Akira

So this has been past due for awhile now, but I figured it was time to start working on my thoughts on some oh my thoughts on something from Japan. Continuing on the trend of the dominating theme of this blog, I'd like to talk a little bit about a small film many of you might know as Akira. Otomo's manga adapted into an anime feature length film is breathtaking in every sense of the word. From a score that is anything but predictible for cinema, to breathtaking scenery, and high passed action, mystery, and drama. However, what bothers me about Akira is the fact that it seems too many people know this film as a film that really helped anime become popular among America/Western audiences, but so few of the audience memebers seem to grasp on to anything that makes them understand why this film is amazing. All that is known is that it is far from their norm and has a large following, but that is it. (Ghost in the Shell seems to share a similar fate). I will not feign that even I truly get everything that makes Akira the film that it is, but it definitely warrants multiple viewings, to catch what one doesn't catch the first time.

For me, what caught my eye the most recent time I sat down and watched the film was Otomo's motiff of close calls. The near misses in the lives of Kaneda and Tetsuo, among other characters, are countless. Survival in Neo-Tokyo seems to be taken for granted despite clear evidence of death visible all around. Those we see tempt the reaper time and again. Kaneda and Tetsuo start off on the same path of survival, but ultimately end up splitting different ways, with Kaneda learning the value of his own life and seeking to protect it more, and Tetsuo finding an imagined invincibility that is ultimately his undoing. Yet despite these things, and constant reminders of how fragile life is, counteracting these events are reminders of despite the grim displays of insignifigance, there are reminders all around of how much impact one life can have.

"It has already begun..."