Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Vintage:
July 16, 1988
Status:
Awaiting Subtitles
Summary:
Based on the manga of the same name, Akira is set in futuristic and post-war city, Neo-Tokyo, in 2019. On July 16, 1988, Tokyo is destroyed by an apparent nuclear explosion that leads to the start of World War III. Thirty-one years later, in 2019, Neo-Tokyo, a new megalopolis built on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, is gripped by political strife, anti-government terrorism, and gang violence. Shotaro Kaneda leads his bosozoku gang, the Capsules, which find themselves in a gang war with another group called the Clowns. As Kaneda and his best friend, Tetsuo, battle a pair of Clowns on a highway, the latter almost runs into a child with wizened features and is injured when his bike suddenly explodes. Tetsuo and the child, Takashi, are taken away by armed soldiers. Kaneda and his gang are taken in for questioning, where Kaneda unsuccessfully flirts with a young woman named Kei, a member of the terrorist Resistance. Kaneda, Kei, and the remaining Capsules are later released. Two members of a secret government project, discover that Tetsuo possesses mental frequencies similar to Akira, a little boy with essentially god-like mental abilities who destroyed Tokyo decades before. Because Kiyoko, another one of the magic old man children called the Espers, has had visions of a similar destruction of Neo-Tokyo, the Colonel orders the Doctor to kill Tetsuo should he go out of control. Tetsuo escapes, meeting up with his girlfriend, Kaori, and stealing Kaneda's motorcycle
