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Akira
Episodes Reviewed: Old English Dub
Overall Grade: B+
A strange but very original story. It conveys a realistic future (well, realistic if you consider the fact that the future isn't going to end up being a paradise) and a government cover-up which transforms into a story involving a super psychic-type power that also seems to have some kind of science behind it. Wow.
Storyline: 10
See above!
Type: Action
Bloody stuff, man.
Ch. Development: 10
That is a surprisingly large amount of character development in a two-hour movie. Titanic was three hours and almost even four, and it had little character development and the only merit was to see a possible death for Leonardo DiCaprio. Come to think of it, is there any movie where he doesn't die? Any such movie is the worst he's ever done.
Sexuality: 1
Let's see, a top was ripped off for about a split second, and Kaneda tries to to gain the affections of this one girl, but it's basically non-existent here.
Romance: 2
Were there at least hugs? Ah.. maybe. I just know that there were some of those moments, but basically, it's a sleazy world, so romance is nearly nonexistent.
Drama: 6
So sand... blah! I mean sad! The ending was sure sad, and you can only imagine what Tetsuo would be thinking when he was captured, recaptured, and forced to watch and face so many horrible things, eventually leading to his... and I thik I've divulged too much.
Action: 8
Only 8? Well, there isn't huge amounts of gore that are incredibly disgusting. That, and the gore isn't too detailed or anything.
Comedy: 5
It sure is funny whenever you see those religous sects of Akira or Kaneda's attempts at getting the attention of... what's her name??
Dub
Dub Voices: 10
Dub Music: Nonexistent
Dub Lines: Good
Akira was one of those animes that you heard about and if you didn't watch it, you really weren't ready for the rest of the anime world. I mean, it was on Guiness World Records! Well, 1999 edition anyway. When I saw this video on the Blockbuster Video shelves, I looked at my selection of videos and decided, nah, I'll get them all. I wish I chose to drop Kimera, though.
Akira is the story of a boy named Tetsuo who belongs to a gang. No, he's not the big hero, but is more of a victim to government experiment. So, who is the hero? Guess. Nope, sorry, it's not Akira, it's Kaneda, the leader of the gang. One night out, Tetsuo crashes and is brought on board a military plane. The rest of the gang doesn't know what happens to Tetsuo, but Kaneda is aiming to find out. Kaneda also meets up with a girl, who, if you read my statistics up there, I don't know the name of. She, however, has the key to saving Tetsuo. Tetsuo, on the other hand, is being experimented on by some sort of secret organization, and it gives him supernatural powers... or are they? Perhaps the power is the key to finding the origin of the universe? Find out later! This movie should intrigue you by now, and you should go out and get it... as long as you are not some kid cruisng along and stumbling along this site, in which case, read the sticker on the box of the case (It says Not For Kids :( on it).
I tell ya, this is the greatest anime movie not based on an animated series I have ever seen! (Up to the point I originally typed this review; now I think that the movie that deserves that title is "Perfect Blue") I think it's based on a manga series, though. Care to look into that, someone? Looks like I'll have to do the work.
That's My Story and I'm Sticking to it!
