In a dystopian future, Neo-Tokyo has risen from the ashes of World War III. Aggressive motorcycle gangs of disenfranchised youth roam the streets. Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki) is injured in a collision with a strange child (Tatsuhiko Nakamura) and basically kidnapped by a shadowy government agency. During their experimentation, Tetsuo is discovered to be compatible match for their greatest failure: Akira. Driven mad by the sudden influx of psychic ability, Tetsuo goes on a rampage to find Akira and be revenged. The only people who can stop him are his best friend, Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata), a revolutionary named Kei (Mami Koyama), and a trio of psychic children, previous experiments like Akira.
This got so popular it became a red flag, like a poster of Fight Club or American Psycho in a dorm room. And that's a shame because it really is a cool movie; it just got championed by the absolute worst people you've ever met.
If you're used to modern anime, the art style might come off as clunky and harsh. There's not a lot of detail in the faces, it's very hard-lined, garish in its colors, but if you give it a chance, I promise you will not care about that by the end. There are still some really cool aspects to this film and its message of repeating failures and who gets punished for that is still relevant and timely.
It's currently streaming on Hulu.
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