Akira
Rent & Buy
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
What critics thought
Akira landed as a genuine landmark for Western audiences encountering anime — critics were overwhelmed by its visual ambition, kinetic pacing, and obsessive worldbuilding, even as some felt its condensed narrative left viewers who hadn't read the manga scrambling to keep up. The animation itself was almost universally treated as a category apart, while the story's coherence was the main point of friction.
“viewers who come to it without prior knowledge of the manga (comic-strip) version tend to find it almost overpowering”
Tony Rayns·The Monthly Film Bulletin
“the drawings of Neo-Tokyo by night are so intricately detailed that all the individual windows of huge skyscrapers appear distinct. And these night scenes glow with subtle, vibrant color”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“scintillating animated visuals, with not one – not one – computer-assisted shot in sight”
Kim Newman·Empire
“the author has condensed the narrative sprawl of the comics to provide coherence, though there's a bit of "Back to the Future Part II" incompleteness to the story”
Richard Harrison·The Washington Post
Accolades
Genres
Action, Animation, Drama
Cast & Crew
Katsuhiro OtomoDirector
Mitsuo IwataShotaro Kaneda (voice)
Nozomu SasakiTetsuo Shima (voice)
Mami KoyamaKei (voice)
Taro IshidaColonel Shikishima
Mizuho SuzukiDoctor Ônishi
Tessyo GendaRyûsaku (voice)
Koichi KitamuraPriestess Miyako / Council A (voice)
Yuriko FuchizakiKaori (voice)
Masaaki OkuraYamagata (voice)
Takeshi KusaoKai (voice)
Shoji YamashiroComposer
Izo HashimotoWriterAkira
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
What critics thought
Akira landed as a genuine landmark for Western audiences encountering anime — critics were overwhelmed by its visual ambition, kinetic pacing, and obsessive worldbuilding, even as some felt its condensed narrative left viewers who hadn't read the manga scrambling to keep up. The animation itself was almost universally treated as a category apart, while the story's coherence was the main point of friction.
“viewers who come to it without prior knowledge of the manga (comic-strip) version tend to find it almost overpowering”
Tony Rayns·The Monthly Film Bulletin
“the drawings of Neo-Tokyo by night are so intricately detailed that all the individual windows of huge skyscrapers appear distinct. And these night scenes glow with subtle, vibrant color”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“scintillating animated visuals, with not one – not one – computer-assisted shot in sight”
Kim Newman·Empire
“the author has condensed the narrative sprawl of the comics to provide coherence, though there's a bit of "Back to the Future Part II" incompleteness to the story”
Richard Harrison·The Washington Post
Accolades
Genres
Action, Animation, Drama
Cast & Crew
Katsuhiro OtomoDirectorMitsuo IwataShotaro Kaneda (voice)Nozomu SasakiTetsuo Shima (voice)Mami KoyamaKei (voice)Taro IshidaColonel ShikishimaMizuho SuzukiDoctor ÔnishiTessyo GendaRyûsaku (voice)Koichi KitamuraPriestess Miyako / Council A (voice)Yuriko FuchizakiKaori (voice)Masaaki OkuraYamagata (voice)Takeshi KusaoKai (voice)Shoji YamashiroComposerIzo HashimotoWriterRent & Buy