I first saw Akira when I was five years old, I snuck out of bed to watch cartoon network and as I was flipping through the channels I found Kaneda zooming through the streets with the others after the Clownz. I was totally encompassed, the scene that stuck with me most however was when Tetsuo evolved and begged for Kaneda’s help.

Seven years down the line that was the only thing I remembered as I went searching through anime after anime to find that incredible piece of work again.

I’m glad that the live action remake was canceled. From what I read of it, it was supposed to be set in Manhattan and oodles of the original awesomeness was to be changed into americanized…well.. garbage.
If we could ever take a japanese movie and not butcher it in live action, that’d be sweet.

there is a japanese live action movie of the anime yatterman which was just released. actually had it’s first screening in new york. directed by takashi miike. u might want to check it out. it’s doing really well at the japanese box office so far.

what do you think of the upcoming hollywood remake?

@movietwit
I couldn’t agree more, 10-15 years ago parents didn’t know squat about anime. They just saw it as animation and let their kids watch it. Akira introduced me to nudity and violence at a young age. God Bless America lol

the short of it – akira was a stepping stone for a lot of the western culture into the world of anime. parents deemed it ‘okay’ because it was cartoon, even though it was one of the most violent things i’ve ever seen (which is what appealed to me in the first place).

from there, i loved things like ‘ghost in the shell’ and old ones like ‘castle of cagliostro’, while also appreciated studio ghibli’s efforts. in a lot of ways, spirituality plays a big part in both anime and live action films from japan, which builds a good sense of national identity to the rest of the world.