What was the cultural impact of Akira (1988), and why does it occupy a key place in the canon of anime greats?
‘Akira’ was released in Japan in 1988. It was released outside of Japan in 1990, just as the Japanese economic bubble burst. It cost roughly nine million dollars to create (a record at the time), and was a complex and challenging work of art that provoked, bewildered and occasionally inspired Western audiences when it first appeared outside Japan in 1990 (Napier, 2005). It was successful abroad, spearheading Japanese animation brands in multiple foreign countries and as a result, a brand new market opened in Japanese animation. (Clements, 2020).
Akira’s story is very mature, which was not especially unusual for animated films created within Japan. However, as this was one of the first anime movies to be released to movie theatres in the west, audiences expecting a stereotypical western animated film were surprised at the mature themes explored within (Bolton, 2018). Some of these themes include humanity, destruction, gang warfare and disaffected youth (Bolton, 2018).
In 1993, Japanese critic Ueno Toshiya made a visit to the city of Sarajevo in a war-torn Serbia. In the middle of this city, he encountered a crumbling wall with three panels, one of these being a scene from Otomo Katshuhiro’s ‘Akira’ (Napier, 2005). In Serbia, this anime was an artistic icon of political resistance. This is just one example of the major cultural impact of the film itself, and its deserving place in the canon of anime greats.
Akira is a science fiction spectacle with a conspicuously high budget and quality of animation (Clements, 2020). Though its impact on the international anime marketplace and global culture is of significance, it was also ground-breaking in its animation, with its gorgeous style still standing the test of time (Bolton, 2018). As a result of this high budget, the production team were able to push the anime style of animation to an entirely new level. The team was able to utilise 24fps animation during selected moments to enhance sequences, making Akira a technical masterpiece of animated media (Mountfort, 2020).
References
Bolton, C (2018) Interpreting Anime. University Of Minnesota Press.
Clements, J (2020). Back to square one: The seeds of anime. Vol. 30, no. 6.
Mountfort, P. (2020). Pop genres anime 1 Akira [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/
Napier, S. (2005). Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire.
Pop Genres 2020 