I would say keep watching until you get it.The movie also used pre-recorded voices with mouth movements drawn to conform to them rather than the lip-flap animation and post-production recording typically done in Japan.
There is an incredible draftsmanship running through the film. Amazing construction and form and weight. The use of light is stunning.
Nerdwriter has an excellent video called How To Animate Light that analyses Akira in example. Highly recommended viewing.
Might have to watch it about 5 more times. Or better yet, read the book. The book is a much better way ro digest the plot and understand the characters and the art is mind-blowing.
The movie makes so much more sense after reading the manga, it's kind of a cliffnotes take on a very dense story.
Rewatch the newer dub, it l actually fleshed out a lot if the translation issues for me. I've seen the movie about three times now. Originally the old dub version when I was a teenager, then the sub a few years after and recently the latest dub.It was the first anime/manga I ever watched so I have fond memories.
But I disntinctly remember having no fucking clue what was going on. Like, I haven't watched it since the early 90s but why did Tetsuo become an all consuming giant blob?
Vampire Hunter D
Ninja Scroll
Akira
Ghost in the Shell
That's the golden age of Japanamation to me.
Not even, the film continues to be awesome sauce. Really enjoyable from start to finish.You had to be there
It was OK. The animation was nice except for the way people were drawn. Hated the way they looked. Some nice action scenes. Soundtrack was bad ( DUN DUN DUN!). Story was meh. Characters were meh. This movie is considered one of the best anime films ever. I honestly don't get the love for it and I don't understand why Hollywood wants to make a live action film. Am I missing something Gaf or is it 2deep4me?
I started to watch it the other day, for about 15 mins, seemed okay, gonna go back to it, reading up about it there seems to 2 different english dubs, and the newest english dub seems to be worse than the original, some people in this read have even mentioned the dub, but also read that the manga is better, also mentioned several times here.
I wonder if you saw it with the newer dub that doesnt make sense?
Words like bang that are supposed to be gun shotsOh, I'm gonna need to find $135 somewhere...
But what does "original Japanese onomatopoeia" mean?
Did you watch the original English dub or the second, re-done English dub that's not nearly as fun?
I started to watch it the other day, for about 15 mins, seemed okay, gonna go back to it, reading up about it there seems to 2 different english dubs, and the newest english dub seems to be worse than the original, some people in this read have even mentioned the dub, but also read that the manga is better, also mentioned several times here.
I wonder if you saw it with the newer dub that doesnt make sense?
The second.
Look everyone, the animation is great! I'm not gonna argue that. Its everything else, and honestly the more important stuff, like the plot and characters that I don't get. That fact that a live adaptation of it is even being considered and tied to someone like freaking Christopher Nolan is whats confusing me. Like I didn't see anything in this movie that made me say " Holy shit! Imagine if Chis Nolan remade this movie!". Like the movie was just OK. Take away the awesome animation, and theirs not much there.
Take away the awesome animation, and theirs not much there.
Look everyone, the animation is great! I'm not gonna argue that. Its everything else, and honestly the more important stuff, like the plot and characters that I don't get. That fact that a live adaptation of it is even being considered and tied to someone like freaking Christopher Nolan is whats confusing me. Like I didn't see anything in this movie that made me say " Holy shit! Imagine if Chis Nolan remade this movie!". Like the movie was just OK. Take away the awesome animation, and theirs not much there.
You had to be there
Have you seen Inception? It's not hard to imagine the cool things that Nolan might do with some of the more weird, tripped out psychokinesis sequences. I don't really think the story is suitable for a live-action adaptation, at least not without being significantly more grounded and re-imagined (much like Nolan did for Batman).
This doesn't make any sense.
I feel the same with Princess Mononoke.
Have you seen Inception? It's not hard to imagine the cool things that Nolan might do with some of the more weird, tripped out psychokinesis sequences. I don't really think the story is suitable for a live-action adaptation, at least not without being significantly more grounded and re-imagined (much like Nolan did for Batman).
Your animated movie is nothing without the animated stuff. It's just sound and stuff!
Man, It's a sad state of affairs when people can't think of a better word than "meh" to critique something.
Especially when that something is god damn akira
It definitely got better for me with repeated viewings. 1st time I saw it I was more confused than anything but after a few times I really got in. The animation in it is some of the best of all time.
Also you're 100% wrong about the soundtrackit's amazing
I don't know, the manga was way more confusing for me than the anime. That said they both have different stories anyway with only the major plot points being the same, since the anime was made at a time where the manga was still far from finished.The manga has a way better story.
This doesn't make any sense.
The second.
Look everyone, the animation is great! I'm not gonna argue that. Its everything else, and honestly the more important stuff, like the plot and characters that I don't get. That fact that a live adaptation of it is even being considered and tied to someone like freaking Christopher Nolan is whats confusing me. Like I didn't see anything in this movie that made me say " Holy shit! Imagine if Chis Nolan remade this movie!". Like the movie was just OK. Take away the awesome animation, and theirs not much there.
It's funny, but given all the posts about not getting the narrative I've always found Akira to be uncomplicated, straightforward and, save a couple of scenes where the Colonel and mad professor ruminate on the ethics of the science & power they're fooling around with, refreshingly free of the rubbish that passes for philosophical discussion in most anime (e.g. Evangelion & GitS). IMO obviously.
OP is SO wrong about the OST though. It's an amazing fusion of Japanese opera styling, contemporary classical composition & of-its-era electronica.
Why wasn't there much production value put into the drawing and animation of women?The appeal comes from the insane production values.
It still looks amazing to this day and it's close to 30 years old.
The plot is garbage and confusing. And the characters aren't really likable or interesting.
The manga is better.
The political/social situation in Neo-Tokyo always seemed kind of unclear to me, though I haven't seen the movie in a long long time. The ending was also something of a head scratcher. Testuo gets to Akira, and I guess through their shared pain Akira convinces him not to nuke the city?
Ninja Scroll! That was the movie I was trying to think of. Yeah. It's another one of those anime movies that everybody recommending back in the day but it's really just cool fights and good animation. As a film itself, it's pretty garbage.
What doesn't make sense? Everyone in this thread is gushing about the animation, which I've already said is great, but theirs nothing else in this movie that makes me think its a great movie. The plot was hard to follow and wasn't really clear. The characters were bad. The movie did nothing to make me care about any of them. In fact, it did almost nothing to give these characters backgrounds until the end of the film, where they cram a bunch of past events. I didn't even know there was a 2000 page manga until people brought it up in this thread. I've been hearing praise about this movie for years and finally decided to watch it and when it's all said and done, I thought it was OK, but not one of the greatest anime films ever/ Christopher Nolan live action dream project.
Oppressive & corrupt government vs. the people really.
I think it's entirely unclear what is going on with the rebel/terrorist group that Kay is a part of. What are their goals and what are they opposing?
Lady Miyako's role in Neo-Tokyo is also unclear, though apparently that was a major manga character that got reduced to a bit part in the film.