Akira

Akira is the first anime film that broke through internationally. This megalomaniacal fairy tale about a 21st-century motorcycle devil takes place in Neo Tokio, a world designed down to the smallest detail as an architectural jungle and reminiscent of a science fiction film. Nowadays, the film is considered a classic of the cyberpunk genre. Whoever sees this immediately wonders why such a feature film was not made sooner. Not only because the possibilities of animated film lend themselves well to the genre, but also because in regular science fiction film there is a clear inclination towards the world of comics. The art direction of Blade Runner already mirrored itself on science fiction comics, and for Batman the cartoon was literally the starting point for the film's styling. No expense or effort was spared here to make the image look as artificial as possible. In In Akira, the comic strip is simply animated directly. In turn, this animated film mirrors live-action film once more. The drawn image looks less two-dimensional than you would expect, due to perspective distortion and camera movements, and with its cinematic construction of the scenes, Akira more than once resembles a 'regular' film. A clever animated film, while projection on a big screen makes it a spectacular experience. (Skrien)