AKIRA
Katsuhiro Otomo | 1988 | Japan | 124’
About the film
On his futuristic red motorbike, the young Kaneda races through neon-lit Neo-Tokyo, a city rebuilt from the ashes of the Third World War. After a clash with the authorities, his friend Tetsuo develops paranormal powers, mutating into something monstrous. Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 anime classic is one of the most influential – and violent – works in the cyberpunk genre. Entirely hand-drawn, the film is renowned for its astonishingly detailed backgrounds, years in the making. The uncontrolled fusion of biology and technology plays out not only in Tetsuo’s body, but also in Neo-Tokyo itself – a city endlessly expanding without direction.
