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Twenty years ago, the world saw the original theatrical release of AKIRA, and the ground-breaking anime subsequently went on to define the standard for which almost all Japanese animations and manga are judged today. However, in 1988, AKIRA was like no other anime. The film’s meticulous attention to detail, exact lip-synching, and illustrious motion, was uncommon for anime at the time, which was viewed as a passing trend, guilty of poor production values and formulaic sitcoms. AKIRA was so much more. It explored youth culture and delinquency, while also addressing larger topics such as social unrest and post-war nuclear destruction. Plus, it did all this while following a homicidal motorcycle gang member who mysteriously gained uncontrollable psionic awareness.

AKIRA started as a manga comic created by Otomo Katshhiro in 1982, and was originally published in Young Magazine. The massive collection finally concluded in March of 1993, and was well over 2000 pages. The main story of both the film and book follow the friendship and rivalry of Kaneda and Tetsuo, two orphaned bike gang members, who grow up in Neo-Tokyo. When Tetsou has a motorcycle accident with an escaped lab patient labeled Number 26, he gets wrapped up in the classified AKIRA project. Its up to Kaneda to overcome anti-government activists, greedy politicians, and a powerful military leader, to either save or kill his friend.

Though there are similar themes and plot outlines with both the book and film, there are some major differences between the two. The most predominate difference between the two is the role of AKIRA himself, who is regulated to minor back story in the film, but plays a huge role in the book from the second volume on. The young AKIRA and crazed Tetsou form the Great Tokyo Empire, and a large portion of the book is dedicated to the rise and fall of his cultish kingdom. Two other important characters to the book, Chiyoko and Lady Miyako, have little to no role in the film. Here is a full list of difference between the manga and the anime.

To the celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film, the Webster University Film Series will be showing a FREE screening on Sunday, April 6. For more info on this event, check the film series calendar. If you haven’t seen the film, you have no excuse but to go see it now. Its Free, its on the big screen, and its the best anime ever!

-Jon

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