Akira and Cyberpunk

Watching Akira in class was such a blast- the film is so exciting and fast paced, I really wish we were able to screen the whole thing! Akira is so important to the history of anime for being the most expensive animated film at the time (1989), and for being a landmark of animation as an art form. I always found the cyberpunk aesthetic of Akira to be incredibly inspiring, with its bold colors, detailed environments, and badass bike-chases- it does a lot to make itself memorable after all this time.
The themes of Akira eerily still hold up to this day- specifically those about the consequences of war, and the threat of nuclear destruction. These themes are very prevalent in most cyberpunk works- especially those that come out of Japan.
Another cyberpunk anime that I've always enjoyed is Ghost in the Shell, specifically the 1995 film directed by Mamoru Oshii. It handles similar themes of war, but with the added complication of the blurred relationship between humans and androids.

It is quite a shame that these cyberpunk anime films are being taken by Hollywood and being re-shaped to appeal to a wider American audience, especially when these stories are so rooted in Japan's specific struggles and reactions to the destruction from WWII. According to film-news sources online, Hollywood has been planning on making an American version of Akira for years, but it has been in 'production-hell' because many directors are not interested in tackling such a story.
Honestly, with the negative way that the general public reacted to the American live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell (starring Scarlett Johansson as the protagonist, Major Motoko Kusanagi), I genuinely hope that Hollywood ceases from trying to strip these stories from their original purposes and original cultural significance.


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