Akira

The first and only other time I'd seen Akira was when I was a freshman in high school. So it's been a while.

I finally re-watched it tonight and it made a LOT more sense than the first time I saw it. My high school brain couldn't make sense of the plot, but now it seems a lot more straight-forward. That's a bit misleading, though. To call it "straight-forward" is a bit of a stretch, but still...I followed it and it made sense both plot-wise and thematically so it was a lot more enjoyable this time around.

The score was really unique. The Director knew how to use silence when to really heighten the tension when he needed to, and he matched up the perfect composer. It sounds like Einstürzende Neubauten at times. I can't think of a better style to score the soundtrack of post-apocalyptic Neo Tokyo!

The film is from 1988. It shows its age, but I don't mean that in a negative sense. There's a certain romance to the late 80's Manga. Again, this is another timeless classic. Part of the reason I wanted to watch it again was honestly because the lead characters are part of a bosozuku gang (violent Jap' biker gang). Kaneda's biker is fucking sweet. (and evidently it has a Reverse gear...I guess in the future anything CAN happen)

Gearing aside, the film is about revolution, gov't controlling the populous, youth culture, and power. It's set in the year 2019, 31 years after WWIII. It's in Neo Tokyo and it looks bad-ass. Some crazy ass shit happens, but hang on for the ride. It somewhat makes sense. And it's worth the investment.

If you only watch one Anime this year, you couldn't go wrong with Akira. It was ground-breaking for its time and it still holds up. Classic.