Akira
Akira
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Format Viewed - Dubbed |
Akira is one of those movies that you have to watch about six times
through to fully understand the plot.. even though I've seen it well over
100 I still don't completely understand it… but I get the gist and the
gist is good enough for me. Overall though, this is an excellent anime
and was probably one of the first people were turned onto in the early
‘90s (whereas now everyone is turned onto Ghost In The Shell). It involves
a project where DNA is manipulated to make a bio weapon that ends up blowing
up in Tokyo's face… oh well, you think they'd learn their lesson but about
twenty years later, after rebuilding, they're doing the SAME thing AGAIN.
Kaneda and his street punk gang are taken in by the military one evening
after meeting up with one of the “failed” experiments (seems they've been
trying to replicate AKIRA, the boy who became the bio weapon, for quite
sometime but haven't gotten the DNA right). Tetsuo, the runt of the group,
becomes the guinea pig and after some experiments and them succeeding,
he wants to wreak havoc on Neo-Tokyo… well, guess what? Kaneda tries to
stop him but what ends up happening is that Akira (who became too much
for his human body and his energy now floats in the abyss of space or whatever)
takes Tetsuo with him, along with the failed experiments, leaving everything
looking like all hell… oh well. Least Kaneda and his new girl can start
a new life and learn from what happened… hopefully. Anyhow, music is excellent,
so are the sound effects. I have the entire soundtrack of Akira and its
one of the best I have. For the dubbed version, I thought the voices actually
fit very well with their characters. Kaneda has a slightly confused, yet
heroic voice that I really liked and Tetsuo goes from the runt to overpowering
asshole voice. They really fit. All the minor characters have very good
voices as well. Only problem? The syncing is off by probably a millisecond
in some areas, but you wont notice it unless you're looking close (like
I did for this review). Animation wise, there are some things they did
that I still haven't figured out!! Like the lights on the motorcycles look
so real, that its only recently I've seen them replicated.. and on a computer
nonetheless.. remember, this was all cel-based art when this was made!
That means this is some very good animation. I also like the movements
of the characters, especially the ending “battle.” Kaneda is very smooth
and realistic and I get sometimes to act out parts because its that good.
Anyhow, this is my review on the movie. I have just one thing to say: If
you haven't seen it, see it. If you have seen it, TRY to understand it..
now that I understand it more and more, the story has become one of the
most original and cinematic I've ever had the pleasure of watching unfold
before me.
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