what anime is akira from

Akira is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on Katsuhiro Otomo 's seminal manga, Akira, published from 1982 to 1990. It was adapted into a 1988 anime film and two video games. A live-action feature film has also been in development since 2000, and a new anime television series by Otomo was also announced in 2019.

Full Answer

Is there an anime based on Akira?

The film Akira is regarded by many critics as a landmark anime film: one that influenced much of the art in the anime world that followed its release. A video game, simply titled Akira, based on the animated film was released on December 24, 1988, by Taito for the Famicom console.

Who are the actors in the Akira movie?

The film features the voices of Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, and Taro Ishida. It is an adaption on Otomo's manga AKIRA, focusing mainly on the first half of the story.

What does Akira mean?

Akira, often stylized as AKIRA, is a Japanese cyberpunk manga series written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from 1982 to 1990, with its chapters collected into six tankōbon volumes.

Is Akira a masterpiece?

Katsuhiro Otomo's world-conquering epic Akira is a cerebral masterpiece. Here's everything you need to know about the seminal cyberpunk manga.

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Does Akira have an anime?

Akira is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on Katsuhiro Otomo's seminal manga, Akira, published from 1982 to 1990. It was adapted into a 1988 anime film and two video games.

What anime is Akira Kaneda from?

the Akira filmShotaro Kaneda is the main protagonist of the Akira film. He is the leader of The Capsules. He was also a friend of Tetsuo.

Is Akira anime on Netflix?

'Akira' Is Now On Netflix, So You Should Probably Watch It.

How old is Akira?

Unlike the Espers, due to thirty years of cryogenic sleep, Akira is, physically, still as young as he was the day the original Tokyo was destroyed, though, chronically, he is in his late 40's.

Why is Akira so popular?

The frenetic cyberpunk anime, released in Japan on July 15, 1988, showed that cartoons across cultures could address larger social issues. Its intricate, futuristic cityscapes and its evocative tale of telepathic power inspired a generation of works to come, including a Kanye West music video and “Stranger Things.”

Is Akira an anime or movie?

Akira held the record for most expensive anime film up until Otomo's Metropolis (2001). The teaser trailer for Akira was released in 1987. The film's main production was completed in 1987, with sound recording and mixing performed in early 1988.

Is Akira worth watching?

Overall: While, a live-action film adaptation version might or might come, one day to renew fans, for the most part, this movie will be best known for its sharp animation. Still, the confusing plot and downer feel of the movie, doesn't make it, a great watch. It's still one of the most memorable anime of all time.

Why is Akira rated R?

Extreme violence and graphic sex in anime classic.

What is the name of the anime that Akira is based on?

Akira ( Japanese: アキラ) is a 1988 Japanese animated post-apocalyptic cyberpunk action film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, produced by Ryōhei Suzuki and Shunzō Katō, and written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, based on Otomo 's 1982 manga of the same name. The film had a production budget of ¥ 700 million ( $ 5.5 million ), ...

How did Akira influence anime?

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

What is Akira's influence on Star Wars?

Akira has also been credited with influencing the Star Wars franchise, including the prequel film trilogy and the Clone Wars film and television series. Todd McFarlane cited Akira as an influence on HBO animated television series Spawn.

What did Akira teach?

According to The Guardian, the "cult 1988 anime taught western film-makers new ideas in storytelling, and helped cartoons grow up". Akira has influenced numerous works in animation, comics, film, music, television and video games.

What award did Akira win?

Awards. In 1992, Akira won the Silver Scream Award at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival. Akira was one of the four nominees for the 2007 American Anime Awards ' "Best Anime Feature" award, but it lost to Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children .

What was the first animated movie?

The release is notable in that Akira is the first animated film to be released by Criterion and for more than twenty years their sole animated film to be released until their 2014 Blu-ray /DVD release of Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

How much did Akira grosse?

Streamline became the film's distributor, with Carl Macek leading the distribution. Upon its initial limited US release, Akira grossed about $1 million in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Akira was theatrically released by Island Visual Arts on January 25, 1991.

Storyline

2019. 31 years after being destroyed during World War 3, Tokyo (now 'Neo-Tokyo') has been rebuilt and is a thriving metropolis. Shotaro Kaneda is the leader of a biker gang. His friend Tetsuo is injured in an accident and taken to a top-secret government facility. He develops telekinetic powers but decides to use them for evil rather than good.

Did you know

The movie consists of 2,212 shots and 160,000 single pictures, 2-3 times more than usual, using 327 different colors (another record in animation film), 50 of which were exclusively created for the film.

What is the Akira movie?

Enjoyment. 3. Akira is a film adapted from the manga series of the same name by Katsuhiro Otomo. The film was a huge success, even outside its native Japan, and is often heralded as one of the all-time greatest anime ever produced.

When did Akira win the Silver Scream Award?

Akira won the Silver Scream Award, the audience award of the Amsterdam-based Imagine Film Festival, in 1992 and was nominated for the American Anime Awards' Best Anime Feature award in 2007.

Is Akira's facial variety Otomo's strongest suit?

But if I were to name an actual problem with Akira's designs in particular, it's that facial variety isn't Otomo's strongest suit, leading to a lot of similarity between characters' faces across Akira's cast as well as Otomo's other works. Then again, the same could be said about Hayao Miyazaki.

Did Akira lip sync?

Also of note is the fact that Akira pioneered lip-syncing character dialogue —typically characters are animated first; then voices are recorded, which often results in audiovisual incongruity. But Otomo was intent on using the high budget he was provided with to do things right even if it broke the industry conventions.

Is Neo Tokyo a social disintegration?

Rather than alien invaders or malfunctioning supercomputers, Neo-Tokyo suffers from good old-fashioned social disintegration; the city is a place where violent demonstrations and wannabe messiahs sprout like weeds, and all the while the authorities are struggling to hold onto power.

Is Kei the terrorist a female?

On the one hand, the character designs are simplistic; Kei the terrorist, for example, is difficult to recognise as a female at first because of her rather androgynous design, and, apart from a couple of too-short trousers, the clothes could belong to any futuristic era.

What is Akira's anime?

Studio. Sunrise. Anime and manga portal. Akira, often stylized as AKIRA, is a Japanese cyberpunk manga series written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo. It was serialized in Kodansha 's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from 1982 to 1990, with its chapters collected into six tankōbon volumes.

Who is the main character in Akira?

Kaneda (born September 5, 2003), full name Shōtarō Kaneda (金田 正太郎, Kaneda Shōtarō), is the main protagonist of Akira. He is an antiheroic, brash, carefree delinquent and the leader of a motorcycle gang. Kaneda is best friends with Tetsuo, a member who he has known since childhood, but their friendship was ruined after Tetsuo gained and abused his psychic powers. He becomes involved with the terrorist resistance movement and forms an attraction for their member Kei, which eventually develops into a strong romantic bond between the two. During the events of volume 3, Kaneda is surrounded by the explosion caused by Akira and is transported to a place "beyond this world", according to Lady Miyako. Kaneda returns at the end of volume 4, and alongside the Colonel, Joker, Ryu, Keisuke, Miyako, the Espers and Kei, they take down Tetsuo. Kaneda is ranked as #11 on IGN 's Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time list.

What happened to Akira after Takashi's death?

The trauma of Takashi's death causes Akira to trigger a second psychic explosion that destroys Neo-Tokyo. Kei, Ryu, Chiyoko, the Colonel, and the other two Espers survive the catastrophe; Kaneda, however, disappears as he is surrounded by the blast. After the city's destruction, Tetsuo reappears and meets Akira.

How old is Ryu?

Ryu (竜, Ryū) Ryu (born May 31, 1992 ), short for Ryusaku (竜作, Ryūsaku), is a comrade of Kei's in the resistance movement. As the story progresses, Ryu abandons his terrorist roots and becomes more heroic, working with Yamada and guiding Kaneda to Akira's chamber where Tetsuo is held up, but battles with alcoholism.

What happened to Neo Tokyo?

On December 6, 1982 (1992 in the English version), a nuclear explosion destroys Tokyo and starts World War III. By 2019 (2030 in the English version), a new city called Neo-Tokyo has been built on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. Although Neo-Tokyo is set to host the XXXII Olympic Games, the city is gripped by anti-government terrorism and gang violence. While exploring the ruins of old Tokyo, Tetsuo Shima, a member of the bōsōzoku gang led by Shōtarō Kaneda, is accidentally injured when his bike crashes after Takashi — a child Esper with wizened features — blocks his path. This incident awakens psychic powers in Tetsuo, attracting the attention of a secret government project directed by JSDF Colonel Shikishima. These increasing powers unhinge Tetsuo's mind, exacerbating his inferiority complex about Kaneda and leading him to assume leadership of the rival Clown Gang through violence .

What is the cult of Lady Miyako?

Yamada learns that the city has been divided into two factions: the cult of Lady Miyako, which provides food and medicine for the destitute refugees, and the Great Tokyo Empire, a group of zealots led by Tetsuo with Akira as a figurehead, both worshiped as deities for performing "miracles".

How did Ryu kill Akira?

In the final volume, Ryu reluctantly shoots and "kills" Akira when he begins to release his power; he is killed by falling elevator debris shortly afterward. Chiyoko (チヨコ) Chiyoko is a tough, heavyset woman and weapons expert who is involved in the resistance and eventually becomes a key supporting character.

A Fever Dream Rabbit Hole To Hell

Akira is a seinen (18+) manga that ran from 1982-1990, set in the fictional city of Neo-Tokyo in 2019 where, 37 years previously, a mysterious explosion destroyed the original Tokyo, leading to an alternate history in which World War III occurred in the 1980s.

An Apocalyptic Post-Apocalypse

At core to understanding Akira is appreciating the apocalyptic undercurrent of Japanese culture leading up to the manga’s 1982 debut, perhaps no more prevalent than in the manga’s persistent imagery of mass explosions and toppled buildings reminiscent of the 1945 nuclear bomb attacks that ended World War II.

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

Akira arrived at the height of the cyberpunk movement in international science fiction, with the manga debuting alongside films like Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and Blade Runner along with seminal literature such as William Gibson’s Neuromancer.

What is the plot of Akira?

Bolton’s analysis of Akira shows how the various political movements that undergird the film’s plot– a coup led by Colonel Shikishima, the Resistance movement, and the cult which worships Akira– all harken back to various political movements of Japan’s past.

What is the opening sequence of Akira?

The opening sequence of Akira is subtle yet powerful. The camera angle travels down the streets of a city before the date– July 18, 1989– is superimposed across the screen. A bright white light suddenly fills the screen as an enormous explosion, illustrated by a semi-transparent black dome, engulfs the city and leaves only a black crater in its ...

What is the most famous work of Keiji Nakazawa?

A few of the most notable works of these include Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen (1983) and Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies (1988). As scholar Susan J. Napier notes in her book Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke, works like Gen and Fireflies “share in the collectivity of the Japanese memory as well as individual autobiographical accounts ...

What is Shikishima's role in the movie?

Shikishima is depicted in the film as a tyrannical figure, one who is not only disillusioned by Neo-Tokyo– which he so lovingly refers to as “a garbage heap made up of hedonistic fools”– but is also determined to protect it out of an obligation that he feels because he is a soldier.

What is Akira's influence on Napier?

The far-reaching influence of Akira can be most clearly illustrated through an anecdote related in Napier’s work concerning Japanese critic Toshiya Ueno’s visit to Sarajevo . As Ueno wandered through a war-torn Serbia he encountered a crumbling wall of a building which had a striking display of graffiti.

What is Akira's postmodern art?

It is Akira’ s postmodern artistic construction which allows it to resist solid interpretation. Both the reading of Akira as being inspired by the atomic bombings as well as the theories that lean toward postmodern interpretations are compelling and, according to Bolton, have the ability to be combined.

What is Akira's resistance to interpretation?

Unstable Ground: Akira’ s Resistance to Interpretation. Akira has had a notable influence both within and outside of Japan. In many ways, the film may be credited for expanding interest in anime to cultures outside of Japan where, before Akira’ s release, it held the most influence.

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