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Akira (1988 film)

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Akira
File:Akira movie poster.jpg
Japanese promotional poster
Directed byKatsuhiro Otomo
Screenplay byKatsuhiro Otomo
Izō Hashimoto
Story byKatsuhiro Otomo
Produced byRyōhei Suzuki
Shunzō Katō
StarringMitsuo Iwata
Nozomu Sasaki
Mami Koyama
Tarō Ishida
Mizuho Suzuki
CinematographyKatsuji Misawa
Edited byTakeshi Seyama
Music byShoji Yamashiro
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • July 16, 1988 (1988-07-16)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film Japan
LanguageJapanese
BudgetUS$11 million
Box office$50 million (Japan) $553,171 (USA)

Akira (アキラ, stylized as AKIRA) is a 1988 Japanese animated cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, and starring the voices of Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama and Taro Ishida. The screenplay is based on Otomo's manga Akira.

The film depicts a dystopian Neo-Tokyo in 2019. The plot focuses on biker Tetsuo Shima (Nozomu Sasaki) and his psychological powers and the biker gang member Shotaro Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata), who tries to hunt down Tetsuo from releasing Akira. While most of the character designs and basic settings were adapted from the original 2182-page manga epic, the restructured plot of the movie differs considerably from the print version, pruning much of the last half of the manga. The film became a hugely popular cult film and is widely considered to be a landmark in Japanese animation and film making in general.

Plot

In Neo-Tokyo, 2019, Shotaro Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) leads his bōsōzoku gang, the Capsules, in a turf war with a rival gang known as the Clowns. As Kaneda and his best friend, Tetsuo Shima (Nozomu Sasaki), battle a pair of Clowns on a highway, Tetsuo almost runs into Takashi (Tatsuhiko Nakamura)—an aged psychic boy known as an esper—and is injured when his bike is destroyed. Tetsuo and Takashi are captured by armed soldiers, and has Tetsuo hospitalized. While Kaneda and his gang are interrogated, he tries to flirt with Kei (Mami Koyama), a member of the terrorist Resistance group. Kaneda, Kei, and the remaining Capsules are later released.

Colonel Shikishima (Taro Ishida) and Doctor Onishi (Mizuho Suzuki), two members of a secret government project, discover that Tetsuo possesses mental frequencies similar to Akira, a young boy with immense mental abilities who caused Tokyo's destruction 31 years ago, leading to the start of World War III. Kiyoko (Fukue Ito), another Esper, has visions of a similar destruction of Neo-Tokyo, leading the Colonel to order that Tetsuo be killed should his power escalate beyond their control. After escaping a military hospital, Tetsuo meets up with his girlfriend, Kaori (Yuriko Fuchizaki), and steals Kaneda's motorcycle. However, Tetsuo and Kaori are assaulted by the Clowns, whom Kaneda and the gang defeat upon their arrival. Tetsuo begins to suffer a severe headache and the Doctor takes Tetsuo back to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Kaneda witnesses a terrorist attack involving Kei, and — after saving her from capture — is led to the Resistance headquarters. Kaneda decides to help the organization when the terrorists unintentionally reveal their mission to infiltrate the military hospital to rescue Tetsuo. Meanwhile, the Espers —Takashi, Kiyoko and Masaru (Kazuhiro Kamafuji) — attempt to assassinate Tetsuo, but fails. When Tetsuo's abilities awaken, he goes on a violent rampage through the hospital, arriving at the Espers' playroom to kill them. Kaneda, Kei, and the Colonel unsuccessfully try to stop Tetsuo's rampage. Reading Kiyoko's mind, Tetsuo learns that Akira is in cryogenic storage below Neo-Tokyo's new Olympic Stadium; seeking to learn more about his powers from Akira, Tetsuo leaves.

Kei and Kaneda are detained, but Kiyoko — using Kei as a medium — explains that Tetsuo must be stopped and helps them escape. Meanwhile, the Colonel, desperate to find Tetsuo and frustrated with the government's hindrances in dealing with the crisis, stages a coup d'etat and places Neo-Tokyo under martial law. Tetsuo encounters and kills Yamagata (Masaaki Okura), Kaneda's right-hand man in the Capsule gang. He then proceeds to lead a path of destruction through the city as he makes his way to the Stadium, brutally dispatching soldiers who stand in his way. Upon learning of Yamagata's death from his friend Kai (Takeshi Kusao), Kaneda swears revenge on Tetsuo and follows him to the Stadium. When Tetsuo arrives at Akira's cryogenic chamber, he defeats Kei and pulls the chamber out of the ground- only to find Akira's organs stored inside glass canisters. The Colonel tells Tetsuo that Akira's remains had been meticulously analyzed after Tokyo's destruction and he has been dead for decades.

Kaneda confronts Tetsuo with a laser rifle, but Tetsuo is able to use his powers to block most of the attacks. The Colonel tries to kill Tetsuo using an orbiting space weapon, only to sever Tetsuo's right arm. Tetsuo flies into orbit and pulls the weapon into the atmosphere, before constructing an artificial arm while studying Akira's organs. Kaori arrives and discovers Tetsuo just as his powers have begun to create immense physical pain, contorting his body into a blob-like substance in an effort to expand. Despite the Colonel pleas to return to the lab, Tetsuo nearly kills the Colonel, but is stopped by Kaneda. Unable to control his powers due to the emotions and the pain in his body, Tetsuo begins to transform into a gigantic cyborg-like monstrosity, inadvertently killing Kaori in the process.

Having realized the only way to stop Tetsuo is to summon Akira, the Espers awaken Akira, manifesting himself from the canisters and causing another explosion. The Espers teleport the Colonel to safety and — over Masaru and Kiyoko's objections —Takashi jumps into the psychic field to rescue Kaneda. The other Espers join Takashi, aware they likely will not be able to return. Kaneda experiences Tetsuo's and the Espers' memories, including how much Tetsuo trusted Kaneda as a friend and how the children obtained their powers.

The Espers remove Kaneda from the field and tell him that Akira will be taking Tetsuo "away" and to find somewhere safe to ride out the explosion. The explosion destroys most of Neo-Tokyo, and — after disappearing — leaves a void that is quickly filled by the nearby ocean. The Doctor's van gets crushed, and he is killed. Kaneda wakes up to find that Kei and Kai are safe, and they drive away from the ruined stadium into the city. The Colonel walks out of the tunnel that The Espers teleported him to and watches the sun rising over the destroyed city. The film ends with a big bang occurring along with Tetsuo proclaiming, "I am Tetsuo."

Characters

  • Akira (アキラ, codename #28) – The titular character. Akira was a young boy who developed transcendent psionic, god-like abilities when serving as a test subject for secret government ESP experiments in the 1980s. He subsequently lost control of this power and the ensuing blast completely annihilated Tokyo in a horrifying explosion in 1988. After the apocalyptic event, Akira was recovered and subjected to every test known to modern science, which proved unable to solve the mystery. He was dissected and placed within a cryonic chamber underneath the Neo-Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
  • Shotaro Kaneda (金田 正太郎, Kaneda Shōtarō) – Kaneda is a carefree gang-leader who boasts a custom-modified motorcycle. He and Tetsuo have been best friends since early childhood. He is brash and not above teasing Tetsuo despite feeling affection for him as a younger brother. Upon rescuing Kei, Kaneda becomes involved in the activities of her group of anti-government guerrillas in hopes of locating Tetsuo.
  • Tetsuo Shima (島 鉄雄, Shima Tetsuo) – Kaneda's best friend since preschool and the second principal subject of the story's theme. Tetsuo is shown as a black sheep in the gang he and Kaneda are part of, and quietly suffers from a deeply rooted inferiority complex. He admires his friend yet at the same time strongly resents his own reliance upon him. After his psychokinetic abilities manifest, Tetsuo quickly becomes Kaneda's nemesis; he desires Kaneda's motorcycle (a symbol of status and power) and seeks to prove himself supremely powerful, without need of protection. Eventually, his power overwhelms him.
  • Kei (ケイ) – A young revolutionary whom Kaneda meets and becomes enamored with on his quest to find Tetsuo. She is a member of an anti-government faction that Ryusaku and Nezu are also involved in. Although she does not possess preternatural abilities, Kei is manipulated by the Espers as a type of medium on several occasions.
  • Colonel Shikishima (敷島大佐, Shikishima-taisa), also known as simply The Colonel – The head of the ongoing government project which was responsible for inadvertently unleashing Akira's power thirty years earlier. Appearing tough and ruthless, he is nevertheless pragmatic enough to recognize the danger Tetsuo's fledgling powers pose and cares for the three Espers under his supervision. Amongst the other government figures depicted in the film, he is shown to be the most principled, eschewing the corruption and hedonism that typifies Neo-Tokyo.
  • The Espers – Masaru (マサル, codename #27), Takashi (タカシ, codename #26) and Kiyoko (キヨコ, codename #25) – Akira's fellow psychic test subjects. They exhibit a variety of paranormal powers which they use to influence the course of events to the best of their ability. While individually of lesser strength than Akira or Tetsuo, their combined effort proves decisive in the story's final confrontation. Physically, they resemble children with wrinkled faces, white hair and blue-green skin.
  • Nezu (根津) – A government mole responsible for Takashi's abduction.
  • Yamagata (山形) – One of the most prominent members of Kaneda's gang. He often derides Tetsuo, resulting in his death at the hands of Tetsuo.
  • Kai (甲斐) – Another member of Kaneda's gang, Kai plays an important supporting role in the eventual battle against Tetsuo. He is close friends with Yamagata and they remain together when the gang breaks up, being one of the only members to survive.
  • Kaori (カオリ) – Tetsuo's girlfriend. She stands by Tetsuo even though he treats her rather harshly sometimes, which results in being crushed to death within Tetsuo's mutating body.

Voice cast

Character Japanese English [Streamline] (1988) English [Pioneer] (2001)
Shôtarô Kaneda Mitsuo Iwata Cam Clarke Johnny Yong Bosch
Tetsuo Shima Nozomu Sasaki Jan Rabson Joshua Seth
Kei Mami Koyama Lara Cody Wendee Lee
Colonel Tarō Ishida Tony Pope Jamieson Price
Doctor Mizuho Suzuki Lewis Lemay Simon Prescott
Ryûsaku (Roy) Tesshō Genda Steve Kramer Bob Buchholz
Masaru Kazuhiro Kamifuji Bob Bergen Cody MacKenzie
Takashi Tatsuhiko Nakamura Barbara Goodson Mona Marshall
Kiyoko Fukue Ito Melora Harte Sandy Fox
Kaori Yuriko Fuchizaki Barbara Goodson Michelle Ruff
Yamagata (Yama) Masaaki Ōkura Tony Pope Michael Lindsay
Kai Takeshi Kusao Bob Bergen Matthew Mercer
Nezu Hiroshi Ōtake Tony Pope Mike Reynolds
Miyako Kōichi Kitamura Steve Kramer William Frederick Knight
Inspector Michihiro Ikemizu Bob Bergen Steve Staley
Eiichi Watanabe Tarō Arakawa Jan Rabson Skip Stellrecht
Mitsuru Kuwata Yukimasa Kishino Bob Bergen Jonathan C. Osborne
Yūji Takeyama Masato Hirano Eddie Frierson unknown
Army Kazumi Tanaka Steve Kramer Kurt P. Wimberger
Harukiya Bartender Yōsuke Akimoto Bob Bergen John Snyder

Production

AKIRA Committee was the name given to a partnership of several major Japanese entertainment companies brought together to realize production of AKIRA. The group's assembly was necessitated by the unconventionally high budget and ambitious scale of the cinematic project, in order to achieve the desired epic standard equal to Otomo's manga tale. AKIRA Committee consisted of publisher Kodansha Ltd., Mainichi Broadcasting System, Inc., Bandai Co., Ltd., Hakuhodo Incorporated, distributor Toho Co., Ltd., Laserdisc Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation and animation producer Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd.[1]

Most anime is notorious for cutting production corners with limited motion, such as having only the characters' mouths move while their faces remained static. AKIRA broke from this trend with detailed scenes, lip-synched dialogue – a first for an anime production – and super-fluid motion as realized in the film's more than 160,000 animation cels.[1] The teaser trailer of this movie was released in 1987.

The film was completed and released in 1988, two years before the manga storyline officially ended in 1990. Otomo had immense difficulty completing the manga; he has stated that the inspiration for its conclusion arose from a conversation that he had with Alejandro Jodorowsky in 1990, but Jodorowsky cannot recall what he said to Otomo.

Katsuhiro Otomo is a big fan of Tetsujin-28. As a result, his naming conventions match the characters featured in Tetsujin-28: Kaneda shares his name with the protagonist of Tetsujin-28; Colonel Shikishima shares his name with Professor Shikishima of Tetsujin-28, while Tetsuo is named after Shikishima's son Tetsuo Shikishima; AKIRA's Ryūsaku is named after Ryūsaku Murasame. In addition, Takashi has a "26" tattooed on his hand which closely resembles the font used in Tetsujin-28. The namesake of the anime, Akira, is the 28th in a line of psychics that the government has developed, the same number as Tetsujin-28.

The sound of Kaneda's bike engine was produced by compositing the engine sound of a 1929 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a jet engine.

Katsuhiro Otomo decried his fame and said that his conclusion of AKIRA was false in both the Japanese and American editions, and that he could never truly finish his epic.[citation needed] Nevertheless, Otomo's AKIRA (1988) is widely considered a masterpiece of graphic storytelling.

Releases

Theatrical

Akira was released by Toho on July 16, 1988. The film set attendance records for an animated film in Japan. Fledgling North American distribution company Streamline Pictures soon acquired an existing English-language rendition created by Kodansha (originally dubbed for the Hong Kong market)[2] which saw limited release in North American theaters from late 1988 throughout 1989. Streamline is reported to have become the film's distributor when both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg labelled it unmarketable in the U.S.[3] In the UK, AKIRA was theatrically released by ICA Projects on January 25, 1991. In Australia, AKIRA was theatrically released by Island World Communications and distributed by Satellite Entertainment, later on by Manga Entertainment, then Madman Entertainment after Manga Entertainment's Australia branch merged with Madman. In Canada, the Streamline dub was released by Lionsgate (at the time known as C/FP Distribution) in 1990. In 2001, Pioneer released a new dub which was produced by Animaze and was presented in select theaters from March through December 2001.

Home media

VHS releases included the initial Streamline Video offering (May 1991), later wider distribution by MGM/UA Home Video, and a subtitled edition from Orion Home Video (September 1993). In the UK, AKIRA was released on video by Island World Communications in 1991. The success of this release led to the creation of Manga Entertainment, who later took over the release. The original VHS release of AKIRA started up Manga Entertainment Australia and VHS distribution was handled by Ronin Films and Polygram until 1994 when Siren Entertainment took over all of Manga Entertainment Australia's distribution including AKIRA under a special license from Polygram, who handled Island's video distribution. AKIRA was re-released on video in 1994, and again on DVD in 2001 and distributed by Madman Entertainment and The AV Channel. The Criterion Collection released a laserdisc edition in 1993. Pioneer Entertainment issued a DVD and a VHS with a new English dub in 2001. In 2002, Manga released a two-disc DVD featuring the new Pioneer English dub followed in 2004 by another two-disc set containing the original Japanese as well as both the Streamline and Pioneer dubs. This version did not contain standard English subtitles, only closed captioning subtitles. In 2005, Manga Entertainment and Boulevard UMD released Akira on UMD for the Sony PSP using an entirely new English dub, in place of the original Streamline and later Pioneer dub.

A Blu-ray Disc edition of the film was released on February 24, 2009 with 5 additional minutes in North America by Bandai Entertainment.[4][5] A Blu-ray edition of AKIRA was subsequently released in Australia.[6] The Blu-ray release is the very first to use the highest sampling rate currently possible (Japanese Dolby TrueHD 192 kHz because of its analog roots) and is also the first to use the hypersonic effect (only available in this track and via a high-end audio system).

Reception and legacy

Roger Ebert selected AKIRA as his "Video Pick of the Week" in 1989 on Siskel & Ebert and the Movies. For its wider 2001 release, he gave the film "Thumbs Up." In February 2009, the film had an 88% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As of October 2010, it is ranked #39 on IMDB's Top 50 Animated Films.[7] Channel 4's 2005 poll of the 100 greatest cartoons of all time featuring both cartoon shows and cartoon movies, AKIRA came in at number 16.[8] On Empire magazine's list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, AKIRA is number 440.[9] It showed again on Empire's list of The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema, coming in at #51.[10] IGN also named it 14th on its list of Top 25 Animated Movies of All-Time.

However, not all critics had a favorable opinion of AKIRA. Makigumo gave the film a 47% rating, noting that the film's weakness is that it tried to condense six volumes of manga into one two-hour film. "AKIRA is rich with ideas, but lacking in expression. It’s just not possible to cram in so many thematic elements, and then dilute them to fit a moviegoing audience and still make everything work."[11]

Still, AKIRA is regarded by many critics as a landmark anime film, one that influenced much of the art in the anime world that followed its release with many illustrators in the manga industry citing the film as an important influence.[12] The film led the way for the growth of popularity of anime outside of Japan. AKIRA is considered a forerunner of the second wave of anime fandom that began in the early 1990s and has gained a massive cult following since then.

The Akira anime also made TIME magazine's list of top 5 anime DVDs.[13]

The film made Terry Gilliam's top 50 animated movie list.[14]

Source Reviewer Grade or score Notes
Anime News Network Bamboo Dong Overall (dub): A
Overall (sub): A-
DVD/Movie review of Limited Edition Metal DVD Case
AnimeOnDVD Chris Beveridge Content: A
Audio: A+
Video: N/A
Packaging: A+
Menus: A+
Extras: A+
DVD/Movie review of Special Edition
THEM Anime Reviews Raphael See 4 out of 5 Movie review (1 of 2 reviews)

Themes

The film explores a number of psychological and philosophical themes, such as the nature of corruption, will to power, and the growth from childhood to maturity both in individuals and the human race itself. Elements of Buddhist and Christian symbolism are also present in the film. Notable themes in the film include youth culture, cyberpunk, delinquency, psychic awareness, social unrest and revolution, the world's reaction toward a nuclear holocaust and Japan's post-war economic revival.

Soundtrack

Untitled

AKIRA: Original Soundtrack was recorded by Geinō Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組). The music was composed and conducted by musical director Shoji Yamashiro. It features music which was additionally rerecorded for release. "Kaneda", "Battle Against Clown" and "Exodus From the Underground Fortress" are really part of the same song cycle – elements of "Battle" can be heard during the opening bike sequence, for example. The score is generally sequenced in the same order that the music occurs in the film. The North American version featured extensive production notes by David Keith Riddick and Robert Napton.

A second soundtrack was released featuring the original music without rerecording, but it was made into character study collages with sound effects and dialogue from the film; the recording was probably a direct transfer from the film.

Symphonic Suite AKIRA is the same version as AKIRA: Original Soundtrack, but without the voices and sound effects.

Symphonic Suite AKIRA LP track listing

  1. "Kaneda"
  2. "Tetsuo"
  3. "Ohjifuchi"
  4. "Exodus From the Underground Fortress"
  5. "Requiem"

Symphonic Suite AKIRA & AKIRA: Original Soundtrack CD track listing

  1. "Kaneda" – 3:10
  2. "Battle Against Clown" – 3:36
  3. "Winds Over Neo-Tokyo" – 2:48
  4. "Tetsuo" – 10:18
  5. "Doll's Polyphony" – 2:55
  6. "Shohmyoh" – 10:10
  7. "Mutation" – 4:50
  8. "Exodus From the Underground Fortress" – 3:18
  9. "Illusion" – 13:56
  10. "Requiem" – 14:20

AKIRA: The Original Japanese Soundtrack track listing

  1. "Kaneda" – 9:56
  2. "Tetsuo 1" – 12:36
  3. "Tetsuo 2" – 12:33
  4. "Akira" – 7:56

Video games

In 1988, Taito released an Akira adventure game for the Family Computer exclusively in Japan.[15] Another AKIRA game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was being developed as well, but was canceled during development.[citation needed] International Computer Entertainment produced a video game based on AKIRA for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 in the 1994.[16] To coincide with the DVD release in 2002, Bandai released Akira Psycho Ball, a pinball simulator for the PlayStation 2.[17]

Live action film

In the early 1990s, Kodansha Ltd. was in negotiation with Sony Pictures to produce a live-action remake of the film.[citation needed] A decade later, talk that Warner Brothers had acquired rights to the property surfaced.[18]

Since then, a number of directors, producers and writers have been reported to be attached to the film, starting with Stephen Norrington (writer/director) and Jon Peters (producer).[18][19] In 2008, Anime News Network reported that Ruairi Robinson would direct, Gary Whitta would write, and Andrew Lazar, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Davisson would produce the film.[20] Late 2009, Gary Whitta stated he was no longer attached to the film,[21] and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby were rumored to be taking over the script writing.[22] In February 2010, Deadline reported that Warner Brothers was in talks with Allen and Albert Hughes to direct the film.[23] On June 17, 2010, Lazar said that a new writer had been hired and that the movie was being fast tracked.[24] He also stated that only Albert Hughes would direct the film, and that the first movie would be based on volumes 1–3 and the second on volumes 4–6.[24] In April 2011, Chris Weston stated he was working on concept art and story boards for the live action Akira, but the film had not been green-lit yet.[25]

Another changing source of speculation has been casting. In 2009 Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon Levitt were the rumored stars in the film.[21][26] In November 2010, it was reported that Zac Effron was in talks for the leading role,[27] and Morgan Freeman would take the role of Colonel Shikishima.[28] In February 2011, it was reported that James Franco was in talks for the role of Shotaro Kaneda.[29] That same month, Vulture reported that Mila Kunis was offered the role of Kei, but turned it down in favor of portraying the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz, the Great and Powerful.[30] Deadline.com reported that Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Justin Timberlake, Joaquin Phoenix, and Chris Pine are in the running to play Kaneda, while Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy are rumored to be in talks for the role of Tetsuo Shima in March 2011.[31] Deadline also reported Robert Pattinson was in talks for a role, but he has denied any involvement with the franchise.[31][32] On May 6, 2011 Keanu Reeves was reported to have been offered the role of Kaneda, but 11 days later on the 17th of May, he was reported as having turned it down.[33][34]

Fueled by casting rumors, a petition against casting a live-action Akira film with non-Asian actors in their respective roles was set up on facebook.[citation needed] George Takei spoke with The Advocate about the rumors, stating that any decision to cast white actors in Akira would offend both Asians and the fans of the original manga or animated film.[35]

On May 26, 2011 it was reported that Albert Hughes had left the project due to creative differences. Warner Bros. is currently seeking a new director to replace him.[36]

On July 14, 2011 Jaume Collet-Serra has been announced as the new director.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Production insights, Akira #3 (Epic Comics, 1988).
  2. ^ Interviews with Streamline Pictures' co-founders Carl Macek and Jerry Beck in Protoculture Addicts #9 (November 1990), and company spotlight in Protoculture Addicts #18 (July 1992).
  3. ^ "Otomo Takes Manhattan", MARVEL AGE #100 (Marvel Comics, May 1991).
  4. ^ Akira on Blu-ray.Bandai Announces Akira Blu-ray .Retrieved on 14-10-2008.
  5. ^ "Akira comes on Blu-ray this Summer – I4U News". I4u.com. 2007-03-23. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  6. ^ Madman Entertainment release of Akira on Blu-Ray. Madman.com.au .Retrieved on 19-11-2009.
  7. ^ "Best/Worst "Animation" Titles". Imdb.com. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  8. ^ "Channel4 – 1q00 Greatest Cartoons". Channel4.com. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  9. ^ "Empire: Features". Empireonline.com. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  10. ^ "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema".
  11. ^ "Review – Akira". Makigumo. 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  12. ^ "Akira – Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Uk.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  13. ^ Sunday, Jul. 31, 2005 (2005-07-31). "5 Top Anime Movies on DVD". TIME. Retrieved 2011-03-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Time Out's 50 Greatest Animated Films – Part 4 - Time Out Film - Time Out London". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  15. ^ Review of the NES/Famicom game by Mobygames.com
  16. ^ Review of the AmigaCD game by Mobygames.com
  17. ^ Review of the Akira pinball simulator by Tothegame.com
  18. ^ a b Linder, Brian et al. movies.ign.com Akira (Live Action)"], IGN, April 12, 2002. Retrieved October 24, 2006.
  19. ^ Jason Brice. "Western Adaption Of Akira Planned". Silverbulletcomicbooks.com. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  20. ^ "Warner, Leonardo DiCaprio to Produce Live-Action Akira".
  21. ^ a b "Gary Whitta Provides Akira Update".
  22. ^ Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub. "Exclusive AKIRA Movie Update".
  23. ^ Mike Fleming. "Hughes Bros Move From 'Book Of Eli' To 'Akira'".
  24. ^ a b Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub. "Exclusive: Producer Andrew Lazar Video Interview JONAH HEX; Plus Updates on AKIRA, ONE FINGER SALUTE, GET SMART 2, More".
  25. ^ www.digitalspy.com Chris Weston at Kapow! Comic Con By Hugh Armitage, retrieved 5/3/2011
  26. ^ Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub. "Exclusive AKIRA Movie Update".
  27. ^ www.slashfilm.com Rumor: Zac Efron in Albert Hughes’ ‘Akira’? by Peter Sciretta, retrieved 5/3/2011
  28. ^ "Another Akira Casting Rumor Emerges From the Frozen Locker".
  29. ^ www.slashfilm.com Is James Franco Going to Play Kaneda in ‘Akira’? Rereport from Spanish site www.ecartelera.com Retrieved 5/3/2011
  30. ^ Patrick Hester. "Mila Kunis Casts Spell On 'Oz The Great And Powerful,' James Franco Officially On Board?". MTV.
  31. ^ a b Mike Fleming. "'Akira' Focuses On Short List Of Actors After Getting Steve Kloves Rewrite". Deadline.
  32. ^ moviesblog.mtv.com Robert Pattinson Expresses Interest In 'Akira' But Denies Casting by Aly Semigran, retrieved 5/3/2011
  33. ^ http://www.tgdaily.com/entertainment/55807-keanu-reeves-might-take-akira-role
  34. ^ Schaefer, Sandy. "Keanu Reeves Passes On 'Akira'; Project Still Moving Forward". Screenrant.
  35. ^ Ross von Metzke. "Takei to WB: Do the Right Thing". The Advocate.
  36. ^ Goldberg, Matt. "Director Albert Hughes Leaves AKIRA". Collider.