"Damn, the movie's not even ABOUT the BIKE! WTF?!" Best quote describing this movie lol 🤣

AKIRAの制作スタッフとして、かつて、365日24時間×3年もの日々を送りました。 日本中のアニメやそれにかかわる全ての人々が呼び出され、熱中して作り上げました。 取り上げて、作品についてのディスカッションをしてくれてありがとう。

"When education isn't freeing, the dream of the oppressed is to opress" That's Tetsuo's journey

When the author was asked what Akira was about he said it was about youth and friendship.

I love how Kaneda really cares about Tetsuo and would fight the government, the army, Tetsuo himself and god to save him.

If you're watching more anime movies please watch *Perfect Blue* from 1997, psychological and visual masterpiece that has inspired many big live action movies.

Rana's reaction throughout the entire movie is priceless.

Fun fact: The reason why the bloom from those bike lights are so realistic looking is because they are. They cut out holes in the cells and shined a light through it. Top notch craftsmanship from the animators.

"Kanye's a, uh, stand up citizen." *Immediate uncontrollable laughter*

This film is the reason Anime became known in the west. There was nothing like this back in the 80's it blew me away. Its still a crazy ride even now. Such an influential film as well. True Classic.

11:15 Entire generations of people have had this exact reaction.

I have a book on the backgrounds in this movie and it's absolutely wild. There is a power in traditionally painting everything and having a limited pallet. They couldn't show all the details in the movie cause it's shot on film but I think that also gives it such a good look. The hand drawn pencil test for this film is also absolutely wild, I can't imagine how much money this cost.

Kaneda is such an underrated badass character to me, the part where he shoots Tetsuo while holding the gun upside down like a purse and gets a direct hit is crazy lol

The manga has Tetsuo's designation in the Akira project, he's Number 41. It also explains more about Kei, the female lead. She isn't psychic herself, but she's a medium able to channel the power of others. When she fights Tetsuo she's using the combined power of all 3 of the kids.

This movie is just like most JRPG's. You start with some kids going to school and end with having to destroy a god. LOL

Three of my favorite things: *classic animation, great story, and the Normies.* I could just cry right now.

The infamous AKIRA's after party strikes again. Great reaction you guys. By the way.... "I thought this is about racing." was the best comedic moment for me in months. Thank you very much.

I'm glad you guys watched this. The memories of finding my big brother's DVD copy of this back in the late 90's as a kid and being mesmerized by the visuals and the crazy story. He smacked me in the head for watching it when he found out lol. It holds a special place in my heart now since he's now passed away.

Man they set the way back machine all the way back, this movie brings back feelings and memories.

I first watched this movie in a theater in Japan with my friend back in 1989 when I was in 9th grade. It was mesmerizing. We talked a lot about the theme of the movie just like you guys! It was a fun memory.

I love this movie, it is one of my favorite things of all time, but the manga is insanely dense and tells much more of a fuller story. It’s incredible! Hope that everyone gets to check out the manga as well!

I first saw this movie via bootleg vhs in 1989...and the rest is history. I’ve been living in (neo) Tokyo for the last 22 years. Fun to watch a new generation enjoy this movie.

Akira is THE movie that inspired interest in anime in the West, as it was also released there. This film was an exception too because of the high frame count and revolutionary animation.

When this came out back in 1988 it was the most expensive anime film to be made until Kiki Delivery Service came out a year later.

Akira is such a classic and inspired so so many animations / movies / genres. The thing with the bikes, in Japan they had a massive bike gang culture, don't know about now. The scene where he slides on the bike at 3:00 has been copied in soooo many other shows is insane! and it shows how powerful Akira is. Another is the top down view where you see him walking up to his red bike copied again in so many shows.

Now we are ready for Evangelion.

This movie is so new to Japanese animation that the animators didn't know they could take shortcuts so they animated everything to the highest quality they could in 1988.

I remember my first thought after was “what am I doing right now in my life that I will regret later” For some reason, through all of the “origin of life” or “what is energy/life” or “technology and its responsibilities”; what affected me the most was Tetsuo’s instant flash back to infantile fear, once his power(ambitions/choices) overpowered him. He, just in a flash, regrets his decisions, but more importantly is Kaneda’s response to help, unwavering. Kaneda helping Tetsuo put me in the feels. Tetsuo sees Kaneda aiding him, even through all the shit he has put everyone(Kaneda included) through. He feels, to an even greater extent now, regret over pushing Kaneda and his friends away. For envying him… At that moment he just wanted his friend.

By far my favorite animated movie. I love how it's so surreal and obtuse. It's a series of falling dominoes that leads from relative normalcy into utter chaos, cosmic disintegration, and rebirth.

And next movie reaction should be Ghost in the Shell(1995)

The Manga goes into so much more, and I might get around to reading it someday if I can find them all. This movie tells such a deep and complicated story and leaves a lot for you to digest and struggle to understand. It is fantastic. Decades later and I'm still in awe of it.

Saw this movie as a kid and that transformation at the end HAUNTED me. Like for years. Had no idea what it was from but that scene was all I remembered.

Fun fact Akira created 84 new colors just for this movie

So happy this reaction came out, Akira is one of my all time favorite movies.

The discussion after the movie was the best I've seen here in years, congratulations for the philosophical thoughts.

The animation in Akira is still unbeatable today

Seen this in Theater in 1991 in France, I was 16 or 17 and it literrally blew my mind, one of the best and big cinematographics shock in my life !!!

80's and 90' anime were just straight up much more bold and creative than modern Anime imo

Akira was, in the early 1990s, "the anime." Those in my age and geek grouping, growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, were exposed to a few bits and pieces of Japanese animation through the opening titles of such shows as Transformers (G1), Thundercats, Silverhawks, Galaxy Rangers, and the like. There were "japanimation" movies and miniseries (known as OVAs) throughout that time period, but they were very very niche, and often had either horrendous English dubs or poorly done subtitles. A few, bigger budget efforts included bringing Astro Boy over with a decent English casting, and there was the bastardization of Macross into the series known as Robotech (which was one of the first FULL animes on North American TV sets). Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs was a mostly European effort (Sei Jushi Bismark in Japan), but made it over as well, and included a few character deaths, something that was very risque in the 1980s cartoon world. And then came Akira. To say that it had a culture shock effect in North America, Europe, hell, the entire world, is understating the fact. Akira was a battering ram after all the previous efforts to bring anime over were hatchets against a 2 foot thick wooden door. It smashed the floodgates wide open. There was "before Akira" and "after Akira." If not for Akira, the whole Sailor Moon craze would never have happened. Pokemon would be a "poke-what?" question. We would never have been exposed to the gruesome, emotional, and absolutely riveting Satoshi Kon movies like Perfect Blue. We would never have had Dragon Ball Z for the teens of the 90s to love. We would not have been exposed to the definition of the "absolute anime betrayal" through Beserk. Cyberpunk in the West would have remained a niche thing, but Akira opened that gate and then Ghost in the Shell ripped the doors off. So when I say, as someone that was about 13 years old when I saw Akira on VHS at my friend's place, that Akira was "the anime," I mean it. Without Akira, without the push to have it brought over without being edited, without having a bad English dub, but to actually invest in proper subtitling, bringing it over in a quality format that wasn't a copy of a copy of someone's VHS import, anime would not be where it is today in the West. It also helps that it's a really deep, twisting and plot driven movie

Sci fi is the best vehicle to explore these subjects about the universe, existentialism, etc however my favorite sci fi always mixes in religion that's why I think this is one of the best sci fi movies ever made, it mixes in religion so perfectly.

Chris and Spidey trying to pull back on the color induced existential crisis is why they're my favorites. :D

If you guys are interested in more animated works that Katsuhiro Otomo (the director and writer of Akira) worked on, you should check out: Neo Tokyo & Robot Carnival (two anthology films), Roujin Z, Memories (three short films), Metropolis, Steam Boy, and Short Peace.

Awesome reaction! When I first watched this, it blew my mind. I watched this, the original Evangelion series and Princess Mononoke all around the same when I was a kid and all of them have left such an impression on me so every time I see new reactions to it so many memories and emotions come up. It always makes me happy to see fresh eyes on it. Btw the ending is pretty much Akira taking Tetsuo outside of reality into a void where he could release all of his energy because it was as it said “the birth of the universe”. So when he says “I am Tetsuo” it’s another Big Bang. Which then and now still just blows my fucking mind at how awesome that sounds.

I first seen this movie when i was in 7th grade, it was actually my introduction to anime before i knew what anime even was - it became one of my favorite movies of all time and also is one of the reasons i became a filmmaker :)

This movie got me into anime, I saw it at 13 years old and it changed everything about my taste in media going forward, HOWEVER this movie is a RIDICULOUSLY truncated re-telling of the manga, which is so much longer and more in depth, including whole story arcs that the movie just skips over (characters like the rat faced politician who had a heart attack are WAY more important in the manga), and ends up explaining things a lot more. The movie is great, but the manga is AMAZING and I'm very sad that the whole story hasn't been adapted into a TV or movie series, if you want to know more about the story of the movie, then the best way is to read the manga, which has had an english translation in 6 volumes for well over a decade at this point

The movie itself is bookends of a 6 mega book length manga series. While it's an amazing achievement in animation and still considered a top tier of the medium, it's considered a compromise, because although I love the movie, I still have no idea about many things, because it was cut short to be just one movie. But many characters with minor roles or roles considered cut short, have longer bigger arcs in the manga series. And one day I hope to read it, and maybe understand better all the stories taking place. If you watch, there are many series and movies that homage and show clear inspiration from this movie. From South Park to Chronicle to many more.

42:27 watching Chris's face for the next minute was the highlight of my week.

Akira is a masterpiece. Glad you went for the un-dubbed version.

See Akira is revolutionary, so much effort went into dynamic backgrounds and expressions, audio was recorded before animation too which wasn't done back then in anime it wasn't just the lips that moved like the traditional Astro Boy/Speed Racer anime at the time, having more than 2-3 times the regular shots films had at the time, and a record 327 different colours - 50 made specifically for the film. Story wise you can see where Brightburn and Chronicle got its inspiration from; Tetsuo being a tagic tale of giving a kid with a chip on his shoulder godly powers Rana you must've seen at least one scene, the bike slide has been parodied so much

Rana: "The fuck are we watching?" My exact reaction seeing this film the first time. Now it's been at least a dozen times

I love to see first reactions to this masterpiece. Imagine how many heads were blown watching this in 1988

One of the most iconic and influential anime films, it inspired basically every Japanese Cyberpunk story to come. It is heavily referenced as an influence for films, tv shows, and more all across the world.

Don't feel pressured into having to figure out "what a movie was about". It's far more interesting when a movie doesn't have A Message. What did it make you feel and think about? What questions did it raise in your mind? That's far more important than piecing together some plot puzzle.

This movie really started the truly weird anime genre. I watched it at the movies in 1989. It blew my mind.

The manga answers (most of) these questions. It doesn't end with a big bang. It explodes like a big bomb, just like the bomb that previous exploded in Tokyo in the story, but there are many survivors who were far from the center of the blast. The kids sacrifice themselves by teleporting Kaneda and his girlfriend (she becomes his gf after I guess) and the two also inherit the little kid's psionic powers from it. Then the last pages shows them using their new telekinesis to literally pick up the collapsed buildings put them back together. While riding the bike. It's pretty neat.

Love that you guys are reacting to more classic anime. Seriously you guys need to react to more classic & older influential anime, also more underrated anime shows as well. Because honestly anime as a media is so much more than just the popular mainstream newest seasonal releases that anyone gushes about.

This Movie is an absolute masterpiece in writing and animation

Micky's right. Color doesn't actually exist. All matter has inherent properties that allow them to reflect certain wavelengths of light and not others. When humans perceive those wavelengths, we then use language to describe and categorize all the wavelengths we see. The ability to reflect light (if a light is shone) is what exists. Color does not. Color is a concept of description based on human perception of light; and although most humans see the same wavelengths, our description of them (i.e. color) can change, depending on language, culture, time-period, etc.

This, Ghost in the Shell (the animated movie) and Bubblegum Crisis shaped my love of Cyberpunk back in the 90s.

When I first watched this movie back in the 90s, the first images that I could remember is when Tetsuo sees the monstrous teddy bear, and when Tetsuo starts to lose control and mutates. The 2001 English dub is amazing for this movie, especially knowing that the voice actor who portrayed Tetsuo also portrayed Tai from Digimon.

Great shirt Chris is wearing. 👍 I'd love to see a skit with him as Captain Planet and Marketa as Doctor Blight (AKA the badass, beautiful blonde villain). Now, excited to watch Akira!

Masterpiece beyond human comprehension.

This movie is so amazing. Your reaction to it was great. I saw it on VHS after renting it from Blockbuster back home in Kentucky in 1998 when I was in the 9th grade, and it blew my f@cking mind. Now I live in Tokyo, and even through the real 2020 Olympics here - with many scenarios from the movie being somewhat realized. It is surreal to say the least.

"Damn, the movies not even about the bike?!" "WTF"

"The movie's not even about the bike! WTF?!"

アキラ、懐かしいね〜 が、今だに色褪せない内容だね！

When it comes to og movies Akira was definitely one of the best classics. Good to see you all liked it too

I saw Akira sometime in the early to mid 90's, and apart from the gloriously animated mindbender that it is, it was also the FIRST time I had seen animation of any kind that a cartoon, a Disney film, or basically anything not made primarily for children. Really at the time, the only mass produced animation that existed in the US that *wasn't* for children was The Simpsons. Akira was some of the first anime to ever make it to the states, and the fact that it was so unabashedly violent as it was was a total sea change for its time.

I'd give anything for you to watch Redline (2009) or Perfect Blue (1997). They are also masterpieces of animation and movies in general.

Another great animation to watch if you truly want racing is redline. It’s such an insane movie that I whole heartedly recommend for y’all at the normies. Also love this movie & y’all’s reaction as well as the mind melting discussions after 😂😂

I've never clicked so fast!! Akira was my gateway into anime when I was 7 years old💯 Also as an illustrator it blew my entire mind and changed my style forever!!

Somewhere in this film there’s a masterpiece. The story is compelling and the visuals are rarely matched even today. That being said, Otomo’s decision to try and cram 6 volumes of manga into two hours of anime really effects the pacing of the middle hour of this film. The first and last half hour are amazing and flow seamlessly since they’re basically taken from the original beginning and end of the novels. Filling the space in between with underdeveloped characters and slightly rushed exposition, doesn’t help the overall rhythm of the story. Despite all this it still holds up visually and is a classic even today, which is a testament. It just leaves you wanting a more in depth version, possibly more suited to a series, that allows it all to breath.

Finally, me and Chris’s been waiting on this too long!

Great movie, fantastic reaction. I loved your guys discussion afterwards. 🥰

"I thought this would be a racing movie" enters chat

I first saw this movie when I was 10 years old, I was scared, excited and "holy shit I dont think my parents knew what they let me rent at blockbuster video", I picked it up because I liked the bike on the cover and then was probably scarred for life after... but I still watched it over and over. If anybody asked me my all-time favorite anime, it's Akira... if they asked Top 10 favorite movie... Akira would be somewhere on that list. Either way, the greatest reaction and that meltdown/existential crisis at the end perfectly encapsulate's the discussions that should happen at the end of a great film.

Thank you guys for the reaction, loved every minute of it. If I can put my 2 cents in a Bladerunner reaction would be AMAZING.

Man, this movie was a such a trip for me the first time I saw it. Your reactions were so similar to mine.

This has to be the best after movie discussion and I'm here for all of it!

One of the most classic anime movies ever. The scene when the kid screams and the glass on the entire building breaks and falls was the point I was captivated. Amazing animation. "What the fuck is going on???" That basically sums up the entire movie. Just roll with it. I am glad you did the subtitled version. The dub isn't awful but it tones things down to the point of being ridiculous sometimes.

Jajajajajajajajajaja Son los mejores! Me reí mucho🤣🤣🤣 51:55 From this part, start one of the best discussion of this Channel, from Akira to "We don't Exist". 52:38 Priceless! LOLL!! 56:10 I can't stop laughing Thnks guys!! You made my day 😂

Expecting a racing movie? Wanna feel like you're on acid? Wanna watch a seven year production in the form of crystallized hype? Watch Redline.

There's a new David Simon HBO miniseries coming out on April 25th. Set in Baltimore. Jon Bernthal is in too.

Reading the manga once and watching this film numerous times, I think I finally truly understand it. The film only gets better and better on every subsequent rewatch now.

Old school CLASSIC!!!! Great Anime to watch and learn. I can recommend some other good movies to watch like Ninja Scroll, Fist of the North Star, Demon City Shinjuku, Wicked City, Golgo 13 and Queen bee, Fatal Fury 1 2 and 3, Ghost in the Shell, Angel Cop, Spriggan, Appleseed, Vampire Hunter D and Blood Lust, Devilman. Just to name a few.

Well done fellas, Akira is a classic cult masterpiece. =)

Mario 66: Black Magic is a short but awesome rogue robot story. Also, it *pre-dates* the Terminator and once you see this, you will quickly see that James Cameron must have been a fan.

I got excited once I saw the thumbnail. My fav animated movie of all time! Great reaction and discussion. Y’all should check out the full manga.

I think Akira is one of those movies where there's a best format to watch it in because of some reason.

This is one of the anime where you need to know cultural background to help make this make sense. A country that rebuilt it self after losing a war. Death Cults. The 80's. An absolute must watch!

I started my Akira journey when I was 10 years old. I’ve read all the manga and watched it over 100 times and still hav e questions. It’s not meant to compete. But to make you keep asking questions

Perfect Blue, Ninja Scroll, Metropolis, Ghost In The Shell, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, Jin-Roh. All are anime masterpieces of different genres. The one thing about anime that someone has to understand when watching is that they don't spell it out for you instantly. The story is revealed organically during the course of the movie.

Rewatching this movie is making think of how Taika Waititi wants to make this into a live action film and how he envisions it

This was great! Would love to see Ghost in a shell next!

I was in my late teens, early 20's when this hit the screen (1988), along with Wicked City (1987) and Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend (1989). I had grown up on Saturday morning cartoons from Hanna-Barbera, Warner Brothers and Disney, along with a few kids Anime (Battle of the Planets/Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and Marine Boy) What hits you very quickly is that Japanese Anime is not just for kids. The stories, the action, discussion points and concepts; these are for adults. It led to interesting conversations with parents and friends about what I was watching and if it was "just a cartoon" or that "cartoons are kids stuff". What I really loved, however, was the visuals. The artwork is just stunning. When you think of cartoons are having a palette of about 16 colours with clearly defined lines, and then you watch Akira, it just blows your mind. The bike's light trails, "actors" reflections in windows, fog breath, glowing neon lights and even down to the way that pavements crack or blood sprays. Every element of the imagery is a visual feast. Back in the early 90's this was cinema like I had never seen before.

Akira was the first Anime movie I watched on SBS midnight Saturday... in the 90's before we had any internet, but still had VHS so I can tape them. lol memories. Another movie is 'Spriggan' & 'Ghost in the Shell' 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' & 'Perfect Blue' & 'Ninja Scroll' & 'Wicked City' & 'Vampire Hunter D' & 'Appleseed' & 'Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies' & 'Dragon ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle' & 'Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure' & 'Dragon Ball: Dead Zone' & 'Dragon Ball:The World's Strongest' & 'Dragon Ball: The Tree of Might' & 'Dragon Ball: Lord Slug' & 'Dragon Ball: Cooler's Revenge' & 'Dragon Ball: The Return of Cooler' & 'Dragon Ball: Super Android 13!' & 'Dragon Ball: Bojack Unbound' & 'Dragon Ball: Bio-Broly' & 'Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn' & 'Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon' & 'Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods' & 'Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F'' & 'Dragon Ball Z: Broly' & 'Dragon Ball Z: Super Hero'... After upgrading from VHS to DVD💖 I'm pretty happy.

I dare them to watch grave of fireflies and lets see how they handle the feeling. I cant see rana will cry for real that time.

They made the movie LONG before the manga was finished. I reccomend reading the original.

The amount of not just anime but other shows and even some movies that got inspiration from this is insane.

Amazing reaction everyone to this masterpiece! My favorite movie of all time so glad you guys finally got to it. Loved the discussion as well should of been longer hehe "We are ALL AKIRA!"