Akira: The Special Edition

Pros: Great DVD transfer with plenty of extras and a great new low price.
Cons: The original Streamline Pictures dub is now just a memory, no longer there.

My Take:

I am NOT Tetsuo, but I first heard his story many, many summers ago. I saw Akira on Sci-Fi Channel back when they used to give a damn about science-fiction rather than hokey horror-themed reality channels. This was one of the best animated features I have ever seen. Nevermind the gory details, this was an excellent movie. Bought the tape that crazy summer. Of course, it's a little worn out. I wanted to buy a new one, but they no longer sold it. Fortunately, a little over five years from that first purchase, I could relive the story of Tetsuo. Of course, it's not his story alone. There are many stories to be told in this world, and finally, thanks to the extreme remastering, redubbing by one of the best voicehouses in this country, Zro Limit-Animaze (08th MS Team, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop), Akira is now availiable at a new low price.

Here's how the chaos began. In the year 1988, a phenominal event occurred in Tokyo, Japan. Well, not really phenominal. The whole city blew up courtesy of an unknown explosion. Like any good city, Tokyo rebuilt itself from the crater, becoming the futuristic, dangerous metropolis Neo-Tokyo. Yeah, it's pretty dangerous. You got delinquents and gangs everywhere. The teens, led by a youngster named Kaneda, and the Jokers clashed throughout the streets of Neo-Tokyo, causing riots (not unlike the Jokers of Batman Beyond's Gotham). In the midst of the rioting, there's a pursuit by authorities to catch this man with a small, blue, wrinkled boy. After the man got killed, the boy, Takashi, shatters windows around him with a violent scream, and runs away.

Back to the bike chases, Tetsuo leads the pack, but nearly runs down Takashi. His bike suddenly exploded, and the authorities take Takashi and Tetsuo while the other bikers, including Kaneda are arrested. The miltary doctors examining Tetsuo discovered that he has psychic powers that haven't been fully developed, though he escapes that night. Something happens as Tetsuo develops a little bit of an attitude and does things that his friends feel are uncharacteristic of him. Of course, this is a bit disturbing, but not as disturbing as Takashi and similarly proportioned youngsters worshiping something called Akira. What is Akira? Is he an almighty Messiah, a top secret military project, or something that could lead to the end of the world as we know it? The answer: Yes.

This two-disc set has almost every piece of multimedia Akira has to offer (except the comic that inspired the film, darn the luck!). You have a production report, taking you behind the scenes from beginning to end. You have over 4000 still images. You got all five Japanese trailers, so you can see how the film was promoted in the land of the rising sun. You have an interviews with director Katsuhiro Otomo and composer Geinoh Gumi. You also have an awesome glossary full of terminology used in the film (it will come in handy, trust me). To bridge us back to the 21st century, you have a look at the creators behind the restoration of Akira, including a look at the voice artists behind the film like Johnny Yong Bosch (former "Power Ranger" and voice of Vash the Stampede), Wendee Lee (Faye Valentine, among others), and Joshua Seth (from a LOT of shows, including the title role in Cyborg 009). Overall, this was a great presentation a LONG time in the making.

Make this a part of your collection, and with the new low price of twenty bucks, how could afford not to?

Jeff Harris
Reedited September 2004