Akira

Storyline

Akira is a landmark, visually groundbreaking, and culturally transformative cyberpunk anime masterpiece directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, adapting his monumental manga epic into a revolutionary cinematic work that permanently changed global animation and modern science fiction. Set in the dystopian, sprawling cyberpunk metropolis of Neo-Tokyo in the year 2019—built upon artificial islands in Tokyo Bay following a catastrophic nuclear explosion that triggered World War III thirty-one years earlier—the city is plagued by anti-government riots, religious cult fanaticism, and violent street gang warfare. The storyline follows Shotaro Kaneda, the brash, charismatic leader of a rogue teenage motorcycle capsule gang, and his insecure childhood best friend, Tetsuo Shima. During a fierce territorial motorcycle skirmish against the rival Clown gang, Tetsuo collides with a psychic child escapee from a secret government laboratory, inadvertently triggering latent, terrifying telekinetic abilities within his mind. Captured by a clandestine military agency overseen by the stern Colonel Shikishima, Tetsuo is subjected to invasive biological experimentation that rapidly accelerates his godlike psychic power, overwhelming his fragile sanity and breeding an insatiable, destructive rage. Driven by feelings of inferiority toward Kaneda, Tetsuo goes on a catastrophic, murderous rampage through Neo-Tokyo, seeking to awaken Akira, the legendary psychic child entombed beneath the Olympic Stadium whose catastrophic awakening originally destroyed the old world. Brimming with jaw-dropping hand-drawn destruction, kinetic neon motorcycle streaks, and Geinoh Yamashirogumi's hypnotic tribal soundtrack, Akira is a peerless sci-fi milestone.