Akira
Daniel:
Akira is probably one of the best known animes in the world, and there are many people who say it's the best. It is certainly one of the highest budget animes ever made (I think that only Ghost in the Shell had a higher budget), and you can see it. It's a very very smooth, professional, detailed anime. Akira is directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, who also drew the 2000 page manga on which the film is based, in a Disney style, with dialogue recorded before the animation.
Personally, I don't like it. Not one bit. It isn't cute, it isn't funny, it isn't clever, it isn't beautiful, it isn't even particularly exciting, and the story doesn't even make sense. Akira has none of the B-movie splendour of most other animes, and certainly none of their charm. It looks almost American.
I feel somewhat guilty saying all of this. After all, Akira was the flagship that popularized anime in the West, and everyone seems to love it. And a lot of people DO get killed, and their is all kinds of property damage, and Tokyo gets blown up TWICE! But somehow, for me, it all falls flat. It's just not my thing AT ALL. If you want to see stupid, expensive films in which stuff blows up, I'd recommend that you rent out Terminator 2, at least then you'd see Arnie saying, "I'll be back."
As much as I'd want to, I can't possibly recommend Akira. It's garbage, and anything it does well, there are other animes that do much better. Maybe it's a good intro for newcomers to anime, but no more.
Alon:
Ok, let's see. This is definitely NOT one of my favorate anime. The plot is too complex (I have nothing against complex plots. It's just that they DELIBERATELY made this movie hard to understand), the drawings suck (Is Kei the long lost twin of Kanada, or are they just look alikes?), and it's too GODDAMN LONG. It had my tossing and turning in my seat after the first hour. So, is Akira all crap? no. Because the animation is superb - the characters movie very smoothly, and it has a fair amount violence, enough to make u go "wow, look at this".
Can I recommend it? well, they say you didn't have Pesach until you have said "Pesach, Maza and Maror". Well, I guess you can't say you've seen anime until you have seen Akira. I guess a lot of people can enjoy this movie. But it's not my cup of tea.
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