FILM
POPULAR CULTURE
REVIEW
ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO’S VIEWS ON BROTHERHOOD AND CHILDHOOD IN HIS ANIMATED MOVIE, AKIRA M AR T Y B O R SOT T I
Akira is an animated movie directed by Ōtomo Katsuhiro, released in 1988. The script is loosely based on Ōtomo’s manga of the same name, which is set in a dystopian Japan in 2019, coping with the aftermath of a third world war. Tokyo’s city centre has been wiped out by an unknown weapon and subsequently rebuilt as Neo-Tokyo, which is about to host the 2020 Olympic Games (what an eerie prediction, right?). Despite this futuristic setting the society depicted screams of late 1980s global unrest, where punk culture and the perceived death of the urban lifestyle utopia foreshadowed the oncoming socio-economic crisis of the 1990s. In Akira we observe motorbike gang wars, social neurosis and a decaying system, with a sparkle of apocalyptical anxiety and political conspiracy typical of the Cold War period. Similar themes are found in what can be considered as Akira’s Western alter-ego, Alan Moore’s monumental Watchmen, which denounces the decadence of his time and the foolishness of the Cold War conflict. In both its formats, Akira set a standard in Japanese pop-cultural productions, and it is commonly believed to be a key moment in the development of the manga industry. For its astonishing visuals and immersive soundtrack Akira has since become a classic of Japanese animation, and its influence can still be 44
perceived nowadays in all types of media, from street-art to fashion and, of course, animation itself. For this review I would like to focus on its depiction of human nature through the relationship between Kaneda, the hero, and Tetsuo, the villain (and victim) of the movie. Childhood has been one of Otomo’s favourite themes, notable throughout his career, and Akira depicts the response of teenagers to a discernibly twisted and necrotic adult society. The concluding part of the manga, which presents the brutality of human nature through the actions of a self-governing group of kids imitating adult society, evokes Wil-