An Analysis of Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira

Originally making its appearance in Japan's own "Young Magazine" and published by Kodansha Ltd. as a 2160 page epic, Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" was soon released as a series of six mangas. Selling over three million copies in 1982 alone, "Akira"quickly became a best seller and has stayed among the ranks of the best selling mangas of all time. The series has won dozens of awards, including, but certainly not limited to: Best Archival Project, Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material (Eisner awards), and the 8th Kodansha Award (1984.) Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" quickly became incredibly popular in not only its native Japan, but worldwide as well, having been translated into over thirteen different languages including French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Finnish, Swedish, Polish and Indonesian."Akira's" popularity didn't stop there, however, as the summer of 1988 in Japan saw the cinematic version of Otomo's "Akira" and it was immediately released worldwide in December 1989. According to Variety Weekly's theatrical box office sales report, "Akira" ranked in the top 60 for nearly six months straight in the U.S. alone, an incredible feat for an piece of Japanese animation, especially in that decade. It has since been remastered twice, once for VHS and a special-edition laserdisc in 1994; then in 2001 "Akira" underwent a complete digital remastering in a joint effort between Pioneer and the Akira Committee that cost both agencies in excess of one million dollars.

"Akira" takes place in the corrupt metropolis that is Tokyo, Japan circa 2012, or rather, in Neo-Tokyo, the original having been leveled by a blast from a new form of weapon known only as "Akira," an immensely powerful force that, according to both the manga series and the film triggered the brutal conflict of world war III. In this futuristic setting, the people of Neo-Tokyo have since rebuilt their great city and, in celebration, are in the process of completing work on a massive stadium where they hope to host the upcoming Olympic games. Most of the backdrops for both the mangas and film consist of the city itself, shown in all of it's corrupted "glory," though a fair number of the scenes occur at the unbuilt Olympic stadium and within the secret underground military installation hidden deep beneath it. Though the film only moves beyond the borders of Neo-Tokyo once during the process of the story, and then only for a quick, orbital confrontation between the psychokinetically awakening and extremely violent Tetsuo and Japan's own orbital defense satellite, SOL, the manga series bravely moves into more distant territory. The original printed-page version of "Akira" explored the United States' reaction to Akira's second, city-leveling detonation, as well as that of a group of minor characters who represented scientists from half a dozen countries waiting aboard an aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy. It brought forth three distinct orbital confrontations as well, differing substantially from the film, though the incredibly brief, yet far more important battle between SOL and Tetsuo featured in the cinematic version of Akira followed the second confrontation in the storyline of the mangas almost exactly.

Perhaps the most notable storyline change in the transition from manga to film is Akira himself. While he is portrayed as a small, seven year-old boy in the mangas, silent and very-much alive, the film presents Akira as a teenager, though now nothing more than a collection of organs and data contained within an armored sphere. Both versions of Akira however, have been subjected to a thirty-year deep freeze within one of Neo-Tokyo's largest underground military installations, seemingly unaffected by time or the extreme temperatures (.005° Kelvin) within the massive multi-layered dome in which he is kept waiting for a time when science will have the ability to control him. In the manga series, when Akira is discovered by the renegade Tetsuo, he allies himself with the mysterious child, though is often controlled by his fear of Akira's great power. The film, however, follows a slightly different path, showing Tetsuo's discovery of the collection of preserved organs as just a momentary diversion on his quest to become all-powerful. Though the nature of Akira differs slightly from the mangas to the film, his impact on the end of both storylines is the same; ultimately, Akira's energy, released one last time before he transcends our reality to become something greater, consumes the wild and uncontrollable energies of Tetsuo, taking the troubled young man with him into a black abyss of nothingness.

Though he is a topic constantly present on the lips of the characters, Akira is not the primary character of Katsuhiro Otomo's famous epic. Both the original series of mangas and the film itself focus more prominently upon two youths known as Kaneda and Tetsuo, street-tough members of a teenage Biker gang known as the "capsules." Friends since their first days in a Neo-Tokyo orphanage, Kaneda and Tetsuo are all but brothers, though both the film and manga series illustrate a definite pecking order between the two immediately. Kaneda, the more reckless and brave of the two, leads the capsules and acts as a sort of guardian for Tetsuo, a fact which soon wears on Tetsuo as he begins to discover his own Akira-like powers. Throughout the story he lashes out at Kaneda, announcing on several occasions that he doesn't "need [Kaneda's] help anymore!" and that he "can take care of [himself.] now!" They struggle for dominancy for most of the story, Kaneda utilizing all manner of weapons in his attempts to bring Tetsuo to a sort of street-justice, only to be turned away over and over again by Tetsuo's steadily awakening and incredibly destructive psychokinetic powers. Kaneda even enlists the aid of Kei, the ever present female of the story who later becomes his lover, in the "battle" against Tetsuo, though her impact is far more definite in the manga series than in the cinematic release of Otomo's "Akira." In the end however, it all comes down to a simple fist fight between Kaneda and Tetsuo, all weapons cast aside in favor of the most primal method of human warfare.

There are an incredible amount of characters in "Akira" who suffered either severe role changes in the conversion from manga to film, or were totally cut from the storyline of the movie. The most prominent among those whose roles were radically changed in the conversion was the great priestess of Neo-Tokyo, Lady Miyako. Miyako is present throughout all six of the mangas, and plays a major part in the storyline, acting first as a silent observer of Akira's eminent awakening, then later as both a guide and protector of not only Kaneda and Kei, but the remnants of Neo-Tokyo's civilian populace as well. In the film, she is reduced to two brief appearances where she is shown deep in trance, chanting about the return of Akira to the sparse members of the Akira cult, a religious faction which is not even present in the original written form of Otomo's "Akira." Another whose role is radically changed from the mangas to the film is that of Kei's good friend, Ryu. An avid resistance fighter with a knack for accurate and believable disguises, Ryu is reduced to nothing more than an insanely loyal informant who makes several, very brief appearances throughout the length of the film, usually as simple as walking by or watching Kaneda and Kei from a distance. Lady Miyako's henchmen are among those who make no appearance in the film, though the part they play in the mangas is important; three young girls whose telekinetic powers are weak, yet effective, with one goal in mind: the recovery of the boy, Akira.

While music is not an aspect of the manga series for obvious reasons, the soundtrack of the cinematic version of Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" is absolutely essential to the film and no analysis in which the movie is mentioned would be complete without mentioning it. Composed by Shoji Yamashiro and performed by the Geinoh Yamashirogumi, an orchestral chorus, or, more specifically, a group of over two-hundred singers using their voices as instruments, the music in "Akira" sets the mood in a unique way that stands out among other films. Utilizing an impressive array of unusual instruments, such as bamboo poles, modern synthesizers, and more simplistic traditional and ritualistic percussion instruments in addition to the Geinoh Yamashirogumi's chorus, the soundtrack conveys a definite primal feel through even the most intense and emotionally charged of scenes, despite the decidedly futuristic setting. Buddhist chanting in which the four main character's names are occasionally mentioned is the most commonly heard form that the Geinoh Yamashirogumi's choruses take, accenting the appearance of each character in a given scene with the barely heard sound of their name. The most commonly heard of these are the names of the two most prominent characters, Kaneda and Tetsuo, though the names of both Kei and Akira make brief appearances in the soundtrack.

In it's entirity, Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" is a story of youth, of power, and corruption; it is a story of the struggle to survive in an ever-changing world, of spiritual mysticism, and of love. The film is a masterpiece of cinematography whose scenes, more specifically those that take place on the darkened streets of the metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, have often led scholars and reviewers alike to compare "Akira" to landmark science-fiction films such as Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." It set the bar for both science fiction and international film in the late eighties, and has since become a cult classic. Katsuhiro Otomo's epic of the printed page has slipped out of the limelight in more recent years as well, though it, like the film, still commands a large cult following. In less than two decades, "Akira" has managed to earn not only an army of myriad fans worldwide, but also a sizeable reputation that few other films, books, or even mangas could ever hope to match.