A Lethal Mind; AKIRA
AKIRA is a post-apocalyptic film unlike any other. Where most movies would tend to go down the route of “Mad Max” or “I Am Legend, where the world has been transformed beyond any hope of true human existence, AKIRA instead takes the path of questioning what life would be like if humanity, rather than capitulate to the destruction of the world as they know it, instead opted to rebuild, and construct a newer, higher existence, in the face of insurmountable odds. AKIRA takes place in a Japan just over three-decades following the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan- however, rather than being dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the late 1940s to end WWII, this bomb is instead dropped by unknown forces on Tokyo in 1988, effecting the start of World War THREE.
The post-war, 21st-century Tokyo depicted in the film, dubbed “Neo” Tokyo, is portrayed as this glittering faux-paradise, characterized by neon light, futuristic vehicles, and glittering city-scapes, similar to those found in Evangelion. In this way, AKIRA is more of a cyberpunk film than anything else, as the culture and aesthetics of Neo Tokyo mirror those to be found in the fantasies of many other works of fiction that postulate a technologically advanced future. Oddly enough, AKIRA tends to also be relatively close in it’s predictions for what 2019 Tokyo would look like- the film was released in the late 80s, but is shockingly accurate all the same. The film itself follows a motorcycle-gang leader as he navigates a corrupt and morally depraved world. Said leader, Shotaro Kaneda, or simply “Kaneda”, is the boss of the Capsules, a name which comes to hold great relevance as the plot progresses. Kaneda and his Capsules engage in road-warrior antics with their rival biker gang one night, which ends in tragedy as one of their underlings, a boy by the name of Tetsuo, wipes out after coming into contact with what seems to be a small boy.
This small boy, we soon learn, is being hunted by the Japanese military, who arrive on the scene and subjugate Kaneda and his men at gunpoint, whisking away the small boy and Tetuso alike. Over the next handful of minutes, we witness the Japanese government, as well as what we assume is a third party, engage in genetic experimentation on children, in what we come to understand is one of the precursors to the now established “super-soldier” trope. What took me by surprise is the degree to which those who are/were in charge of the experiments were detached from the reality of what they were doing. Biologically engineering children in order to harness “the power of God”, only to snuff out a young life if it, not they, but rather “it”, fails to perform as desired or simply cannot hack it, is a callous portrayal of the nature of power, and the cold indifference of authority. We soon learn that the bomb dropped on Tokyo that set off WWIII was, in fact, dropped by the Japanese government itself after it’s child experimentation project(s) went awry, and necessitated the incineration of failed subjects, lest they rise up.
After his abduction, Tetsuo goes on to be just another subject of the government's experiments, where they discover that he just so happens to be shockingly powerful, so much so that he potentially could rival the very pinnacle of psychic ability. Tetsuo is nurtured, cultivated and molded into the ideal superweapon- but of course, it all goes sideways. Tetsuo gains powers, this is true- powers that enable him to do things no life form should be able to, but the strain of said abilities causes havoc on his psychological state, causing crippling mental illness. A sickness of the mind is a horrible thing in any situation, but doubly so when your superpowers, the very same ones that arguably make you nigh-omnipotent, come from that very same mind.
The film's core conflict is between Tetsuo and his inner self, the nature of his psychological degeneration and how that same degeneration endangers the whole of Neo Tokyo, if not the entirety of the world. AKIRA's ending takes Tetsuo to the natural resolution of his inner conflict- his demise. There is no world where a young boy, given the powers of a god, can overcome such deeply ingrained issues, and as a result, Tetsuo falls on the battlefield at the hands of his best friend and former partner, Kaneda. The story of a young boy, searching for meaning, craving adoration and power, ends with his evolution into a monster, and subsequent euthanasia.
The Japanese government’s pattern of attempting to subjugate children, experiment on the innocent, and attain power by any means necessary is indicative of why it is one of the most powerful films of the last century, and easily one of my favorite works of anime ever.
I thought the internal struggle that Tetsuo had was quite interesting. He suddenly has these overwhelming powers that people deem dangerous yet also want to use for their own benefit. A theory about Tetsuo and that I stumbled upon in a video about the movie gave an interesting perspective on his struggle. It was about how Tetsuo's struggles could also be a metaphor for puberty. In this case, Tetsuo is going through confusing changes in his body and mental state that also changes how he interacts and views others, similar in conept to the strange changes we go through in puberty. Although this correlation might have not been intended, I thought it was interesting take on it.
