Questions about Akira

[TrigunX89]

Hello, all. I've been wanting to see Akira for some time, but was kind of scared away. I know there's lots of violence and gore, and I have read the review on this site. Anyways, I have a couple questions if you guys wouldn't mind answering.

1. I was reading a review of it, and it said that behind all the gore and stuff, there is actually a good moral to the story. I'm wondering if this is true, and what it is? And is it any saving grace to the offensive material?

2. I hear girl's shirt is ripped off? Do we see anything, or is it all covered?

Lastly, would anyone here actually recommend Akira? I'd mainly like to see it just because of all the hype. I've heard mixed things. A lot of people say it's really not that great. Others say it's one of the best movies they've ever seen. I'd like to see it just so I can say I saw it, and so I can comment on it in the future. Your input would be appreciated. Thanks!

[bigsleepj]

>>> 1. I was reading a review of it, and it said that behind all the gore and stuff,
>>> there is actually a good moral to the story. I'm wondering if this is true, and
>>> what it is? And is it any saving grace to the offensive material?

The only moral I could get out of the movie was an anti-God one...but that's just me.

>>> 2. I hear girl's shirt is ripped off? Do we see anything, or is it all covered?

I think you do see it all. I can't remember. My mind must have blocked it out.

Not very encouraging, am I?

[Jeikobu]

TX89, have you read the review here?

[Kaori]

The review, which can be found here, can tell you far more than I can, since it has been a while since I watched Akira. The main character is a thoroughly loyal friend, which could possibly be seen as a redeeming moral.

For me, part of the value of seeing Akira stemmed from the fact that it is considered something of an anime "classic." When talking with other anime fans it is often useful to have a cursory knowledge of popular or seminal works, and Akira is one that was very influential, from what I hear. You might find it worthwhile to watch Akira for that reason alone. I did not particularly enjoy the movie myself, but many people do.

[TrigunX89]

The only moral I could get out of the movie was an anti-God one...but that's just me.

I think you do see it all. I can't remember. My mind must have blocked it out.

Not very encouraging, am I?

Hehe, that's ok! Thanks for your input! It's appreciated.

TX89, have you read the review here?

Yup. It's been a while though. Perhaps I will have to read it again though.

For me, part of the value of seeing Akira stemmed from the fact that it is considered something of an anime "classic." When talking with other anime fans it is often useful to have a cursory knowledge of popular or seminal works, and Akira is one that was very influential, from what I hear. You might find it worthwhile to watch Akira for that reason alone. I did not particularly enjoy the movie myself, but many people do.

Thanks, that's pretty much the whole reason I want to see it.

Well, I'm still a bit undecided. I will read the review on this site again before making a decision. Maybe I'll get a chance to rent it... Though that will probably raise my dad's interest and be a bad thing. *sigh* I just don't know. Oh well, thanks again, everyone!

[bigsleepj]

Well, I'm still a bit undecided. I will read the review on this site again before making a decision. Maybe I'll get a chance to rent it... Though that will probably raise my dad's interest and be a bad thing. *sigh* I just don't know. Oh well, thanks again, everyone!

If you are the proper age then by all means see it and make up your mind for yourself because its unheatly to have someone make it up for you.

I might dislike it but I always have 2 things to say about Akira:

• You've got to be both a genius and a very sick person to come up with THAT ending.

• And you've got to see that ending to believe it.

What broke the movie for me was the ending which is where it all goes overboard.

[TrigunX89]

Well, if proper age means over 18, then I'm not. I just wanted to know a few things about it to help me make up my mind about it. I don't expect anyone to decide for me.

[bigsleepj]

[quote="TrigunX89"]Well, if proper age means over 18, then I'm not. I just wanted to know a few things about it to help me make up my mind about it. I don't expect anyone to decide for me. ]

How old are you then? Just asking.

[Esoteric]

Yeah, I saw Akira for the same reason; this big classic anime that was supposed to be so great with a lesson about misusing power. I was left very...confused. Lots of weird characters and events that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and the end turned into a bit of a gore-fest. That's really all I remember, like I said, I wasn't too impressed.

[Ichigo_89]

I havn't seen it as well. The main reasons why I want to see it is 1. Because of the "incredible" animation that everybody keeps bragging about. 2. Cause it's a classic and I'm trying to see all the anime classics out there.

The only thing that's stopping me is the supposively super graphic gore. I'm not sure if it would make me cringe all over or not. I've seen:

Passion of the Christ
Spriggan
Jin-Roh
Ninja Resurrection (both eps)

And I was able to swallow all of those, except for some parts of the Passion of the Christ. So can somebody give me some advice? HELP!

[Namelessknight]

Forget the anime. It is a graphic violence filled movie that ends extremely unsatisfactorily, plus from what i remember, profanity was profuse in the dubbed version. I would recommend the manga. I've read the first 2 books[of 6] and been extremely impressed. The storyline is awesome, the violence isn't over the top, no nudity and very little profanity. The downside is that the books cost between 20-30[18-25 online] each. so it is an investment. and the movie only covers about 1\3 of the plot in the manga, which is why the anime ends so unsatisfactorily. So there is my 2 cents.

[Namelessknight]

Forget the anime. It is a graphic violence filled movie that ends extremely unsatisfactorily, plus from what i remember, profanity was profuse in the dubbed version. I would recommend the manga. I've read the first 2 books[of 6] and been extremely impressed. The storyline is awesome, the violence isn't over the top, no nudity and very little profanity. The downside is that the books cost between 20-30[18-25 online] each. so it is an investment. and the movie only covers about 1\3 of the plot in the manga, which is why the anime ends so unsatisfactorily. So there is my 2 cents.

[CDLviking]

The only thing that's stopping me is the supposively super graphic gore. I'm not sure if it would make me cringe all over or not. I've seen:

Passion of the Christ
Spriggan
Jin-Roh
Ninja Resurrection (both eps)

And I was able to swallow all of those, except for some parts of the Passion of the Christ. So can somebody give me some advice? HELP!

If you were able to watch Ninja Resurrection then Akira should be like a little girls tea party.

Forget the anime. It is a graphic violence filled movie that ends extremely unsatisfactorily, plus from what i remember, profanity was profuse in the dubbed version. I would recommend the manga. I've read the first 2 books[of 6] and been extremely impressed. The storyline is awesome, the violence isn't over the top, no nudity and very little profanity. The downside is that the books cost between 20-30[18-25 online] each. so it is an investment. and the movie only covers about 1\3 of the plot in the manga, which is why the anime ends so unsatisfactorily. So there is my 2 cents.

The manga is actually quite a bit more violent than the anime. I thought they toned things down quite a bit for the movie. And there are two scenes of nudity in the last half of the manga. The nudity in the movie is confined to the girls shirt getting ripped off, and is less than a second long.

The plot is a little strange and convoluted at times, but both the movie and the manga are technical masterpieces. That doesn't mean that I neccessarily recommend them to everybody. Just be advised on the strong content including: brief nudity, drug use, violence, language, gore, and mild sexuality.

[TrigunX89]

>>How old are you then? Just asking.

I'll be 16 in a couple weeks.


I've also seen the Passion of the Christ. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to watch... (probably because I knew it really happened) I did cringe, cry, and even feel sick to my stomache. It was an amazing movie though, and I'm really glad I saw it.

[bigsleepj]

If you were able to watch Ninja Resurrection then Akira should be like a little girls tea party..

I'll second that.

I'll be 16 in a couple weeks.

I've also seen the Passion of the Christ. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to watch... (probably because I knew it really happened) I did cringe, cry, and even feel sick to my stomache. It was an amazing movie though, and I'm really glad I saw it.

Off course you might be able to handle the violence of the anime "Akira" itself but will you be able to handle the ideas behind it? The ideas behind something is sometimes worse than the images itself. The violence behind "The Passion" would have been meaningless without the idea it has behind it. But the ideas behind some movies are terrifyingly evil. Off course Akira isn't that evil but it is anti-God still if you ask me. I'd rather you wait untill you are 18 to watch it.

I wonder; does "Akira", as a name, have any specific meaning Japanese?

[bigsleepj]

Curses -double posting

[Arnobius]

Addressing some of the discussed themes:

Akira coming from akirameru had a connotation of giving up, abandonment or resignation when written as a kanji ( 諦 ). However, the title is actually written in katakana ( アキラ ), which makes it more ambiguous.

The movie was rated "R" (Graphic violence and brief nudity), which I think is a fair assessment of the movie. For the time it was well animated, probably not passed by anime until End of Evangelion.

I think the animation is about the only strong point though. The story was rather incoherent: Katsuhiro Otomo (who did both the manga and the anime) seemed to try to cram the entire story into 2 hours, even though the manga was only half done at that point. I was excited to see it because it's practically a law that an anime fan has to have seen it ( ), but found the overall effect rather disappointing.

The manga is a better story, though it too should be approached as if it had an R rating.

[rocklobster]

I din't like Akira that much at first, but now that I've seen Memories and Metropolis, I'm willing to watch it again. Now, Memories and Metropolis were great movies! Otomo did some great work with those.

[Heart of Sword]

My friend saw it. She said someone's guts fell out. *blargh*

[Arnobius]

My friend saw it. She said someone's guts fell out. *blargh*

Not quite.

Hmm, I must be the only person not particularly disturbed by that scene.