Akira, 1988

This is a definite inclusion into my Top 10 favorote movies of all time. Nuumber one on my Top 10 Animated Movies list. Set in Neo-Tokyo, a post apocalypseworld created by an explosion set off by a government experiement, this story follows the relationship of two teens coming to terms with shifting power balances between a gang ledaer and his long time childhood friend. Theres much more than that of course but the main story is how Tetsuo, a smaller, younger friend of the gang leader Kaneda becomes something that Kaneda cant control after the government uses Tetsua for some experiements, giving him extrordinary powers. Kanedas inability to control his friend and his newfound powers along with Testuos own helplessness to control these powerful forces tear the city apart. The story does get a bit convoluted in some places and somewhat existential for western audiences but thats forgivable when the level of animation is this good. The style is faithful to the original manga and, I believe, is actually better. Flawless really. The colors are perfect, the motion is without repetition and even the American dub is pretty good. The only negative I have is with the new Special Edition. Although the clean up on the print is amazing, I didnt like the new voice-overs. Im most likely biased though since I watched a couple hundred times while on original VHS. I wished there was an option to watch the new transfer with the old voice tracks. Then, in my book, it would be a perfect movie. Story: 6 Animation: 10 Print/Transfer: 10 Voice/Dub: 8 Specials: 8 Overall: 9 (does not reflect an average, just personal judgement)

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