Hello steemians! Welcome to 「Should You Watch?」, a bi-daily section in where I review anime so you don't have to look for the good ones.
Today we'll be looking at Akira, a must-watch anime film.
Akira is set in a cyberpunk Tokyo: The city suffered an enourmous explosion and has affected the life on millions. Nowadays, tokyo isn't exactly the best place to live: There's a powerful new drug on the streets, poverty is on the rise and there is constant conflict between the city's biker gangs.
Our two protagonists are members from the same gang. Kaneda and Tetsuo are like brothers, they were practically raised together. In the movie, we get to see to sides of the story: One part Kaneda and one part Tetsuo.
Just after we first see them, they get on their bikes and get in a fight with another gang, the Clowns.
I will make good use of this scene to talk about the visuals. I LOVE how tokyo is tinted with neon lights and a dark atmosphere wherever you look, there are some big holographic billboards with animations, car lights are constantly moving. The bikes leave a trail of light. The city feels like it's alive.
The animation is top-notch too. To get a taste for yourself, I recommend this music video that uses the movie's clips.
I don't want to spoil any more of the story, because you really need to see this one by yourself. It has a deep plot involving psychic powers and badass motorcycles, so what else do you want?.
Absolutely yes, even if you don't like anime. It has inspired many works in our culture (For example, Kanye West made a music video that heavily lifts from the movie!). If you really liked the movie, consider reading the manga it's based on, because the movie ends halfway. That's right, you only get to see half of the story, but the movie is so well directed that you wont even notice.
Akira is available in Netflix, so you really don't have an excuse. Go see this movie, treat yo self.
