Akira- a tad meh!

Visually stunning, with a thumping good soundtrack. I am afraid that is about all the positive things I can say. The story is complex, life force and little children being harnessed for their mental powers? The animation is beautiful, a soaring city of New Tokyo and the motorbikes are rather sexy. But I found the plot hard to follow and not very well explained at the end.

The characters especially the 'hero' called Canada, strange name for a Japanese lad, is a biker gang leader who relishes speed and violence. He is also a bully who picks on the weak. For some reason the character actors cast to convert the original Japanese to English, sound american, and look European. None of the characters aroused my sympathy even the love interest. she really did not seem to fit into the story. They are a bunch of lay-about punks who beat other biker gangs up, ride motorbikes, take drugs and loaf around.

There is a lot of violence, explosions and gun shots. Not that surprising for manga, but not overly graphic. I have seen more violent manga, and Akira is mild in comparison. The metamorphosis scene made me feel a tad queasy. I am not sure why it was there. It was pretty gross to watch.

This one will be probably not be re-watched. I can understand how manga is popular and I would not be surprised if Akira is considered to be a classic. But the complex storyline, unpleasant characters and confusing ending left me not cold but rather tepid.