Akira (1988 film)

Akira was released by Toho on July 16, 1988. At the Japanese box office, the film had a distribution income (distributor rentals) of ¥750 million in 1988.[23] This was equivalent to a Japanese box office gross of approximately ¥1.7 billion in 1988.[24] The film was initially unable to recoup its budget, as its earnings from the domestic distribution income was less than the budget.[25]

Fledgling North American distribution company Streamline Pictures soon acquired an existing English-language rendition created by Electric Media Inc.[15] for Kodansha,[26] which saw limited release in North American theaters on December 25, 1989.[27] Streamline became the film's distributor.[28] In the UK, Akira was theatrically released by Island Visual Arts on January 25, 1991,[29] and was re-released on July 13, 2013 celebrating the 25th anniversary of the film and again on September 21, 2016. In Australia, Akira was theatrically released by Ronin Films.[30] In Canada, the Streamline dub was released by Lionsgate (at the time known as C/FP Distribution), who would eventually become Manga Entertainment's owner through their media operating unit Starz Distribution, in 1990. In 2001, Pioneer released a new English dub which was produced by Animaze and ZRO Limit Productions and was presented in select theaters from March through December 2001. GKIDS later announced that it would distribute the film within North America, with a theatrical release scheduled for December 2018. In total, the film went on to gross $49 million at the worldwide box office, as of 2016.[3]

VHS releases included the initial Streamline Video offering (May 1991), which received later wider distribution by Orion Home Video (September 1993). In the UK, Akira was released on video by Island World Communications in 1991. The film went on to earn over $80 million worldwide from home video sales.[5] The success of this release led to the creation of Manga Entertainment, who later took over the release. The original VHS release of Akira started up Manga Entertainment Australia and VHS distribution was handled by Ronin Films and PolyGram until 1994 when Siren Entertainment took over all of Manga Entertainment Australia's distribution including Akira under a special license from PolyGram, who handled Island's video distribution. Akira was re-released on video in 1994, and again on DVD in 2001 and distributed by Madman Entertainment and The AV Channel. Pioneer Entertainment issued a DVD and a VHS with a new English dub (the dub produced by Animaze) in 2001. This was one of the few releases from Geneon to feature THX-certified audio and video. In 2002, Manga released a two-disc DVD featuring the new Pioneer/Animaze English dub followed in 2004 by another two-disc set containing the original Japanese as well as both the Streamline and Pioneer/Animaze dubs. This version did not contain standard English subtitles, only closed captioning subtitles. In 2005, Manga Entertainment and Boulevard UMD released Akira on UMD for the Sony PSP in the United Kingdom using the original Streamline dub.

In 1992, video-distribution company the Criterion Collection, which specializes in licensing "important classic and contemporary films", released a LaserDisc edition of Akira.[31][32] The release is notable in that Akira is the first animated film to be released by Criterion and for more than twenty years their sole animated film to be released until their 2014 Blu-ray/DVD release of Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).[33]

A Blu-ray disc edition of the film was released on February 24, 2009 in North America by Bandai Entertainment under the Honneamise label.[34][35] A Blu-ray edition of Akira was subsequently released in Australia by Madman Entertainment under exclusive license from Manga Entertainment UK and Kodansha.[36] Madman has recently released a DVD/Blu-ray combo which license is separate from the standalone Blu-ray release because instead of the DVD version being the Manga Video UK version, it uses Madman/Manga's 2001 Special Edition DVD release which is licensed from Manga UK. The Blu-ray release is the first use the format's highest audio sampling rate (Dolby TrueHD 5.1 at 192 kHz for the Japanese audio track) and first to use the hypersonic effect (only available on the Japanese track and on high-end audio systems). Beyond Japanese with English subtitles, the Blu-ray also features the 2001 Pioneer/Animaze English dub (TrueHD 5.1 at 48 kHz). The DVD version was again released in 2012 by Bandai Entertainment. The film was licensed again by Funimation following Bandai Entertainment's closure shortly after its DVD release.[37] The Funimation release includes both English dubs, Streamline in stereo and Pioneer in 5.1 surround (both TrueHD at 96kHz).[38] Funimation released a 25th anniversary Blu-ray/DVD combo and separate DVD release on November 12, 2013, which features the TrueHD Japanese audio and both English dubs (TrueHD at 96 kHz on Blu-ray).[39] Best Buy released a limited edition exclusive Blu-ray Steelbook the same year.

An Ultra HD Blu-ray version is set to release in Japan by Bandai Namco Entertainment on April 24, 2020, featuring a 4K HDR remaster sourced from the original 35mm film print, as well as the 192 kHz audio transfer created for prior Blu-ray releases.[40]

The Streamline dub version first premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s during their week-long anime events and Saturday Anime block. The Pioneer dub of the film has aired twice on Adult Swim's Toonami block, once on December 7, 2013,[41] with a rating of TV-MA-V, and again on December 20, 2014, both times with explicit language and nudity censored. It has aired numerous times on Australian FTA station SBS.[42]

On review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval score of 90% based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 7.62/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Akira is strikingly bloody and violent, but its phenomenal animation and sheer kinetic energy helped set the standard for modern anime."[43]

Anime News Network's Bamboo Dong commends the Limited Edition's DVD for its "superbly translated" English subtitles and the commendable English dubbing, which "sticks very close to the English translation, and the voice actors deliver their lines with emotion".[44] THEM Anime's Raphael See applauds the film's "astounding special effects and clean, crisp animation".[45] Chris Beveridge comments on the Japanese audio, which brings "the forward soundstage nicely into play when required. Dialogue is well placed, with several key moments of directionality used perfectly".[46] Janet Maslin of The New York Times commends Otomo's artwork, stating "the drawings of Neo-Tokyo by night are so intricately detailed that all the individual windows of huge skyscrapers appear distinct. And these night scenes glow with subtle, vibrant color".[47] Richard Harrison of The Washington Post comments on the pace of the film, stating that the author "has condensed the narrative sprawl of the comics to provide coherence, though there's a bit of "Back to the Future Part II" incompleteness to the story. That hardly matters, since the film moves with such kinetic energy that you'll be hanging on for dear life".[48]

Variety commends the film's "imaginative and detailed design of tomorrow to the booming Dolby effects on the soundtrack" but criticizes the "slight stiffness in the drawing of human movement".[49] Kim Newman of Empire commends the film's "scintillating animated visuals, with not one – not one – computer-assisted shot in sight".[50] Chicago Tribune's Dave Kehr commends Otomo's "excellent animation-specific ideas: Vehicles leave little color trails as they roar through the night, and there are a number of dream sequences that make nice use of the medium`s ability to confound scale and distort perspective".[51] Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies claims that the anime "remains fresh and exciting, easily holding its own against the products of two decades of massive technical advancement".[52] Meanwhile, in February 2004, Dan Persons of Cinefantastique listed the film as one of the "10 Essential Animations", simply referring to the film as "the film that changed everything."[53]

Akira is now widely regarded as one of the greatest animated movies of all time and prompted an increase in popularity of anime movies in the US and, generally, outside Japan. It is still admired for its exceptional visuals. In Channel 4's 2005 poll of the 100 greatest animations of all time featuring both film and television, Akira came in at number 16.[54] On Empire magazine's list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, Akira is number 440.[55] It showed again on Empire's list of The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema, coming in at #51.[56] IGN also named it 14th on its list of Top 25 Animated Movies of All-Time.[57] The Akira anime also made TIME magazine's list of top 5 anime DVDs.[58] The film also made number 16 on Time Out's top 50 animated movie list[59] and number 5 on the Total Film Top 50 Animated Films list.[60] The film was ranked #1 by Wizard's Anime magazine on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America" list in 2001.[61] It was ranked #4 on The Hollywood Reporter critic's list of "10 Best Animated Films for Adults" in 2016.[62] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times selected Akira as his "Video Pick of the Week" in 1992[63] on Siskel & Ebert and the Movies. For its wider 2001 release, he gave the film "Thumbs Up."

Akira has also been regarded as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. It was ranked number 22 on The Guardian's list of best sci-fi and fantasy films,[8] included on Film4's list of top 50 science fiction films,[9] and ranked number 27 on Complex magazine's list of 50 best sci-fi movies.[10] Phelim O'Neill of The Guardian draws a parallel on Akira's influence on the science-fiction genre to Blade Runner and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.[13] Akira is considered a landmark film in the cyberpunk genre, particularly the Japanese cyberpunk subgenre.[11] The British Film Institute describes Akira as a vital cornerstone of the cyberpunk genre, along with Blade Runner and Neuromancer.[64] Rob Garratt of South China Morning Post calls Akira one of "the most influential sci-fi visions ever realised" on film, comparable to the influence of Blade Runner.[65] Akira is also credited as a breakthrough for adult animation, proving to global audiences that animation was not just for children.[12]

Akira is regarded by many critics as a landmark anime film, one that influenced much of the art in the anime world that followed its release with many illustrators in the manga industry citing the film as an important influence.[66] Manga author Masashi Kishimoto, for example, recalls becoming fascinated with the way the poster was made and wished to imitate the series' creator Katsuhiro Otomo's style.[67] The film had a significant impact on popular culture worldwide. The film led the way for the growth in popularity of anime outside Japan as well as Japanese popular culture in the Western world. Akira is considered a forerunner of the second wave of anime fandom that began in the early 1990s and has gained a massive cult following since then. It is credited with setting the scene for anime franchises such as Pokémon, Dragon Ball and Naruto to become global cultural phenomena.[3][12] According to The Guardian, the "cult 1988 anime taught western film-makers new ideas in storytelling, and helped cartoons grow up".[68]

Akira has influenced numerous works in animation, comics, film, music, television and video games.[3][12] It inspired a wave of Japanese cyberpunk works, including manga and anime series such as Ghost in the Shell, Battle Angel Alita, Cowboy Bebop, and Serial Experiments Lain,[11] live-action Japanese films such as Tetsuo: The Iron Man,[69] and video games such as Hideo Kojima's Snatcher[70] and Metal Gear Solid,[11] and Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII.[71] Outside of Japan, Akira has been cited as a major influence on Hollywood films such as The Matrix,[72] Dark City,[73] Kill Bill,[74] Chronicle,[75] Looper,[76] The Dark Knight,[77] Midnight Special, and Inception,[3] television shows such as Stranger Things,[78] and video games such as Core Design's Switchblade,[79] Valve's Half-Life series[80][81] and Dontnod Entertainment's Remember Me.[82] John Gaeta cited Akira as artistic inspiration for the bullet time effect in The Matrix films.[72] Akira has also been credited with influencing the Star Wars franchise, including the prequel film trilogy and the Clone Wars film and television series.[83] Todd McFarlane cited Akira as an influence on HBO animated television series Spawn.[84] Akira has also influenced the work of musicians such as Kanye West, who paid homage to Akira in the "Stronger" music video,[3] and Lupe Fiasco, whose album Tetsuo & Youth is named after Tetsuo Shima.[85] The popular bike from the film, Kaneda's Motorbike, appears in Steven Spielberg's film Ready Player One,[86][87] and CD Projekt's video game Cyberpunk 2077.[88] Deus Ex: Mankind Divided video game developer Eidos Montréal also paid homage to the film's poster.[89] The season four premiere of Rick and Morty ("Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat") features a scene in which Morty, and then Rick, are transformed into a giant tendrilled monster that Jerry and Beth later refer to as "an Akira".

When Tokyo was chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 2013 bidding process, several commentators claimed that Akira predicted the future event.[90][91] In 2017, Akira was referenced in several Tokyo Olympic promotions.[92] In February 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic and 147 days before the Olympics, a scene in Akira which calls for the cancellation of the 2020 Olympics (147 days before the event) led to a social media trend calling for the cancellation of the 2020 Olympics.[93][94] The Summer Olympics were eventually postponed to 2021, rather than canceled altogether.

In 1992, Akira won the Silver Screen Award at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival.[95]

Akira was one of the four nominees for the 2007 American Anime Awards' "Best Anime Feature" award, but it lost to Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

Johnny Yong Bosch, Kaneda's voice actor in the Pioneer English dub, was nominated for Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy at American Anime Awards, but lost to fellow Naruto and Persona voice actors Vic Mignogna and Dave Wittenberg, respectively.[96][97]