of the first half-hour.’49 Because both manga and anime are primarily visual media, to some extent the manga can provide a storyboard for the key scenes. However, Otomo wisely recognised that he needed to draw out the elements of the manga that would translate most readily to the big screen. The anime should therefore be considered to be a reworking of the story. Both manga and anime set the premise in an identical way, showing the destruction of Tokyo. However, when we flash forward to the present, the manga starts with the Capsules riding out along the highway into ‘old Tokyo’ to view the bomb site. Although this is important in emphasising the themes of destruction and reconstruction, it doesn’t make for as exciting a beginning as a confrontation between the Capsules and the Clowns. The Clowns do show up later in the manga, and have a more prominent role in the breakdown of the relationship between Kaneda and Tetsuo and, eventually, their reconciliation. Otomo, in choosing to open his film showing the rivalry between the two gangs playing out across the streets of Neo Tokyo, ensures that the anime is dynamic and dramatic. In adapting the story Otomo inevitably lost some of the more subtle nuances of characterisation, something the manga had more space to develop. The bikers are punks, but they do elicit some degree of sympathy in the anime, especially when we learn that they have come from broken homes. Our impression of Kaneda is that he is rebellious and cheeky, but in the manga, he is initially far less likeable. Rather than trying to woo Kei, as he does in the anime, he simply tries to assault her. Fortunately, she manages to

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Different depictions of Miyoko

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stop him. They develop a relationship over time. Tetsuo is more defined as a villain in the manga. He relishes his power, actually exploding the head of one of the Clowns, before becoming the gang’s leader. Indeed some aspects of the manga are more explicit than the anime. Poor, doomed Kaori is introduced to the drug-addled Tetsuo as a sex slave, although she later becomes his trusted companion. Certain characters appear only briefly in the anime but have a far more significant role in the manga. The subplots involving Nezu and Miyoko are merely touched upon in the film, whereas both are central to the manga’s narrative. Lady Miyoko is portrayed as a cult leader in the anime, appearing on only a couple of occasions, demanding that her followers prepare to be purified for the forthcoming apocalypse (and then screaming to be saved when Tetsuo destroys the bridge she is preaching on). However, in the manga she is, in fact, one of the gifted – no. 19 – and plays a pivotal role in the fight against Tetsuo. It has been noted that there are no significant adult female characters in the anime, nor any with a maternal role.50 Lady Miyoko’s character fulfils this to some

Chiyoko

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extent in the manga, as does the mighty Chiyoko, one of the revolutionaries and Kei’s close friend. Chiyoko never appears in the film; realistically a role for her would have been impractical in the anime version, which is a shame because she is a terrific character, a large middle-aged woman who is resourceful, determined and a seriously impressive fighter. Importantly, Akira himself has a far more prominent role in the manga. Some critics of the anime pondered why the film’s title was actually Akira, when the eponymous character makes only a brief appearance at the very end of the film. The manga takes the storyline in a very different direction; Akira (whose frozen body is intact) is awakened by Tetsuo. After Akira sees his friend Takashi being killed by the treacherous Nezu, he destroys much of Neo Tokyo but this happens only halfway through the manga story. Tetsuo then goes on to create the Great Tokyo Empire, with Akira as its figurehead. He knew parts of the manga would have to be cut to save time, but was overruled on exactly what bits. One of the biggest bones of contention was Akira himself, who appears throughout the comic but is only present in the

Akira is the figurehead of the Great Tokyo Empire

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final scenes of the film. Otomo wanted to add to the suspense by never showing Akira at all, but the money men wouldn’t listen.51

This was, perhaps, the most controversial decision Otomo made when developing the story. Another significant element that was left out of the anime was the intervention of international forces, most notably a panel of experts who largely pontificate about events from a fleet of ships off the coast of Japan. We know that the destruction of Tokyo started World War III but we do not know how this came about. At the end of the manga, we see the Japanese survivors reject the incoming United Nations forces, who claim to be offering assistance, and it is implied that this action might prevent further international confrontation. In this context, Akira depicts a defiant declaration of independence. Akira Reborn Again? In a deeply consumerist age, where multiple spin-offs and international markets offer increased opportunities for sales, many manga and anime are adapted for a variety of media. Live-action adaptations of anime are not uncommon. At the time of writing, though, Akira has not yet been converted to feature-film format, although this is not through want of trying. Today a live-action Neo Tokyo would almost certainly be recreated in 3D. Warner Bros. acquired the rights in 2002 with the intention of making a live-action adaptation. Writers considered setting the action in an alternative America, with Western actors playing the leads.52 For the directing role, names associated with the project over the years have included a number of film-makers who had experience translating comic books to the big screen, including Stephen Norrington, who made Blade (1998) and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) and the Hughes Brothers who directed From Hell (2001). Most recently, director Jaume ColletSerra has been attached to the project – on and off – since 2011.53

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Merchandise and product tie-ins connected with popular films form part of an inevitable range of spin-offs which reinforce the brand and provide a healthy additional income for producers. These include such products as tee-shirts, art books, soundtrack CDs and posters, along with models, figures, construction kits of vehicles and costumes. With motorbikes, gangs, bars, explosions and fast-paced action, Akira appeared to be perfect material for the video-gaming world. The gaming market has, of course, changed significantly in the years since Akira’s release. The first Akira game was developed for the Nintendo Famicom (Family Computer), an adventure game in which the player, as Kaneda, had to choose particular options to find and free Tetsuo. It was only available in Japan. Another game based on the anime was released for the Amiga in the mid-1990s. A further game, Akira Psycho Ball, a video pinball game, was released in 2002.

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3 Influences and Legacy: ‘What sort of memories are hidden within?’ When Katsuhiro Otomo was asked about the first work that influenced him, his immediate answer was: When I was in grade school – I think it’s the same with everyone of my generation – that’d be Shotaro Ishimori’s Mangaka Nyuumon (How to Be a Comic Artist). It was the first book that properly explained how to draw a comic. After I read that I was hooked.54

When Otomo was a child growing up in post-war Japan, anime production was still a fledgling industry. Otomo recalls enjoying such feature films as the fantasy Hakujaden (Tale of the White Serpent, 1958), Japan’s first colour animated feature, as well as Saiyuuki (Journey to the West, 1960), both of which were adventure stories based on Chinese tales. Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke (Magic Boy, 1959), a tale of a young boy who leaves home to become a ninja, was another favourite. Otomo has often expressed his enthusiasm for Tetsujin 28-Go which, while lacking some of the more extreme elements of Akira, nevertheless shares a number of themes. Created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama in 1956, the popular manga was adapted for a variety of television and feature film formats, both live action and anime. During World War II, the military developed several complicated weapons to prevent Japan’s defeat, but the results were unsuccessful. Twenty-seven plans had failed, but number 28 appeared to be closer to the mark, created by super-scientist Dr Kaneda. Tetsujin 28-Go, a giant robot of considerable destructive abilities, was completed just after the war had ended. Its creator

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passed away and Tetsujin 28-Go was passed on to Dr Kaneda’s son, Shotaro, who is determined to use the robot to enforce the law, a metallic military might turned social do-gooder. Tetsujin 28-Go has many links with Akira. Both depict the reconstruction of Japan following a world war and scientific experimentation which occasionally produces shocking results. One of the early stories involves Shotaro discovering jars containing body parts, preserved in a gloopy green substance, which bear a striking similarity to the jars inside which Akira’s remains are stored in the film version, albeit without the printed circuit boards. These were the experiments of Prof. Franken (the name clearly deriving from Mary Shelley’s novel) who created a monstrous creature, a giant mutant being, but one of whom Franken was inordinately fond. However, many of the links simply derive from Otomo’s affectionate recollections of the series which he enjoyed in his youth. Akira’s central character Kaneda shares his name with the slightly younger Tetsujin 28-Go protagonist Shotaro Kaneda. The kanji (characters used in the Japanese writing system) for both the ‘tetsu’ of Tetsujin and Tetsuo are identical and mean ‘iron’, so Tetsujin translates as ‘iron man’. Tetsujin 28-Go is number 28 in the project. During his incarceration at the research facility, like all test subjects, Akira is assigned a number – which is, of course, no. 28.

Tetsujin 28–Go

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‘Drawing is a revelation of the soul, of your personal situation.’55 Otomo credits the work of French comic artist Moebius as being a huge influence on his own style and composition. Like Moebius, Otomo’s work is highly complex, has vast areas of exaggerated perspective, futuristic cityscapes and realistic character design.56 Glass jars containing body parts

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Moebius is the famous pseudonym of Jean Giraud, a French artist whose work has had an enormous impact on many other comic artists, as well as Otomo (Giraud also admired Otomo’s work). Moebius’s vast oeuvre combines realistic artwork within sciencefiction and fantasy scenarios with exemplary attention to detail. Illustrations which often integrate surreal or avant-garde elements such as futuristic technology and bodies metamorphosing and integrating with machines, are clearly influential on Otomo’s style and character design. A lifelong cinephile, Otomo was also influenced by Western movies, particularly Hollywood films of the 1960s. He has cited three films in particular – Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Easy Rider (1969) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Indeed, despite notable differences, the central protagonists and themes have clear connections to those in Akira. The characters all exist outside the law, criminals in a society which does not fulfil their needs and are portrayed as charismatic rogues who reflect a certain degree of wish-fulfilment and escapism for the audience. Several of the counter-cultural tropes of Easy Rider are echoed in Akira. Their bikes represent the characters’ individualism within their tribal structure, also symbolising a lust for life, underlined by the girls, drugs, alternative music and cool anti-establishment clothing. Even if audiences don’t like or approve of their actions, they still want to be them. Fast cuts, conflicting viewpoints and non-linear time serve to convey the characters’ alternative lifestyles and drug-addled perspectives. In Akira, the same elements are used for a similar purpose – although the drugs are not the recreational type the gang favours but the psychotic drugs used by the experimentation programme – and are connected with Tetsuo’s hallucinations, to alter location, flashback in time and to modify perception. Curiously, all three Western films have unusually downbeat endings for mainstream productions – the lead protagonists are killed by gunfire at the end. What Otomo particularly liked about these films was the sense of freedom they

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portrayed. Writing manga offered him the opportunity for freedom in his future career.57 Otomo’s own manga prior to Akira contain many of the themes and ideas that have fascinated him throughout his career. He wrote a number of short stories for Action Deluxe magazine in 1979, including Fireball, an incomplete manga, which feels very much like the template for Akira. It focuses on a group of freedom fighters battling with the government. A policeman with weak telekinetic skills is experimented upon by the authorities. This results in a metamorphosis, in which his flesh decomposes to form a biomechanical entity that is stripped down to a skeleton with ribbons of tendons attached and wires protruding directly from his brain. He assimilates with a computer called Atom (a reference to Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy). The characters and design are typically well observed and the cover art is an exquisite pastiche of M. C. Escher’s Hand with Reflecting Sphere but with a robotic hand holding a mirrored sphere as a headless automaton ‘observes’ its own head. However, Otomo did not complete the story. ‘I figured what I wanted to do with Fireball, I would now do with Akira.’58 Psychokinetic abilities are not only central to the plot in Akira but are also crucial in Domu, which features a number of protagonists with paranormal abilities. Otomo’s first major serialised work, Domu was an SF-fantasy noir horror set in a highrise apartment complex which featured a confrontation between an elderly psychopath and a young girl, both of whom have psychokinetic powers. It won a series of awards, establishing Otomo’s reputation. Akira was to have an enormous influence on the future production of anime, although with the bursting of the economic bubble and stagnation of the Japanese economy through the 1990s and 2000s, large-scale, big-budget productions were less common. Although there had been many well-constructed and intelligent SF anime released prior to Akira, the film demonstrated that it was possible to craft a highly complex story which asked questions

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about culture, society and politics and provided exciting and eyepleasing action. Several anime cyberpunk scenarios have emerged following Akira, with varying intellectual and philosophical themes, combined with action and technological elements. The most notable of these is the meditative noirish cyberthriller Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku Kidotai, 1995), Mamoru Oshii’s adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s manga (1989–97), which was also published by Young Magazine. The anime was part funded by Manga Entertainment. It had a more conventionally cyberpunk plot, set in a future where technology has enabled the enhancement of humans and artificial intelligence has advanced significantly and it asks multifarious philosophical questions about the nature of humanity – what it is to be human and whether a machine can have a soul. Similarly philosophical but thoroughly avant-garde in execution, Serial Experiments Lain (1998) took the normality of contemporary school life and thrust it into a world of cyberspace, questioning the nature of existence and being. Is the self a corporeal individual or a variety of replica interpretations with distinctive personalities existing inside a virtual world? Paprika (2006) was adapted from Yasutaka Tsutsui’s novel and directed by the late Satoshi Kon. Psychotherapeutic cures use technology that can view peoples’ dreams. However, when a dream machine is stolen, the thief starts invading the consciousness of previous users, tearing apart their perceptions of reality. The cult 1988 anime taught western film-makers new ideas in storytelling.59

Akira was also hugely influential for a number of Western filmmakers, many of whom have commented on how greatly the film has inspired them. The Wachowskis’ love of anime fed into their vision for The Matrix, a film that impressed audiences with its stunning visual effects and dynamic action. It draws on a number of Eastern cinematic influences and captures the otherworldliness of anime in its visual design. Although the cyberpunk plot of The

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Matrix owes more to Ghost in the Shell, Tetsuo’s ability to stop bullets/cannon being fired upon him was a clear inspiration for the visual effects designer John Gaeta. ‘As for artistic inspiration for bullet time [a slow-motion effect that effectively “freezes” time in a sequence], I would credit Katsuhiro Otomo, who co-wrote and directed Akira, which definitely blew me away ...’.60 Similarly, Alex Proyas’s Dark City draws us into a futuristic world where the city is one of the main characters. The denouement involves a thrilling telekinetic confrontation between the hero and mysterious strangers who have been controlling and transforming the environment, resulting in the spectacular destruction of the city. Proyas stated that, ‘The end battle is … my homage to Otomo’s Akira.’61 Even films as recent as Chronicle (2012) cite Akira as a direct influence. Its modest budget and ‘found footage’ video camera approach delivers a contemporary twist on the world of Akira, where high-school friends develop psychokinetic abilities. The ending, showing the psychological breakdown of the lead protagonist results in a telekinetic rampage across his town. Director Josh Trank commented, If this was a real event, everyone would say, ‘that kid just went Akira on everyone.’ And that was something I used to say growing up … . When Max [Landis, the screenwriter] and I were talking about the script before it was even written we’d just say, ‘And then he just basically goes Akira on them’.62

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4 Further Works by Katsuhiro Otomo: ‘Humans do all kinds of things during their lifetimes’ Katsuhiro Otomo can claim to be an auteur in multiple media beyond his most famous anime, as so much of his work has similar themes, ideas and principles, even when he has adapted the stories of others. It is useful, then, when examining Akira, to explore Otomo’s previous work as well as the themes that continued throughout his later projects. Although Otomo started out as a manga artist and continues to write manga to this day, we will focus primarily on his film career. Otomo was born in 1954 in Miyagi prefecture, a rural area north of Tokyo. He became obsessed with movies and creating manga at school, writing comic strips on a range of subjects, from detective stories to fables and even cowboy films.63 When he graduated he headed to Tokyo with dreams of becoming a manga artist. He wrote and pencilled a number of short stories and his first published work was an adaptation of Mateo Falcon, entitled Gunshot,64 which appeared in Action Magazine in 1973. It was during this period that he began to develop his distinctive style, which involved the realistic depiction of characters and locations. His breakthrough work was the hugely popular Domu which won the science-fiction Grand Prix for ‘Story of the Year’ – a prize that had previously only been awarded for prose literature. The first episode of the manga Akira was published in Young Magazine on 6 December 1982 and continued to run until 1990. During this time, Otomo broke into the world of anime when he was offered the opportunity to work as a character designer for Rintaro’s (Shigeyuki Hayashi’s) science-fiction anime Harmagedon: The Great Battle with Genma (Genma Taisen, 1983). It featured some highly stylised and amazingly abstract imagery, including the

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devastation of two cities. Otomo went on to direct the final segment of the portmanteau film Neo Tokyo (Meikyu Monogatari, 1987), Order to Stop Construction, a succinct blueprint for many of his other works with its mix of a short-story format, detailed mise en scène, a combined love and fear of technology, as well as the development of a grandscale ending that recalls elements of Akira’s conclusion. Otomo followed this with a contribution to another portmanteau film Robot Carnival (1987) which features a number of disparate stories using styles that range from traditional animation to the minimalist avantgarde. After Akira, Otomo turned to live-action film-making with World Apartment Horror (1991), a tale based on a story by Satoshi Kon where a yakuza has to rid an apartment block of its multinational residents, but it appears that the building is haunted. Although fundamentally different to Akira, there are some similar themes, including paranormal forces, albeit with a spooky horror perspective. Otomo has also worked on various productions as a screenwriter. Roujin Z (1991) is based on an original story. Scientists develop a bed that is supposedly so technologically advanced it can cope with the health and welfare needs of elderly people but is, in fact, an experimental weapons robot. When an elderly widower is confined to this bed, he symbiotically communicates with it and is taken on a rampage. The story shows Akira manga

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an underlying distrust of authority and commentary on the way that society treats its more marginalised citizens, as well as military, robotic and biochemical themes. Memories (1995) is another anthology anime, a three-story portmanteau comprising adaptations of Otomo’s own short manga stories. Magnetic Rose (Kanojo no Omoide) directed by Koji Morimoto, sees the crew of a spaceship respond to a distress call which leads them to an ancient space station with opulent décor. Stink Bomb (Saishu heiki) directed by Tensai Okamura, depicts biomechanical mishaps in a more personalised (although no less apocalyptic) manner than Akira. Tanaka Nobuo takes pills to cure his flu symptoms. Unfortunately (and there is a link to Akira with the recreational and military drugs), the pills have been developed for biological warfare. They react with the influenza and Nobuo becomes a reeking, infectious biological doom-machine. Otomo directed the final segment, Cannon Fodder (Taiho no Machi). It is a striking depiction of an alternative society where war is a part of everyday life in a walled city whose populace is involved in a battle with an unseen enemy. Cannon Fodder is drawn with harsh, almost sketch-like designs that are virtually monochromatic and removed from the clearly defined images most commonly associated with anime. Otomo also wrote the screenplay for the anime Metropolis (2001), directed by Rintaro. Again, technological and societal issues are crucial, particularly the relationship between humans and robots. Metropolis interweaves themes of politics, class and technology, all wrapped up in a ripping adventure story. At the time of its creation Akira was the most expensive anime ever produced. Sixteen years later, Otomo’s second feature anime, Steamboy (2004), became the most expensive anime produced until that time. In an alternative Victorian England, young inventor Ray Steam is kidnapped by an aristocratic rich girl and whisked to London. It appears that the inventions of his father and grandfather can be showcased at the Great Exhibition but it

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becomes apparent that they could also be exploited for more sinister purposes. Several elements in Steamboy link it to Otomo’s previous work and they help to deliver an extremely enjoyable ‘Boy’s Own’ fantasy adventure. Whereas Akira is cyberpunk, Steamboy is a steampunk anime, a subgenre of SF which features steam-driven technology. With another young central protagonist (Ray is rather more intellectual than the confrontational Kaneda), Steamboy explores the way that inventions can enhance society, but Otomo Two young, but very different protagonists

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outlines the horrific possibilities of these wondrous creations being exploited for military or financial gain. So again, the authorities, businessmen and the military are the potential perpetrators of inappropriate activities and another major city is trashed. Steamboy wasn’t a financial success, despite a story that should have had broad family appeal. Otomo returned to live-action directing with the fantasy film Mushishi (2006), which depicts mysterious creatures in a centuriesold Japan where rural communities replace the modernity and futurism of his other works. In 2013, Otomo contributed to another portmanteau anime, Short Peace. His entry, Combustible (Hi no Yohjin), is a love story set in Edo Japan. It is notable for its detailed architectural design as well as further destruction, this time by a raging fire. Otomo’s remarkable career has resulted in recognition from all over the world. In 2005, the French decorated him as a member of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2012 he was inaugurated into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame at the American comic-book awards. In his home country, Otomo received the Purple Medal of Honor from the Government of Japan in 2013, the purple ribbon awarded to people for their academic or artistic endeavours. Other recipients have included Isao Takahata, Yoji Kuri and Taku Furukawa as well as composer Joe Hisaishi, best known for his wonderful scores for many of Hayao Miyazaki’s anime. That Otomo received such an award testifies to his contribution to anime as an art form and its broader popularity across the world.65

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Notes 1 Andrew Lee, ‘Otomo’s Genga Will Make You Remember’, Japan Times, 17 May 2012, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ culture/2012/05/17/arts/otomos-gengawill-make-you-remember/. 2 Dave Hughes and Lee BrimmicombeWood, ‘Project Akira’, Manga Mania no. 2 (August 1993), p. 9. 3 Stephen Hunter, Baltimore Sun, 13 September 1990, http://articles. baltimoresun.com/1990-09-13/ features/1990256006_1_akira-otomoneo-tokyo. 4 Variety, 31 December 1988, http:// variety.com/1987/film/reviews/akira1200427683/. 5 Charles Solomon, LA Times, 14 March 1990, http://articles.latimes. com/199003-14/entertainment/ca-113_1_akiracomics. 6 Chris Hicks, Deseret News, 3 April 1990. 7 Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune, 30 March 1990. 8 Janet Maslin, New York Times, 19 October 1990, http://www.nytimes. com/movie/review?res=9C0CE1DF113CF 93AA25753C1A966958260&partner= Rotten%2520Tomatoes. 9 Richard Harrington, Washington Post, 25 December 1989, http://www. washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/ longterm/movies/videos/akira.htm. 10 Kim Newman, Empire Online, http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/ reviewcomplete.asp?DVDID=7729. 11 Matrix Virtual Theatre, Wachowski Brothers Transcript, 6 November 1999, http://www.warnervideo.com/matrixeve nts/wachowski.html.

12 See http://collider.com/rian-johnsonreddit-ama/. 13 Andrew M. Butler, Cyberpunk (Harpenden: Pocket Essentials, 2000). 14 William Gibson, ‘The Future Perfect: How Did Japan Become the Favored Default Setting for So Many Cyberpunk Writers?’, Time International, 30 April 2001, p. 48, http://content.time.com/ time/magazine/article/0,9171,1956774, 00.html#ixzz2skdGWbm1. 15 Lee, ‘Otomo’s Genga Will Make You Remember’. 16 ‘Exclusive: Director Jaume ColletSerra Dishes His Vision for Akira Source: Max Evry’, 10 February 2014, http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php? id=114669. 17 Isolde Standish, Akira, Postmodernism and Resistance, The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries and Global Cultures (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 64. 18 Katsuhiro Otomo Interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIZ ZoHF8VmQ. 19 Gibson, ‘The Future Perfect, p. 48. 20 Susan J. Napier, Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), p. 254. 21 Standish, Akira, Postmodernism and Resistance, p. 64. 22 Napier, Anime, p. 254. 23 Standish, Akira, Postmodernism and Resistance, pp. 67–8. Koha is defined as ‘the hard type (that) is a traditional image of adolescent masculinity which combines violence, valour and bravado with stoicism and chivalry’.

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24 Jeremy Clarke, ‘Heavy Metal Fantasy’, Manga Mania no. 3 (September 1993), p. 101. 25 C. Scott Littleton, Understanding Shinto (London: Duncan Baird Publishers, 2002), p. 24. 26 Katsuhiro Otomo, Memories, The Collection (London: Mandarin Paperbacks, 1994). 27 Kylan Mitchell, ‘Sifting through Blood: Grotesquery as Culture in PostWWII Japanese Cinema’, Kino: The Western Undergraduate Journal of Film Studies vol. 2 no. 1 (2011). 28 Thomas Lamarre, ‘Born of Trauma: Akira and Capitalist Modes of Destruction’, Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique vol. 16 no. 1 (Spring 2008), pp. 131–56. 29 Napier, Anime, p. 44. 30 Thomas Lamarre, ‘Born of Trauma’, pp. 131–56. 31 Street Mobster (Gendai yakuza: hitokiri yota, 1972). 32 Japanese Cultural Etiquette, ediplomat.com, http://www.ediplomat. com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_jp.htm. 33 Standish, Akira, Postmodernism and Resistance. 34 Mark Schilling, No Borders, No Limits, Nikkatsu Action Cinema (Godalming: FAB Press, 2008). 35 L. Craig Parker Jr, The Japanese Police System Today. A Comparative Study (East Gate, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2001). 36 Karl Taro Greenfeld, Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan’s Next Generation (New York: Harper Perennial, 1995), p. 22. 37 See BBFC: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ releases/wild-one-1970-0.

38 Greenfeld, Speed Tribes. 39 Katsuhiro Otomo Interview, Midnight Eye, 29 December 2006, http://www.midnighteye.com/ interviews/katsuhiro-otomo/. 40 Hughes and Brimmicombe-Wood, ‘Project Akira’, p. 9. 41 Joe Peacock, ‘The Art of Akira’, http://www.mangauk.com/post. php?p=the-art-of-akira. 42 Michael Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999). 43 Brian Camp and Julie Davies, Anime Classics Zettai! (Berkeley, CA: Stonebridge Press, 2007). 44 Katsuhiro Otomo Interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= nIZZoHF8VmQ. 45 See http://www.mangauk.com/ post.php?p=the-art-of-akira. 46 See http://www.theguardian.com/ film/2013/jul/10/akira-anime-japanesecartoon-manga. 47 Jun Hongo, ‘See “Akira” in Full Aural Capacity’, Japan Times, 5 December 2013, http://www. japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/12/ 05/events/see-akira-in-full-auralcapacity/#.UtFwQvv19pg. 48 There were too many pictures to display on the walls, so the genga were arrayed on glass shelves in glass cabinets, carefully arranged by Otomo. See http://www.japan times.co.jp/ culture/ 2012/05/17/arts/otomos-gengawill-make-you-remember/#.U4920_ RDuYI. 49 Solomon, LA Times. 50 Napier, Anime, p. 46.

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51 Jonathan Clements, ‘Otomatic Exposure’, Manga Mania no. 37 (August 1996), p. 7. 52 Adam Chitwood, ‘Screenwriter Gary Whitta Says His AKIRA Script Took Place in a Japanese-owned Manhattan’, http://collider.com/akira-movie-newsgary-whitta/. 53 See http://www.comingsoon.net/ news/movienews.php?id=114669. 54 Katsuhiro Otomo Interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIZ ZoHF8VmQ. 55 Moebius, In Search of Moebius (BBC4, 2007). 56 Lee, ‘Otomo’s Genga Will Make You Remember’. 57 Katsuhiro Otomo Interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIZ ZoHF8VmQ. 58 Otomo, Memories.

59 Phil Hoad, Guardian, 10 July 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/ jul/10/akira-anime-japanese-cartoonmanga. 60 ‘200 Things That Rocked Our World: Bullet Time’, Empire no. 200 (February 2006), p. 136. 61 See https://web.archive.org/web/ 20071014191637/http://mysteryclock. com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1647. 62 ‘Chronicle Captures Every Teen’s Fantasy of Fighting Back, Say Film’s Creators’, http://io9.com/5881852/ chronicle-is-a-movie-about-everyteens-fantasy-of-fighting-back. 63 Hughes and Brimmicombe-Wood, ‘Project Akira’. 64 Clements, ‘Otomatic Exposure’, p. 7. 65 Asahi Shimbun, 13 November 2013, https://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_ japan/anime_news/AJ201311130042.

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Credits Akira Japan/1987

Executive Producer Sawako Noma

Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo Producers Ryôhei Suzuki Shunzo Kato Written by Katsuhiro Otomo Screenplay Katsuhiro Otomo Izô Hashimoto Based on the graphic novel ‘Akira’ by Katsuhiro Otomo (first published by ‘Young Magazine’, Kodansha Ltd.) Director of Photography Katsuji Misawa Art Director Toshiharu Mizutani Editor Takeshi Seyama Music Composer & Conductor Shôji Yamashiro

Production Production Studio Akira Studio Akira Committee Kodansha Ltd. Mainichi Broadcasting System, Inc. Bandai Co., Ltd. Hakuhodo Incorporated Toho Company Ltd. Laserdisc Corporation Sumitomo Corporation Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd. Sawako Noma Morinobu Saitô Makoto Yamashina Ritsuo Isobe Isao Matsuoka Yasuo Ohmi Tomiichi Akiyama Yutaka Fujioka Sumio Hiraga Masaru Uchida Akira Yanase Yukimasa Sugiura Keiichi Kikura Jitsuzo Horiuchi Toshio Miyake Yasushige Nishimura Yasuhiko Kawano Munekazu Sakurai Tadatsugu Hayakawa Hideyuki Takai Kazuhiro Uchida Takaaki Kasuya Tsuneyuki Enomoto Hirohiko Sueyoshi Sumikazu Ohno Hiroyuki Mitogawa Shinichi Iguchi Takao Asaka

©Akira Committee Production Companies Akira Committee production 2001 Digitally Remastered and English-language version adds Presented by Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc. Distributed by Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc.

Naoyoshi Yamada Kenichi Iyatomi Associate Producer Yoshimasa Mizuo Production Co-ordinator Ken Tsunoda Production Managers Yoichi Ikeda Takahisa Yokomizo Akira Committee Office Shozo Sugiyama Akira Horiguchi Yukari Imamura Production Assistant Keiko Nobumoto Camera Animation Camera Shooting Staff Asahi Production Atsushi Okui Akio Saitô Kazuta Furubayashi Shuichi Itô Hideko Takahashi Tetsu Keibu Kazunobu Okeda Yoichi Hasegawa Yuki Asaine Toshiyuki Umeda Youji Toki Hiroyuki Matsuzawa Yukinori Sakai Animation Camera Shooting Staff Toms Photo Hajime Hasegawa Kenichi Kobayashi Takashi Nomura Hiroshi Kanai Moriyuki Terashita Hitoshi Nishiyama Hitoshi Shirao Takahisa Ogawa Hironori Yoshino

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Kiyoshi Kobayashi Atsushi Yoshino Kazunari Ichinozuka Mika Sakai Atsuko Ito Kyoko Osakai Rie Takeuchi Kôji Asai Cooperative Animation Camera Studio Trans Arts Best Boys Bunichi Matsumoto Haruhisa Yamaji Shinji Takahashi Tomohiro Suesada Minoru Arai Junya Yoshida Quick Action Recorder Operator Goro Morita Laboratory Tokyo Laboratory Inc. Animation Animation Production Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd. Cooperative Animation Studios Oh Production Gainax Studio Dub Studio DEEN Mook Shindo Production Tamazawa Animation Studio Musashi Studio Look Fantasia Boomerang Kyoto Animation Next One Marchen-Sha WARP

Samtack Studio Pierrot Tezuka Production Group Lynus Raijin Film Tiger Production Studio Kuma Super Spirits Asunaro Studio Animal-Ya Magic Bus Anime Art Radical Party Supervising Director Katsuhiro Otomo Chief Animator Takashi Nakamura Assistant to Chief Animator Kôji Morimoto Animation Directors Yoshio Takeuchi Hiroaki Satô Assistant Animation Directors Hiroyuki Ishido Norihiko Sudo Key Animators Atsuko Fukushima Toshiyuki Inoue Tomihiko Okubo Masuji Kigami Yoshiyuki Okiura Sadahiko Sakamaki Satoshi Hirayama Seiji Muta Satoru Utsunomiya Kazuyoshi Takeuchi Toyoaki Emura Masatomo Sudo Shinichi Suzuki Hitoshi Ueda Kuni Tomita Ayumi Tomobuki Chiharu Satô

Yasuhiro Seo Yoshinori Tokiya Hideki Nimura Hirotsugu Kawasaki Osamu Nabeshima Masaharu Tada Kôichi Hashimoto Hidehiko Okano Hiroyuki Horiuchi Yasushi Nagaoka Morifumi Naka Shinya Ôhira Hiroyuki Kitakubo Satoshi Urushibara Hideko Yamauchi Yasuomi Umetsu Akinobu Takahashi Shinichi Terasawa Toshiaki Hontani Tatsuo Ryuno Shôichi Masuo Shuichi Obara Yoshinori Kaneda Toshio Kawaguchi Masaaki Endo Kyoko Matsubara Shinji Otsuka Tatsuyuki Tanaka Kazuyoshi Yaginuma Jirô Kanai Hiroyuki Takagi Makiko Futaki Shinji Hashimoto Kitaro Kosaka Telecom Animation Film Co. Ltd. Key Animators Kôichi Maruyama Yoshinobu Michihata Masanori Ono Kenji Yazaki Horaki Noguchi Toshihiko Masuda Yuichiro Yano Yûko Kusumoto

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Hiroyuki Aoyama Seiichi Takiguchi Hirokazu Suenaga Toshiya Washida Keiko Tomizawa Animation Checkers Mitsunori Murata Hisahiko Komiya Hitomi Tateno Assistants to Animation Checkers Yoshihisa Maki Kiyoaki Sakuma Naoshi Ozawa Norio Matsumoto Hiroyuki Morita Osamu Tanabe Mariko Aoki Tetsuya Ishikawa Yutaka Sakamoto Akiko Yamaguchi Yuichi Katayama Motoki Yagi In-betweeners Nakamura Production Hisao Yamazaki Takashi Noto Takayuki Ishizuka Shusaku Chiba Shinichi Sasaki Takuro Shinpo Kôichi Taguchi Masayuki Yanase Setsuya Tanabe Kôichi Hatsumi Kazuyuki Iizuka Noriyuki Nakajima Tatsuya Uetsu Teiji Hiramatsu Yoshiyuki Fukuda In-betweeners Dragon Production Junko Isaka Midori Nagaoka Tomoko Takei

Chieko Shiobara Masami Takefuchi Katsutomo Ehara Kenji Yamamoto Yuichi Miura Yoshiaki Wakaki Takayuki Shimura Akiko Nakamura Mariko Takekuchi Kaori Miyagawa Yoshiko Kuriihara Daihachi Okajima Kenichi Katsui Mariko Araki Akiko Yoshii Miyuki Murai In-betweeners Telecom Animation Film Co. Ltd. Shunsuke Harada Yoko Sakurai Junko Saitô Masako Hayashi Akiko Kawauchi Noboru Sasaki Norio Saitô Kayoko Nakafuji Hisao Yokohori Yoko Nagashima Toshie Nkagome Yasuhiro Takema Yayoi Toki Takashi Kawaguchi Takuo Tominaga Takashi Umeda Hiroko Yoshizawa Junko Uenoyama Masayuki Osawa Shojiro Nishimi Masato Mukai Takeshi Konakawa Emiko Hirama Yuji Nakamura Hiroko Takatani Yukari Fujii

Yumi Yanagawa Masayoshi Shimura Natsuko Takahashi Nobuo Kamaki Hiroshi Satô Seiko Azuma Akira Tsukada Keiko Yozawa Yoshiko Fujita Miyuki Aoki Tatsushi Narita Mayumi Suzuki Hinako Komatsu Sachiko Kobayashi Kôji Kawasaki Yoshiaki Matsuo Eiichiro Nishiyama Hiroko Watanabe Rie Niidome Takuya Iinuma Yasuyuki Shimizu Emiko Kawakami Colour Keys Kimie Yamana Michiko Ikeuchi Setsuko Tanaka Ink and Paint Checkers Noriko Shiotani Noriko Ogawa Yuriko Kashiwakura Teruyo Tateyama Special Effect Artist Takashi Maekawa Inkers and Painters Yuminsha Shihoko Nakayama Naoko Kawakami Mika Tsuda Minoru Ueno Atsushi Sano Minako Mori Hideyuki Yagisawa Tomoko Mitsui Yukihiko Michimoto Yumiko Kawaguchi

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Junichi Uehara Harumi Yatsu Atsushi Fujitsuka Hiromi Shirouchi Mayumi Kimura Miho Uchiyama Cooperative Ink and Paint Studios Telecom Animation Film I.M Studio Osaka Animation Studio Studio Robin Easy World Suzuki Animation Studio Kuma MI Studio Noel Studio Marine Office Next One Fantasia Studio Look Boby Planning Backgrounds Special Background Effects Noriko Takaya Backgrounds Studio Fuga Tsutomu Uchida Asako Kodaira Satoshi Kuroda Miyuki Kudo Kenji Kamiyama Katsufumi Hariu Mariko Kobayashi Noboru Tatsuike Hajime Soga Tatsuya Kushida Sanae Ichioka Toru Hishiyama Tokuhiro Hiraki Masatoshi Kai Backgrounds Studio Uni Jirô Kawano

Kaori Yamasaki Tatehiko Uchida Akira Furuya Akiyoshi Iijima Takashi Nakamura Backgrounds Baku Production Mitsuhara Miyamae Hirofumi Hagimiwa Kazuhiro Satô Osamu Honda Tatsuo Imamura Backgrounds Ishigaki Productions Yukihiro Shibuya Mamoru Konno Hiroyuki Mitsumoto Kenichi Takahashi Hiroyuki Ogura Kazutoshi Shimizu Kazuhiro Kinoshita Yoji Nakaza Yukiko Iijima Eiko Sudo Yoshie Kanajima Kaoru Honma Fukiko Hashizume Backgrounds Kobayashi Production Shinji Kimura Nobuhiro Otsuka Special Cooperation for Backgrounds Takumi Nagayasu Art/Graphics Art Designers Kuzuo Ebisawa Yuji Ikehata Kouji Ohno Layouters Takashi Watabe Kiyomi Tanaka Computer Graphics High-Tech Lab. Japan Inc.

Ryoichiro Debuchi Yukiko Katsuya Yuriko Amemiya Naoko Motoyoshi Chie Furubayashi Cooperative Companies for Computer Graphics Sumisho Electronic Systems, Inc. Wavefront Technologies Editorial Assistant Editor Hiroshi Adachi Music Music Director Shôji Yamashiro Sound Architect Keiji Urata (Emu) Performers Geinoh Yamashiro Gumi Music Recording Directors Keiji Muraki Shiro Sasaki Music Recording Engineer Heizo Yoda Hideo Takada Keiichiro Yoshioka Music Editor Haruhiko [Hiruhiko] Ohno Music Recording Studio JVC Aoyama Studio Vario-Hall Showa Women’s University Hitomi Memorial Hall Music Produced by Akira Committee/Victor Musical Industries, Inc.

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Sound Sound Recording Director Susumu Aketagawa Supervising Sound Recording Engineer Tetsuo Segawa Sound Effect Supervisor Shizuo Kurahashi Sound Recording Producer Tokuya Shimada Sound Recording Engineer Yukie Naito Toshifumi Seike Foley Kenji Shibasaki Toyo Onkyo Sound Recording Production Manager Kozo Ogata Assistant to Sound Recording Director Masafumi Mima Magic Capsule Sound Recording Production Studio Digital Sound Design Studio Eureka Sound Recording Studio Aoi Studio Dolby Stereo Consultant Mikio Mori Continental Far East Inc, Tokyo, Japan Publicist Ryosuke Kumai VOICE CAST (Japanese version) Mitsuo Iwata Kaneda Nozomu Sasaki Tetsuo

Mami Koyama Kei Tetsusho [Tesshô] Genda Ryu Hiroshi Ôtake Nezu Kôichi Kitamura Miyako Michihiro Ikemizu inspector, committee I Yuriko Fuchizaki Kaori Masaaki Ôkura Yamagata Tarô Arakawa Watanabe Takeshi Kusao Kai Kazumi Tanaka Army Masayuki Katô Sakiyama (engineer), committee D Yôsuke Akimoto bartender Masato Hirano Takeyama (spy), committee F or Yûji Yukimasa Kishino Kuwata/terrorist/assistan t/committee B Kazuhiro Kandô [Kamifuji] Masaru, no. 27 Tatsuhiko Nakamura Takashi, no. 26 Sachie [Fukue] Itô Kiyoko, no. 25 Issei Futamata various Kôzô Shioya Miyako follower Michitaka Kobayashi Hideyuki Umezu Satoru Inagaki various

Kayoko Fujii Masami Toyoshima Yuka Ohno [Ôno] girls Tarô Ishida Colonel Shikishima Mizuho Suzuki doctor VOICE CAST (original English-language version) Jimmy Flinders [Cam Clarke] Kaneda / Councilman 1 / Scientist 2 Drew Thomas [Steve Kramer] Roy/SOL Tech 1/Man on Insider’s Phone/Man Leading People to Akira/Tech Requesting Ground Forces/Man on Vehicle Radio 2/School Disciplinarian/SOL Tech 3/Man Declaring Akira’s Return/Councilman 5/SOL Tech 2/Tank Pilot/Bonfire Speaker/ Stadium Soldier 3/Radio Relayer/Stadium Soldier 1/Intrusion Reporter/ Bridge Soldier 2/Man on Vehicle Radio 1/Priest/ Building Clearance Tech Lewis Lemay doctor/additional voices Barbara Larsen [Barbara Goodson] Takashi/Kaori/Council 4/ Groupie Orange 2/ Groupie Darker Brunette/Female Anchor Stanley Gurd Jr [Jan Rabson] Tetsuo/Gang 4/Council 6

AKIRA

Tony Mozdy [Tony Pope] Colonel/Yama/Insider/ Resistance 3/Interrogator 1/ Barrier PA/Building Alarm/Waiter/Bombing PA/Grenadier/Gang 5/ Sewer Vehicle/375/ Walla Deanna Morris [Lara Cody] Kay/Restaurant Woman/Groupie Light Brunette 1 Bob Berger [Bob Bergen] Masaru/Kai/Gang 2/ Sewer Cop 2/Male Nurse/Arrest Officer/Restaurant Man Marilyn Lane [Melora Harte] Kiyoko Watney Held various Burt Walters [Wally Burr] Resistance 2/Male Anchor/Stadium Soldier 2/Bridge Soldier 1/Tank Cannon/Radio Reporter/Scientist Julie Phelan Groupie Light Brunette 2/ Female Nurse/Secretary Christopher Mathewson [Eddie Frierson] walla Brad Wurst various Jim Warrington [Bruce Winant] walla

2001 Digitally Remastered and English Version Production Companies Produced by Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc. in association with ZRO Limit Productions Executive Producer Yosuke Kobayashi Planning Hideki ‘Henry’ Goto Producers Hiroe Tsukamoto Yutaka Maseba Haruyo Kanesaku Digitally Remastered at IVC Inc. High Definition Center HD Project Engineer Howard Lukk Telecine Colorist Mark Nakamine DRS Technician Tony Catanese Project Manager Danielle Ste. Just English Dialogue Production Animaze..iNC [sic] ADR Director Kevin Seymour ADR Screenplay & ADR Supervision Kevin Seymour Heidi Wilbur Production Coordinators Sawako Furuya Kei Onishi Digital ADR Engineers ‘Big Phil’ Brewster Michael McCarty Recording Facility Magnitude 9 Post

Sound Effects/Dialogue Editing Lisa Hannan Les E. Claypool III Audio Post Coordinator Lisa Tarulli Remixed at POP Sound Supervising Sound Editor Les E. Claypool III Re-recording Mixer Ted Hall Re-recording Assistant Shane T. Keller Translation & Subtitle Timing David Fleming/ZRO Limit Productions Subtitling Captions, Inc. VOICE CAST (2001 English-language version) Johnny Yong Bosch Kaneda Joshua Seth Tetsuo Wendee Lee Kei Sandy Fox Kiyoko James Lyon [Jamieson Price] colonel Cody MacKenzie Takashi Robert Wicks [Bob Buchholz] Ryu [Kirk] Sparky Thornton scientist 1

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Chloe Thornton Detroit Louie Matt ‘Masamune’ Miller [Matthew Mercer] Matthew Hustin Dylan Tully [Michael Lindsay] Yamagata Michael Sorich Russell Thor [Michael Forest] Ray Michaels [Mike Reynolds] Nezu George C. Cole [Paul St. Peter] Lee Kelso Pee Jay Lee [Patricia Ja Lee] Mona Marshall Michael McConnohie Georgette Rose Peter Lee Jim Taggert [Stephen Apostolina] G. Gordon Baer Robert Axelrod Reba West [Rebecca Forstadt] Steve Cannon [Steve Staley] David Umansky [Derek Stephen Prince] Steve Kramer David Lucas [Steve Blum] Henry Douglas Grey [Skip Stellrecht] Simon Isaacson [Simon Prescott] Ted Rae

Raphael Antonio [Tony Oliver] William Frederick [William Knight] Frederick Bloggs [William Bassett] Kurt Wimberger Lisa Tarulli Jessica Gee Joe Romersa Ivan Buckley Jonathan C. Osborne Josil Ferhardt Jean Howard [Julie Ann Taylor] Guy Pinkham Mike Lembaw G. Gordon Baer [Peter Spellos] Harold Muckle Doug Stone 1. Bambi Darro [Dyanne DiRosario] Christy Mathewson Emily Brown [Emilie de Azevedo Brown] Ethan Murray [Ezra Weisz] Sam Strong Richard Plantagenet [Steve McGowan] Dan Martin Jackson Daniels [Dan Woren] W. T. Hatch Christopher Joyce Adam Sholder Tony Sarducci Barbara Goodson Lex Lang Dougary Grant [Kevin Seymour]

Production Details Completed in 1987. 35mm/70mm, 1.33:1, colour, Dolby Stereo. 2001 Digitally Remastered and English-language version 35mm, 1.33:1, colour, Dolby Digital Release Details Japanese theatrical release by Toho Company Ltd on 16 July 1988. Running time: 124 minutes US theatrical release by Streamline Pictures on 19 October 1990. MPAA rating: unrated. Running time: 124 minutes UK theatrical release by ICA Projects Ltd on 25 January 1991. BBFC certificate: 12 (no cuts). Running time: 124 minutes 20 seconds/ 11,189 feet +3 frames 2001 Digitally Remastered and English-language version UK theatrical re-release by Manga Entertainment Ltd on 17 March 2002. BBFC certificate: 15 (no cuts). Running time: 125 minutes 19 seconds/ 11,278 feet + 9 frames Credits compiled by Julian Grainger