Akira

Hello and welcome to Sakura Society, an anime appreciation podcast where we aim show that anime is far more than just tentacles and cat girls. There's also countless stories of love, loss, laughs, hope, horror and happiness that are just dying to be found. And I, Brendan White, the salt and pepper senpai, I'm here to help you find them. Sakura Society is proudly powered by our friends over at Audio Technica, Iced tea aesthetics and boss Coffee.

Go upgrade your audio wardrobe and caffeine games asap. Preferably after you listen to this fantastic upcoming episode. And joining me in the Segoy studio is a dear friend, a genuinely bloody good human, and a returning guest making his second appearance on the podcast, last heard on episode 12, breaking down attack on Titan. When he's not creating content, canning jelly beans or signing autographs of Bunnings, he's out there tearing up the stand up comedy scene.

You can find him on them socials at Beacons. AI Forward slash Comic Sams, that's S A M. S Sam Bellwood, you bloody legend. Welcome back to the studio. How might you be doing, my friend? I'm bloody doing pretty good, mate. How you been? I have been pretty good. I've been socially fantastic, work related a little less so we don't need to sort of get into the semantics of that, but overall, holistically I'm doing good.

Just released an episode a couple of days ago talking about one of the best new anime of 2025 called Gacha Yakura. And then today we're doing something that I've never done on this podcast before, which I'm very excited about. We'll get more into the minutia of that very shortly. But first, man, it's been a hot minute since I've seen you on this microphone.

I'm very excited to get you back on here because you've got such a great mind when it comes to media, a great mind when it comes to just general fantastic, enthralling, exciting, stimulating, mentally and sexually related conversation like it is going to be a hell of a time.

But first and foremost I wanted to say props to you for diving head first into stand up comedy because I can only imagine how goddamn terrifying that not only must have been on day one, but still probably continues to be now that it's been quite some time and you've got a few shows under your belt. It's weird, right? It's so, so weird. Like I finished up my first year of it and we've done about. I think I've land on 48 sets that I did in the year, which I'm really proud about.

Like, there's kind of like five full sets, but like overall open mics. And I remember going to the first one and you know you're dressed in your Sunday's best, like how you imagine yourself and everything like that. And I remember being like, I'm going to be fine. I've done band stuff, I've done political stuff, I've done, you know, Twitch, you know, I've done all these little things. I'll be fine.

And I get to that room, the lights dim down, they played the intro music and then I was like, shit, we're here. Like, this is this moment and I'll be like, I'll be fine. I've been on stage and the thing that threw me off was the lights on the stage itself. Like, I just forgot how bright and blinding it is and you can't really see anyone. I was like, damn, this is, this is what's going to throw me off of my rhythm. Every, like rehearsing in my head going over this material and it's still insane.

And cut to like Wednesday night. I was doing like my, pretty much my last set of the year, which is like an actual full set, which is like a full circle moment away. Like went from three minutes to seven minutes in one year. And I'm sitting out this, on this step right in front of the curtain door to the stage. And I was just like sitting there, ducked my hands down between my knees and I was like, I'm still nervous. And I was reflecting on the idea of when I first started.

I was like, but it's not that nerves anymore. And I don't understand that feeling exactly. So I feel like that's the next wave of it. I think it was like in a weird way, closing the door nerves or something. I, you know, it was fun. It's great. It's the best. It's 10 out of 10. I love this content so much. I've always had such an adoration and respect for stand up comedy or even just theater or live acting in general. I feel like it is such a powerful vessel for entertainment.

But also, like you said, like, the nerve is nerves is something unlike. We're recording live in parentheses to a degree right now, but this is a safe, controlled space. I'm at my place, you're at your place. So there's that level of comfort you get from that where when you're walking up onto a stage and the lights are that bright, you can't even see what the Heck's out there in front of you.

You don't know what, what the reactions are, what people are sort of looking and feeling just by their sort of facial tells. Like, it would be a lot. It would be daunting. I've got a big white light right in front of me right now, so maybe I can kind of, kind of, sort of relate. I definitely need to sort of change to some sort of soft box key lights in here because this light bar ain't working for me. But anyway, I'm happy that the comedic thing is working for you.

And I cannot wait to sort of get to a live show in the new year. I mean, I can't wait to have you in my audience would be like, you know, I'll get a royal chair out in the middle of the crowd just for you. I need that. I like to sort of just slink into the darkness and sort of hide in the back. The less attention around me, the better because it's going to be all on you up there.

But it's crazy to think, like when, when you mentioned you've sort of your set's gone from three minutes to seven minutes, like when you say that you're like, oh, that's not a huge amount of time. But then when you start scripting these things out, that is a lot of content, that is a lot of talking, that is a lot of storytelling and, you know, world building for these jokes to land at the end. Like, yes, seven minutes can feel like an eternal eternity, dude.

It's. It's insane how slow time is when you break it down to three minutes. Like having adhd, I don't have a great grasp on time anyways. Like, it's, it's such a weird foreign language concept in a weird way. But like, like you go up there, like I went up and did the seven minutes and then the promoter after the show was like, do you want to do the open mic? It's the last one for the year. And I was like, since it's the last one, let's do it. And that was three minutes straight after it.

And I was like, I'll just do these new jokes I haven't even written down, but they've just been ideas in my head for the last couple of days. And I put my phone out recording on the bar stool that's next. So I can see the time that I'm at. And I did the three new jokes and I was only at a minute and a half and I was like, I swear to God, that was going to be two minutes like that, 30 seconds is such a big chunk of time. It's insane, man. Time slows down and speeds up all at the same time.

Exactly. And I think the big thing not only for, for content creation, for podcasting, for comedy, for work, for life, my big mantra is always respect the audience's time, no matter who you're around, whether it be, you know, a general conversation with a friend or family partner. Like I said, sort of stand up. Like, you want to make sure that you are just giving them the best material no matter what it is.

So you're trying to find and refine that seven minutes to just be constant gold, constant chuckles and good vibes. Like, oh, I can only imagine how stressful that would be. And it's not even like, what is funny. It's like, how is your last funny to the next funny going to work together? And how they feed in. Like, I've seen so many people and this is not me talking down on anyone that's doing it. Because, like, I think the hardest part of doing it is just getting up.

But you see people do their sets and you can tell how old they are into this, like, creative adventure because you can see how the jokes don't really weave into the next one. And it's kind of like, but, but. And it's. It's not really creating this flow or focus to the next one. So it's. I find that in itself. Like, when I did my first seven minute set, it was like, how do I actually make this coherent to the next joke and how it flows in? So I decided to tell this story about.

A lot of my jokes are about, like, kind of being in love and stuff. And I was like, like, one joke was about, like, how I'm always trying to find ways to get out of fight, so I'm just gonna sexually assault people. And, like, doesn't land now that I said it like that. But in the context of the joke, I swear to God, it's pretty good. But I. I thought that was a good icebreaker of who I am as a bit.

And then I was like, well, I can feed off that and talk about love stories and then go into the career that I had at the sex shop and then move into the next one and all have this underline of who I am, but a theme of that too. So that was the funnest part. And there's other sets that have gone up and I've just been like, it. I have not planned anything, but I know these jokes are best that's gonna be tonight. And they kill. And you're like, all right, well, I guess I'm full of.

At the exact same time, you know. And I guess the hard part is like, because no, no room, no audience would ever be the same. So you don't know, personality wise if that joke or if that theme or that tone or that delivery will land the same way it did yesterday or the week before or the month before before. Like, so even though you got fire in your pocket, sometimes people just be like a little tepid golf clap or something instead of like howling. So it's insane. I've got this.

I'll do one joke, which I, I kind of hate always. Like, I'm gonna do this joke, but like, it's, it's my opener. I've put it up my Instagram, so I feel I can kind of drop it here where it's like, you know, I, I just say, I bet horny autistic people get so excited when they hear the expression let's run a train. And I thought that was funny for about a week. And I said it to a couple mates and they're like, hey, that's pretty funny. And then I did it and it killed.

And then it killed and then it kill, killed. And he just kept constantly killing. So I was opening every set with it and in one day, just nothing. Like, I. It was like the Titanic sinking. It just happened. And I remember just being like, what happened? What changed? And then the next time it didn't. So I kind of got rid of it, made a new opening joke. And then when I came back to it after a while and I saved it for like my 7 minute sets as my opener, it, it worked.

And I was like, okay, well this works now. So we're all good, you know, we're all good with it now. But it's so weird. It's like you're the temperature of the room, whether it be literally like in heat or cold. And everything can change. The mood. It can be the person on before you, the person that's coming up after you, what they're expecting and even like just their comfortability of their day reflects everything on it. So yeah, it's, it's, it's such a big math equation, this type of content.

So many variables that you can't control as, as a performer. Have you found after you've 48 sets, have you found the sweet spot as far as, do you want to open? Do you want to close? Is it good to be like, second to last? Have you Found like. Like the sweet spot where you always try and just like, with the organizers of the event, like, hey, can I be second last? Can I be third? Have you. Have you found the sort of the sweet spot for Sam?

Well, last Wednesday was the first time I wasn't headlining. They always have, like, a mystery headliner, which is like, usually the room runner or some. I guess they can get in last minute and. But they threw me on second last. And when I saw it in the text chat, I was like, I don't want to be last because I. I've got to sit in that feeling for like an hour of like, you know, when am I next? You know, what am I going to say? Hopefully the next person's good.

But, like, I found, like, there's nights. Like the nights I saw. I went to see the Hives, and it was a set that I could have done just before it, I missed the opening act and I was like, yeah, let's do it. And I went up. I was like, hey, throw me on first. I need to go in. And I was like, this is going to be fine. It's only going to be 10 people in there. It was the busiest night at this club, like, they've had in weeks. Like, there was 30 to 40 people that walked in for an open mic night.

And I remember just being like, oh, God. And I was tr. I had nothing on my hand but just new jokes. And I literally got my book out and rewrote the set to my best jokes because I was like, all these people here, like, this is an actual crowd. This isn't like, hey, let's try pastor and see if it sticks. This is like, let's actually make it happen. So, like, in the instance of starting once first, it kind of works well. But I found it's like after the fifth spot is kind of good.

The audience is kind of blended in. They're bleeding into the seat a bit. And they're now allowing themselves to kind of laugh at things that are a bit obscure and a bit abstract to what their own thoughts are. So that's. That's kind of like where I want to be. And. Yeah, because like, some open nights you do. There's like 30 to 40 people on and you're like, like, I don't want to go at last.

Like, no one's going to be here by 10 o' clock at night or 10:30 at night, you know, and everyone's just exhausted. That's insane to think that there's 30 to 40 different comics churning through and I know like we said, like on one hand, three minutes can be eternity, but as a, as a viewer, as an audience member, yeah, three minutes can go by pretty quickly. I've done a lot of things that last about three minutes and yeah, it's nowhere near long enough in those regards.

But it's crazy to think that 30 odd different people with 30 different deliveries, different jokes, different themes, different levels of adult oriented content. I'd imagine too, like some lean squarely into that, some sort of lean the other way and trying to avoid that at all costs. So that could be a lot for a punter to come in and sort of have a night of, yeah, three, four hours worth of just jokes. Some good, some bad, some somewhere in between just coming at you constantly.

It's like a machine gun. Oh, undoubtedly. And like it's a part, it's like I, I say to a couple of the other comics that are on my level or below, they're just starting off, I'm like, this is in some way a battle because you're trying to make the audience want to still be there. And it's not so much like it's funny. I've had people walk out during sets and that. And at first it was so insulting and not like directly insulting on purpose because like, I'm trying here.

But then you just kind of realize they've sat through an hour of this. Like they're, you know, I get if they need to leave, I get if they want to go home and stuff. Like even one of the rooms, like, yeah, we cap it now at 30 because it's like they had like 45 on them one night and I was hosting that night. I've got a slip disc in my back. So even standing for three to seven minutes sometimes is killing me.

And to do the two hours of like running back and forth between the microphone, I was like, God, like even I get where the audience is at this point. And it's not because of them, it's just because it's a marathon. It's a, it's not a sprint. It's a lot of effort to kind of sit there and be indulgent to that many people of what they're passionate about. Yeah, for sure.

Speaking of indulgence and passions, is there anything at the moment you've been consuming from a media perspective that you're currently obsessed with? I know that you've, I'm happy to say that you've sort of been dipping more toes into the anime realm. Like I remember when we did Attack on Titan a couple of years ago you were sort of anime adjacent where you've dabbled with a bit but it wasn't really for you. But recently you've been really jumping in headfirst, which I appreciate.

So anything you want to share that you've been that being consuming that you want to shout out you thinks are pretty goddamn fantastic. Well, so I don't know where it came from. I think I just wanted to re watch the film we're talking about today. Like I won't say properly yet because I don't feel like it's been introduced yet. I want to give it a tie order but we did that and my partner and I, because she loves anime and my ADHD just makes me horrible shows.

Like I was terrified of ever coming back on this because I liked the first episode of Attack on Titan. I never watched it again after it. And it's just because my attention span lacks so much. It's such a slog like that could go for any TV show. Like I'm watching Plurbius at the moment and it's great. It's so good. But I've. I've got, you know, maybe the episodes borrowed somewhere and I have not managed to go out of my way to watch episode six. Seven. I think eight dropped yesterday.

So I'm gonna try and marathon them. But it's like I have to apply myself for this. Whereas like the movies I can just watch. Like I love cinema. I'm like, I've got my technically. My degree is a bachelor in filmography or film film production. Sorry. And so like I love breaking down movies. I love over analyzing them and being that like you know the film bro and stuff. And like when you approach recently been like oh, let's do another episode.

I was like, I don't know if I can commit to a TV show. But then we're like, you saw that I watched A Cure and you're like how about that? And I was like yeah, I can totally break down a two hour movie. Like that's. That's my field. So like when I was talking to my partner about it, we made like a list, I think it's of 15 anime films which I shared to you to get approval from senpai. And I straight up was like I'm really excited to watch these films. Like the one that I'm really keen for is.

I think it's from 96 Memories where it's a like a gentleman. I that looks incredible. And it's something that like can't be translated to live action. So I'm very excited for that. But like I said, my partner loves anime and when I told her that I want to start watching these movies, she was like, you should watch Chainsaw Man. So I'm like three episodes in the Chainsaw Man. I. I love that. Did you wear that on purpose? It was just the first clean shirt I grabbed out of the cupboard.

Thanks to my friends at IC Esthetics for this power related T shirt I'm rocking. For the audio listeners, it's a awesome tea. I might look them up after this. I swear to God, I'll use your code. You got a code? I do have a code. Sakura Society 5 at checkout. All right, done. Easy. But yeah, like, watching that through with. With her, I was like this pretty good. And I said to her, do you care if I keep watching without you? Because, like, lining up to adult lives is kind of hard.

She was like, yeah, just watch when you can. And I think, yeah, I'm up to the third episode. Or I've just watched the third episode. I'm bad with numbers. And I love that it goes in and out of this whole. It. There is something oddly human and horribly demonic about at the exact same time. And it's got a weird, like, undertone of like, what it is to lose something, whether it be yourself or like a loved one. And at the exact same time, passion of living through killing. And it's.

It's such a good mix. And like, I. I mainly want to see it all because apparently the film is utterly fantastic. Yeah, everyone I know is put in their top five of the year. And that's my. That's my crux of the year, the top five. So yeah, I'm curious. I'm definitely curious. I've been doing my list of all the anime content I've consumed that just came out in 2025 alone. And including the movies, I've watched 116 different IP in 2025. So, like, I think that translates roughly to 100, 112 series.

Like at least a season, whether it be a debut or returning season. And yeah, Reze is up there in my top five as well. That's what I'll say. Like, it is very special. Like, I thought Demon Slayer, Infinity Castle was great. Like, visually one of the best things you'll ever see in your entire life. But some of the pacing does get a little bogged down where Chainsaw man, the movie Reza arc is just so perfectly timed, gorgeously animated.

The soundtrack, the story, the heartbreak, the violence, all of that just comes together in 90 odd minutes and I cannot fault it. Like Fujimoto, who's the mangaka who writes Chainsaw man, this story goes some places, my friend. Like if you're loving it now, wait until like sadly when I sort of crunch the numbers with sort of where we're at with the manga and where we're at now with the, the adaptation on the anime. I feel we're not going to get to where we are now for another maybe decade.

But when we get there, get ready because holy fucking shit, it takes you some places. Like it is mind blowing. Crazy stuff. Topical, relatable and then just anarchistic in the best ways. I'm fucking keen. I'm so, so keen. The last one I want to mention because I think this is kind of a flex. Thursday night went out to the movies. I managed to see Ghost in a Shell, but in the original 35 mil print when it came to Australia. And I love watching film in cinema because it's such.

I can't get it anywhere else. Like we saw seven in film and it was. That actually changed my whole perspective of how I see that film. And seeing Ghost in the Shell, this ultra futuristic digital noir type film. I definitely use noir wrong there, but whatever. But in the grain and filth of film it added so much to the actual. The character of the movie itself and the dystopian ness that is kind of in it and stuff. I. Yeah, like that's my last flex. So the kind of two things I've.

Kind of gotten into, it's a hell of a flex. Like Ghost in the Shell, that original film from 95 is still one of my favorite pieces of cinema. Like and you know, like it does take a lot of nods and a lot of homage from the, the filming question we're going to be talking about very shortly. So I love that we have that connected tissue here and that same sort of similar science fictiony way of storytelling. But God, seeing it in 35 mil would have been fantastic. Like I've.

I haven't been fortunate enough to get the cinema experience of it. I've watched the film, I reckon I've probably watched it six or seven times over the years. I watched it far too young to probably properly appreciate it at the time in the, in the sort of mid to late 90s when I copped it as a, as a young kiddo. But it's so great, it holds up so well.

And like I was telling you offline earlier this week, like we've got a remake coming in 2026 by science Saru, who's one of my favorite card studios, most recently known for Dandadan and what they're Doing there, which is one of my favorite stories in anime out at the moment. So I cannot wait to see that. Because the art style and sort of the key visuals that they've sort of leaked regarding this sort of episodic adaptation looks straight out of the original manga from 89.

So it's got such a throwback vibe to it. They haven't sort of tried to modernize it and make it like something new and futuristic. They've gone into that sort of traditional art style, that traditional sort of storytelling medium from the 80s and 90s. And I'm hyped as hell for it. Next year, man, I'll be definitely one I keep the eye on. I. I think now it's definitely easier because I'm living with someone that loves anime so much.

I think now is like the more time I've been intrigued of the art form itself and the medium and stuff. So, yeah, I'm gonna dip. I'm dip my dick into the pool. When it comes to movies, I've literally got the. I cannot say the name because I am white as. But the Ghibli Blu Ray box set out in front of me across the room at the moment. Yeah, hell y. We're going to. I think Kiki's delivery service is going to be the next one that we watch from that. It's probably the name wrong, but yeah.

No, you know that Ghibli's got so much quality content and I like that it just is so varied tonally. Like, there's stuff that you can watch with kids. There's stuff you definitely would never watch with kids. There's stuff that will make you feel great. There's stuff that's going to make you feel horrible.

Like it is such fantastic storytelling and still some of the prettiest sort of from an artistic standpoint, some of the prettiest media that I remember seeing and I'm covered in Ghibli tattoos. Just through the fandom from a childhood and through to now. And you're going to be having a good time chewing your way through that box set. I'm sure it's. It's pretty good and it's just lovely to look at. Like, it does feel like a centerpiece. What is your favorite Ghibli then?

And can I ask that vague question before we get into this? Spirited Away is my favorite. Good choice. Very, very good choice. Yeah. Obviously one of the one of the biggest anime films of all time, award, winning, multi award winning both in the east and the English voice cast full of heavy hitters when sort of that came out and that was sort of, kind of unheard of at the time. Great story, very emotional, gorgeous to look at. And yeah, it just holds a very special place in my heart.

So Spirit Away is my number one. That's fair. That's a great, fantastic choice. Cannot fault that at all. All right, listeners,

viewers to go squad. If this is your first time stopping on by the podcast, firstly, thank you. But secondly, what took you so goddamn long? We've been making great content on this RSS feed for a long time. But for those who don't know, the way this podcast typically works is we do an episodic breakdown of the first to third episodes of an episodic anime. We sort of talk through the good, the bad, the other just to try and work out, you know, is this anime worth your time.

So we're trying to take the guesswork and the pain out of a potential viewer jumping into the wrong title and getting a lot of sort of viewer regrets. So we're trying to take that headache out, unpack it from a nice high level, but also I guess clinical perspective as well. We do dive deep and throw some deep cuts in and sort of give our thoughts whether they be good, bad, wrong, right? I don't know.

But it's wholesome, honest discussion first and foremost that aims to then just educate, entertain and then hopefully confirm. Is this title for you? If it's not, that's cool. If it is, that's also cool. But what we're doing here for the first time on Sakura Society and Anime Appreciation Podcast is going to be doing our first film, which is very exciting. We're not going to be tackling like the first 30 minutes and stopping. We're going front to back.

We're going through the full 2 hour plus runtime here to talk about everything that we liked, some of the things we may or may not not have liked or like a little less, and just talked about this thing from a very high level standpoint. Open, honest, fun conversation that is hopefully free of judgment. So

yeah, our title in focus for this episode, as I said, a marks first for Sakura Society. It's a feature length anime film and a true sci fi legend known as Akira. The film began life as a Japanese cyberpunk post apocalyptic manga written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo, first published way back in 1982, spanning 120 chapters across six volumes, the manga became a global phenomenon, going on to sell over 180 million copies worldwide at time of recording.

The animated film Adaptation arrived on July 16, 1988, just four days shy of my second birthday, before making its way overseas the following year. Directed by Otomo himself, the film was produced by Ryuhei Suzuki and Shunzo Kato, written by Otomo alongside Izu Hashimoto and scored by Shoujo Yamashiro.

Animation duties were handled by TMS Entertainment, the legendary studio behind such titles as Lupin, Case Closed, the Rose of assay, Kamasama Kiss, Dr. Stone, Blue Box, Sakamoto Days, and many, many more. Akira can be found on Netflix, pending your region, or in maybe traditional mum and pop DVD Blu Ray shops, and currently holds a score of 8.16 on my anime list. And that's based on 554,000 unique user reviews and the story of Akira is as follows.

Set between the ashes of a destroyed Tokyo and the neon sprawl of Neon Tokyo, Akira is a landmark of anime and science fiction. What begins as a story about biker gangs and teenage rebellion quickly spirals into a terrifying exploration of government control, psychic power, and the fragile line between humanity and godhood.

As Tetsuo's abilities awaken and the city teeters on the edge of collapse once more, Akira asks what happens when power evolves faster than responsibility, and whether history is doomed to repeat itself. All right, Sam, let's go. Thousand

Foot View here. Let's talk about our initial expectations, what we knew of this film, whether it be, you know, today, with our most recent rewatches, leading up to sort of this podcast recording, or if you want to, you know, chuck us in a time machine and go back to when you first heard about Akira. What were you doing? How old were you when you first sort of heard about it?

And secondly, like, what were your thoughts leading up to sort of chucking it on for that first time, whether it be in a cinema or at home on vhs, dvd, Blu Ray. I don't know. I don't know how you copped it the first time way back when. Like I said, this movie came out in the Eastern markets in, in 1988, and then 1989 was where it sort of hit America, UK, Australia, etc. So this is a film that is, you know, edging closer to 40 years old. Yeah. Where were you?

What were you feeling at the time when you first stumbled across the greatness that is Akira? Did you're gonna hate me. My first apparent, like I always knew this movie existed from seeing it in video stores and rental shops and stuff, but I never knew what it was. And it kind of looked daunting as a kid despite my knowledge of like Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon and Sailor Moon as my anime experiences.

But the first time I watched this was probably like 2020 on 4K and like I bought it in particularly as like a buy one get one free when I was working at JB and I just knew how not sentimental, like how huge this movie is for anime and like not only that, like you know, sci fi culture and the ideas that have come from it and also like the, the underlying plots of it. So I was like, I, I need to own this film.

And There's a beautiful 4K deluxe edition that came out with a book from Mad Men and you know, it came with the blu ray, the 4K. And it does look spectacular in a 4K, despite being like a drawn animation. Like it's just such Chris vibrant and like I've seen the making of like when they're painting like the lights in the buildings and stuff and how ridiculous isn't it? It's so like it feels like you're walking through Japan.

Like, like as silly as it kind of sounds, it actually feels like you transport from this movie because of the height of detail with its like metropolis type look of the building architecture as well. But yeah, I saw it. That I saw it. This may be too inappropriate, say, but I was like, throw it on at 12 o' clock at night. I was stoned on my lounge and I was like, yeah, this is a good time to watch this. And I got to the hospital scene where they turn into toys and I was like, this is too much.

I was like, I can't comprehend what the fuck is going on right now. Because at this point it's like 1:00am you know, my brain's leaking out of my ear and I'm just like, nah, let's turn this off. And I left it for a couple months and then my mate and I cooked the brisket it and like you know, 10 hour cook day. And he was like, what do you want to do? And he saw it out. He's like, can we watch Akira? I was like, yeah, let's do it. I'm sober. That makes absolute sense.

So we put it on and as soon as finished I was like, I can't even comprehend half of the context of this film. But my God, I knew. Like, it's so huge. It's so epic. It's so. It felt like. It felt like the atomic blast that's in the film infected my life from it, just from how incredible it is. And yeah, the second viewing was, I understood a hell of a lot more recently, I swear to God.

But yeah, yeah, it is a, it is a deeply philosophical film and there's so much layers to the story and the social commentary and it's crazy to think because some of this is so relevant now. Obviously the, the movie itself is set in 2019, you know, so way back when this was released as a film in, in 88, it was like, well, you know, that's 31 years ago. The world could be like this. And you know what? Like we're not too far away from some, to be honest.

Like the world is a very dark place, not only at the moment, but it has been for a very long time. So hopefully we get some change for the better. And there is no, you know, mind powered superhero, super villain, whatever you want to typify them as coming out and these espers coming up and giving us all kinds of trouble because that sounds scary and I'm not equipped for that.

But cycling back, I watched Akira at an age where I really didn't appreciate and comprehend what the hell was going on, apart from the cool animation, the violence, the sci fi, the grittiness. My mom, bless her, she was working@video 2000 way back in the day, which is, you know, one of the greatest places for a child's parents to be working because that then allows me access to just this giant catalog of film, all VHS at the time.

And I remember sort of just cycling through because I stumbled on anime at a really young age courtesy of my uncle and SBS. And I was in video 2001 afternoon after school, you know, picking a couple of my movies for the weekend that I wanted to check out. And I remember grabbing Akira in one of those. It wasn't even like the hard plastic VHS case, you know, the one that was sort of had almost sort of like a pseudo looking like bubble wrap. Yeah, yeah.

And was, it was a little bit bigger for some reason and it felt like jelly. Yes, yeah, yeah. So I remember picking this up and I saw it, it was like, you know, MA15 plus rated. So straight away I'm like, oh yeah, like as a, as a 1211 year old boy, I'm like, yeah, I'm not meant to be watching this. This is going to be cool. It's like adult cartoon, let's go. So I remember taking it home and I watched it in, in my bedroom. Luckily enough had a, had a TV in my room and like a VHS player.

So I watched in my bedroom and I'm sitting there going, this is cool. This is. Was awesome and stylistic and rad. Like, I want to join a biker gang and all this kind of stuff. But then at the same time I'm like, there's a lot of hurt and a lot of darkness to this that I get, but I don't get to the depth that I guess Otomo was trying to convey when he, when he wrote and then obviously, you know, directed the. The film. But I just remember it really shaping my mind because I was.

I've always been a sci fi fan, like super fan. I love science fiction. Terminator 2 is one of my favorite movies of all time. And it came out a couple of years after Akira did. And so I think this really helped cement my love and fandom for science fiction, but also helps cement my love and fandom for science fiction within anime. Like off the back of this, you know. Yeah, like, we talk about Ghost in the Shell stuff, like watching Bubblegum Crisis way back then.

And you know, I don't want to go too heavy on stuff like Wicked City and things, because that's very naughty. But watching all this like, like sci fi, neo noir, dystopian, cyberpunk, awesome coolness and it's just really impacted me still to this day, like, listen to synth wave all the time, you know, dark synth, all that stuff due to my love and fandom of stuff like Akira. So I think I didn't know what it impacted me to the level it did at the time in the 90s.

But now that I'm a little bit older and a little bit wiser, I go, holy. This really sort of put an exclamation point on me and my fandoms way back when. And it's still resonates with me now when I've done a re watch, you know, this past week for the first time in several years and it still hits. Yeah, I felt the exact same way watching it. I actually threw it on for my birthday. My partner was like, what do you want to watch?

And I was like, can we just watch something that we don't usually watch? Like something that's just so far out there. And she was like, oh, like what? And I knew she'd be keen, but I didn't realize how keen even she was. And I was like, oh, can we watch Akira? And she was like, yeah, I haven't watched in like 10 years. And we're both like on the lounge. We may have been intoxicated just watching on this Sunday night and we were both just kind of drifting in and out of it.

But like when the movie ramps up, it knows how to draw you back in and capture your intention entirely, whether it be through its like the density of its dialogue or the seriousness of the scene or just how incredible the anime itself is. And like it's funny. Like I kind of like that I watched it in like first time, in like three or five years, somewhere in that gap.

Because I'm so excited to watch it in the next five years and see what's happened in the world, what's happened in my life and to me and how those experiences reflect on the plot of this film and translate some things for me that I didn't realize before. It's such a. It's an aging film in such a very strange way. Like how it can still relate to like modern day 2025 with what's going on in the world. And it affects like the character. Like what. What affects the characters.

And that is still relatable in some horrible, scary way. It's incredibly foretelling. Like. Yeah. Or forward telling. Sorry. Yeah. I love when media has that timeless effect where it does have that Nostradamus like quality where it's sort of foretold these things years ago, decades ago, centuries ago. And now it's like it's becoming reality. We're living these things.

Like it really, really is just a big thumbs up and just a rubber stamp of approval when it comes to storytelling that even though. Yes, like I mentioned, this is set in 2019. You could take that 2019 year date out and throw it in the bin. Because it's timeless. I feel this is a story that you can talk about in 2119, in 2219, like yada yada yada. Like it's stuff that is universally relatable. Let's shift

gears into sort of the story in the world building, sort of break down that narrative set up and how it introduces us into this world. Like I've said, where this is a film, it's a two plus hour film as far as the world setup goes. Yeah. Like Akira.

Like we've said, it's set in Neo Tokyo, which is this sprawling, neon drenched future city rebuilt after Tokyo's destruction, which was triggered by World War 3. 2019 is the time period that it's set in society very much teetering on the brink of collapse. We've got gang violence, we've got protests, we've got government corruption. As I said and as Sam said, All very relatable, all very universally true at the moment.

And then also on the back of that, we've got underground psychic experiments all bubbling into societal chaos. The world isn't explained through exposition. It is lived, it's breathed, and it's wrecked on screen, which I really appreciate from sort of a storytelling perspective. You really feel the grime. You feel the tension and that desperation of this metropolis that it feels like it's barely holding itself together.

Yeah, it's almost like it's in itself its own character of being the city and stuff. And I think also the relatability, like, everyone knows of Islam, everyone knows of a ghetto, or, like a grouchy type of neighborhood and that. But to see that that culture is infested in entire city and you can tell that there is somewhat like, people being fed up just because of how they treat each other and how they treat their properties, in a sense. Yeah, it's really well done.

As far as that preliminary world set up. I appreciate that. There's no info dump. Like, the film just launches you into this apathetic dystopia where we've got this motorcycle chase and a literal psychic explosion. Just like, what the hell is going on? This is so cool. But a little context, please. But then obviously they give it to you through these background details about the politics, about the psychic research, which is known as, you know, Project Akira.

And then you're obviously seeing Neo Tokyo's decay as they're revealed through action and reaction, as opposed to narration, which. Which I enjoy as a good vessel for giving the. The viewer information and context. As far as the world that we're now sort of pseudo a part of. No, I could say that. I could say that entirely, dude. As far as the hook strength, like, I mentioned that motorcycle gang chase to then Tetsuo's accidental encounter with an escape psychic child.

Like, these early scenes, the energy just never lets up. It's super exciting, super enthralling. Really, really grabbed me from the rip. Like, as far as those first five to 10 minutes, how would you sort of weigh. Weigh that hook? How are you feeling after those first sort of, you know, opening scenes? We could say, well, for me, the opening hook of, like.

For me that really draws me in is like, the opening second where, like, you see the atomic blast happen and it's got no context and you kind of just get put into the zone of, like, this has happened. This is what we're gonna have to put up with. Like, which is now current society. And when you go into the Whole, like, motorcycle chase scenes, the explosion, the bar fights. Like, there's something that's, like, for me, it's all in. Like, it just doesn't stop.

And it doesn't stop, like, by being exciting but also just giving you hints of what to expect. Like the fact that I'm horrible with names and everything. So, like, I promise I watched the hell out of this movie, but I'm horrible remembering things, I swear to God.

But, like, when you see, like, the first psychics, like, appear in the street and stuff, and how they just kind of disappear, it is enough to draw you in as if you're a civilian in the street and make you want to know more about this world. And like. Like there is this whole underlying of corruption and everything that makes a film relatable in some ways. Like how Silent Hill is relatable by putting scary environment, making normal environments more scary.

Like, they've taken, like, concepts that we know and just made them obvious and make them scarier. So you kind of. Your own primal instincts of, like, how you perceive those feelings makes you want to draw into more and have. You want a satisfying ending from this film. And because it's so pent up because of that. And I. I feel like there's not a satisfying ending at the end of this film. I think it's a. Yeah, it's a bit heartbreaking. You know, I'm talking about the end.

We're talking about stuff. God damn it. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, and we'll get there, too, to sort of unpack that a little bit more detail. But now I'm with you. I enjoy that there's so much going on in these opening scenes that are all sort of acting as little mini hooks or levels of intrigue. Like you mentioned, like the fact that we see this atomic bomb right off the get go, and you're like, I beg your pardon, what's happening?

And then, yeah, we've got, you know, these ESPers with psychic ability. We've got gang warfare, we've got violence, We've got all these things happening. And even though there's no hand holding where it's like, oh, this is this guy and this is that. Like, there's enough context within the scene for you to go, I'm comfortable enough to know what's happening. I'm comfortable enough to sort of metaphorically hold on to the back of this motorbike and just ride along with these characters.

And it's a really strong hook I like as well. The stakes are set pretty early, like, on the Surface. It's about Canada trying to save his friend Tetsuo after, you know, the government experimentation and what have you. But sort of beneath that, we've got this conflict of power without control, identity under apocalypse, and then sort of friendship under pressure. As far as the overall stakes of what Akira sets out to be, at least that's how I interpret it.

Like Tetsuo's Descent, it's not just supernatural with these esper abilities that are getting awakened through this experimentation. It's very much emotional and existential. Yes, yes. So much like whenever seen, like how he reacted to his friends. And it was like a weird push and pull, especially like towards the end of the film. But like, you can kind of see that he wants to be the leader.

He wants to be this person in control, but at the same time has no absolute idea of how to be that person. And I think it's because he lacks everything else in like waves of jealousy that he's not the person that kind of is standing in charge. He's not looking at the idea of him being empathetic, compassionate, and the strength that that gives you to be able to balance everything else out. And that consumes him in itself.

It's the character development of Tetsuo is one of the best writing I've ever seen. One character in one of the worst ways. Like, if you want to see, it's almost like watching someone being intoxicated on a substance and that substance is a literal power source. It's. It's insane.

And I think that's a perfect bridge. Like, let's shift into characters and chemistry. Let's talk about sort of our respective standouts that we have from the film. Maybe we can sort of unpack a little bit more of what you do was saying about Tetsuo there. Like, I enjoy that. Yeah, he is the, you know, he's the best friend. He's the.

He's the 1B to Canada's 1A where, you know, Canada is the, you know, charismatic, rebellious, quick witted type of dude that does sort of inspire people where Tetsuo is not really anything like that. He instead lets those jealousies and insecurities really take control of him at his core. And you see those psychic powers start to spiral into pretty horrifying self destruction. That Tetsuo is sort of dealing, whether it be willingly or unwillingly. And you sort of see his arc.

I feel it really mirrors like adolescent insecurity in a lot of ways, which I love. Yeah, sorry, I didn't have too much to add. To that, but I was just like. It felt like I popped a pimple when you said that. I was like, yeah, 100. That's exactly how I see that. Sorry. Keep going, Keep going. That's okay. That's okay. On the pimple discussion, you know, Akira adjacent right now. Are you one of those people that love watching the doctor Pimple Popper videos and stuff?

Are you like, me, where, Like, I can. I can handle gross stuff. I can handle gore and things, but that ain't for me, dog. I watch those things. It's like, no, get that away. I can smell it through my phone somehow. 100. I. I like to like. It's kind of like my fear of heights. I like to look over the edge for about two seconds, and I'm like, all right, I'm done. I've experienced this. I know where I'm still at. I can't take it in any much more. Yeah, it is. It is an acquired taste.

But the people out there that love it, like, I don't know how, but, you know, hat tip to you, you beautiful sickos. But yeah, as far as, obviously, some of the other standouts, like Colonel Shikishima, you know, he's that very wary military man trying to do whatever he can to prevent yet another apocalypse. Can sort of relate and understand where he's coming from. Like, k. One of the resistant fighters.

I like that they've got a lot of nuance, and they're a bit of a grounding voice amidst a lot of this chaos and anarchy that we're dealing with throughout the entirety of this movie. Mind you, like, there isn't too many quiet spots or nice, calm, cutesy moments in this film. Like, it's pretty. Pretty dark and dire throughout the entirety of the 124ish minutes of runtime there. As far as those characters, like, I think my favorite relationship is definitely Kanada and Tetsuo.

Like, they're the beating heart of this story. Right, Sam? Like, Tetsuo, he isn't just a villain. He's a broken friend losing himself to a power that he clearly can't control. And you sort of. Your heart breaks a little bit for Tetsuo because you can see the good in him, but you can see these insecurities and this power struggle just consume him and lead to a lot of horrible things. No, I. It's. It's weird how this movie is very. Has so much despair in it.

And it's like, it's not only in, like, what happens to the city or what happens to the characters, but it's how the characters translate their emotions. Like, there is. Because he does come across as almost like a Vegeta looking character. Like, so awesome, so empowered. Especially when he picks up the red robe and he puts it on and you're just like, damn.

He. This. This character is villainously in control and he does seem like it, but then there's moments of him being weak to his own power and he knows that he's out of consumption for. Especially in like the Olympic stadium and stuff. And when. When that all. Ha. I forgot all about that sequence, man. And when that unveiled, I was like lying on this lounge and I'm sitting on. Just been like, what the Is this happening? Like, I just completely spaced on it. But. But yeah, no, you.

You feel bad for him and you feel bad for everyone that's around him because they know that this is not him and that they're trying to protect that. Like, they just want him to be safe and he can't even be safe from himself. It's awesome, awesome character writing. And I think, like, that's just great. Villain 101. For me, like, if there's a villain, whether. Whether they be, you know, going down that path willingly or unwillingly is, you know, a story for another day.

But if there's a villain that I can. Can empathize with and feel something towards, it's just immediately going to engross me even more. Like, if there's a bad guy, I'm just like, I don't care, he's just back or whatever. But where there's layers to these types of characters like, that we get with Tetsuo here. Like, I'm so in. I feel for this little kid. And yeah, when, like you said that, that robe moment, it is such an evil villain aura farm. Like, whoa, who is this dude now, like 100.

It is such a cool, badass scene and one of my favorite scenes scenes in the film as far as the character designs themselves. Like Canada's biker gang, you know, that look, it's iconic, right? Like, they've got, you know, the red jacket, the sleek bike, very much like attitude in motion. Like, I'm just like, man, I need to get a bike. I need to join a game. Like, these guys are just cool mfers. Yeah, you can see me on a motorcycle in a gang. I think I'd be so intimidating. Like, they are.

Oh, yeah. Like, yeah. And then like we sort of mentioned as far as that, that, that character design. Yeah. Seeing Tetsuo evolve, devolve. I don't know which is the right way to look at it where, you know, he's insecure youth to grotesque psychic monster. Like really embodies that internal corruption and that internal conflict that he's dealing with. And then sort of seeing the.

The look of like the ESPers, like Takashi, like eerily delicate, almost like spectral in a way which I really like as well. Like they've got this specter ghost like quality to them and. And you kind of just want to take them all and save them about that. And it's also like how delicate they would feel. Like literally like it feels like whenever they're in the bed or whenever they're like run like kind of in their comfort. It looks like that they are. If you pick them up, you.

They would disintegrate in you. Like there's something about their art style and everything that gets like that. Yeah. I think the last things on chemistry before maybe shift into that animation and legendary art style. Like. Like I feel the chemistry with our main characters is certainly that sort of heartbeat driving force of this film. Like Kaneda and Tetsuo, you can see it resonating because it's personal but not cosmic. And you see it almost become cosmic later, obviously due to the.

The esper abilities and things. Like, even as worlds are tearing apart in front of our eyes, their bond is still the emotional core of this film film. And outside of that really great friendship between Kaneda and Tetsuo, I think K and Kanada having these really grounded interactions help balance the pacing gives us some quieter moments amongst all the explosions and the death and the chaos and the what the moments that are sort of happening, you know, very frequently throughout this.

Film, without a doubt. And I. I think. I think every character, despite whether they have a direct line of communication with each other or not, they all pretty much want the same result of not the catastrophe of what could happen. Like, it feels like, you know, like I said, I'm horrible with names, but the Colonel, the. Is it the ESPYs or the EPCs? The ESPers. ESPers, like everyone Kannada and stuff. They. They all want peace. Like they all want. In this weird way.

Well, not all want it, but like they want control too. But it does feel like they're all trying to prevent the worst case scenario happening in their own factual way and. Or their own like thought way of it and stuff. And yeah, like, I think that the last character I do want to talk about though before we do move on the motorcycle itself, to me is such a character in this film. Like there is something About. Because there's even like, conversations like I'll never be able to handle a beast.

Like, you know, like, Canada can. It's Canada. Is it the drives that one awful with name. Sorry. But to me, what the draw into this movie, and it's always been, even when I was a kid, was that original poster of the motorcycle and the character with a cure written under it. And it's just that has always been like, that movie's gonna be sick. That movie's gonna be so cool. And I think even to this day, like, I think Honda just made a motorcycle that was completely inspired by it.

Like, what, 40 years later, nearly. And they've. They. It's now been real. Like, it's such a. It's kind of like in Wolf Creek, the outback is a character. That motorcycle, to me, is such a driving force of this film. Even at the end when they're driving it, it's. Yeah, I love it. I love that part of the film. Yeah, I am. I'm sort of terrified of motorcycles. But, like, if there was a motorcycle that I could see myself owning and riding down the line, it would be the one from Akira.

Because like you said, it is. Is a living, breathing character in this universe. And it is what this film, whether you've watched it or not, is most commonly known for. Like, the amount of homages and parodies we've seen throughout all types of media, whether it be film, tv, comics, video games, we've seen that iconic motorcycle screech done to death. Well, not to death, because I think it's still great. And it always makes me pop very cheaply every time I see it.

But it's such a cool character and just these characters themselves, like I said, that aesthetic, the. The jackets, the. The cool biker gangs, the motorbikes, the sort of baddies with a heart type of vibe and mentality, as far as the. The rebels go, the rebel, you know, the whole. Without a cause. Yeah, yeah, they're just dudes and I get it and I love it and they just ooze coolness. And as a kid, I remember watching. Oh, man, who are these guys? Like, I want to be like this one day.

I probably, like, asked my mum to call me Shotaro Canada for a while. Like, there was a thing when I was. My big thing when I was a kid is when I'd fall in love with the character or get to the. I don't know if I'd say point of obsession, but when I was really engrossed in a world and loved a character I'd make, like, people, you know, my family and friends call me that for a while. So I was Peter Venkman for a while. Obviously Bill Murray from Ghostbusters.

I loved, loved, loved, loved Peter Venkman. So I was Peter Venkman for a hot minute. I was spiked from Land Before Time. I don't know why I settled on Spike. Like, you know, I love all of those dinosaurs from that film, but I wonder if there was, like, a week of my life in the 90s where I'm like, to my mom and my dad, my sister, I'm like, no, I'm not Brennan anymore. I'm Shotaro, Canada. Like, that's. That's all I want to be known as, so wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.

Dude, I love that. Just to indulge in this. This feeling right now. I was so obsessed with Men in Black when that came up, that I didn't have access to a black suit, so I had jeans and a denim jacket instead. And that was my form of a Men in Black outfit. And I would wear that everywhere I could go. I was, like, 6 or 7 when it came out. And I think about this constantly being like, God, my parents put up with some from me.

Like, just straight away, like, I was in the middle of Lone Star, a steakhouse, being like, can I do the dance from the music video for you? Like, that's who. Who I was as a child. Man, I swear to God, I love that. Were you dancing on all the. The throne Peanut shells. Were they still allowed to. To throw the peanut shells on the ground? Yeah, they were at the time. 100. Yeah, I forgot all about that. So good.

Like, obviously they don't allow that now for health and safety reasons, but I used to love going to Lone Star, eating a shitty, overpriced steak, eating the house peanuts, and just throwing shells on the ground. Just like, literally crack them, crack them, crack them. Refill your bucket and slide your arm across the table to push them off. Yeah, the 90s was a wild time. We didn't care about allergies. We didn't care about slipping over. You just did it.

And then lawsuits became a thing, and then. Then, yeah, it was not as fun anymore, unfortunately. Is Lone Star still around? I think it is. And it's not the same, like, genuinely not trying to even be like that, like, in perspective. If anyone was, like, not around Lone Star, it was like walking into, like, a saloon. Like, even the lights and everything, the. The wooden tables, the benches, it was like, straight up, up Walking into the Wild west in some of the locations.

But now I think it's just like a glorified hogs breath. Like, if you know what I mean. Like it's just kind of basic. I remember the one in. We used to always go the one in Parramatta. But anyway,

let's shift gears. Let's talk animation and art style here. As far as the art and the fluidity itself, the animation, legendary. You can't really sort of put a better word on top of it than that. Like decades later, like I've said, this is nearly 40 years since it first sort of hit the screens. It still feels massive. Like it set a new benchmark then. And it's a benchmark that it's sort of held, like I said, four decades plus nearly now. Like complex machinery, crowds, cityscapes.

Everything is hand drawn, dense with detail, overflowing with quality. Like you mentioned, you watch sort of the behind the scenes stuff that's available on Internet now. Like do yourselves a favor and check it out to see just the effort and energy that these fantastic illustrators were putting into this movie. And I'll sort of give you some more context on that down the line. But as far as that art and fluidity, like is there anything else you wanted to sort of add on top of that?

Dude, I think like I'm a very. This is like Batman animated series inspiration for me. Like when it comes to art style, especially in cartoons and anime, I will say to separate the two, but the, the landscaping of the buildings and the fact that they like this is one of my favorite things in any film.

They painted not every single window of like a business building in the CBD to be lit up, but they painted few to give the world more personality in life to be able to give like this visual of people are at home, people are at their office, people are doing things all together. And I remember just being like when I first heard that, I was like, they're thinking so much into your receiving of this world being real that they're giving. People can't even see a backstory. Like they've got a life.

You know, there's someone in an office building that is like at least 2km away that's lit up is just that itself the one thing I'll say about the art style and I do not know anime that well. So please don't quote me on this. Please correct me if I'm wrong. It. There is so much of this that I saw in Dragon Ball Z, if that makes sense because I watched Dragon Ball Z like when the cheese TV boom in the 90s. And I like the way that power is shown in this is so similar to that.

And I love like even watching Ghost and Shell the other night, seeing how this animation, this art style has inspired future art, whether it be live action or drawn, you know, hand drawn or digitally drawn is awesome. Like, I, I think the fact that this is still a reference shot to some animation for like that we're going through is. It holds on its own feet. Like the word. I can't say anything more than legendary. Like you said. It's just so impressive.

Yeah. What, what Atomo did when he was first writing and illustrating the manga in 1982, like it's. It's a look and a feel and aesthetic that is just timeless. And like you said, there's so many nods from so many franchises around the world and over the years now where you can see, you know, hat tips and liberties taken off Atomo's work. And I love that about this film and about that manga and just the mangakar and the director as well.

It's crazy that he not only, you know, wrote and was illustrating the manga, but obviously, yeah, directing the movie as well, which is something that is very much unheard of in, in sort of manga to anime adaptations. But it just goes to show what type of a level of talent this man was. But I really enjoy the use of color and lighting like you touched on in. In regards to just the little, the little details as far as the, the way to make these skyscrapers look lived in and unique.

It's not just like, yeah, we'll light every single one of those windows. Like every single, you know, flicks of those paintbrushes had a purpose and had a reason to be there. Like 160,000 hand drawn frames in this film. Like there was countless amount of colors that were invented for this film that didn't exist in the world. Say like shit like this. Like this movie is that legendary and is that much of a pioneer.

There's just all these world firsts that are attached to this, this ip, but the light itself, I really love neon in general, as you can probably take away from, from the intro to this podcast. The lighting in my studio, just my life in general. So this, this film really embodies that love for me. The bright lights against the dark ruins. Like we're getting this echo of societal decay throughout these scenes where it's.

It's beautiful and cyberpunky but heartbreaking and run down and on its last legs and. And the Sort of psychic scenes. They're so surreal and so fractal and so disorienting, which I really appreciate as well. Like, we're getting these sort of visual metaphors with the psychic overload and the loss of control. And it's conveyed so damn well on screen. Yeah, that. Well, that was like my fucking mental breakdown the first time watching this. Like, seeing them communicate to.

Oh man, I've already forgotten his name. I'm just bad with names. Tetsuo. Like. Like, it's. It's seeing them how they first, like, communicate with him. I remember just being like on the lounge and I knew I was going to go into something trippy and I may have smoked weed so I could go for that trippy experience from this, but I couldn't even comprehend what I was going through at the same time, let alone the. The feelings that these characters are going through.

Like, I. I think even when I watched it sober the other night and the other time, it's. It's so. I don't even know how to kind of explain in the sense of like. Like it makes you feel the distress that the character is going through. You are experiencing what the characters are experiencing, or at least the lead character experiences on the screen. It's. It's incredible. It's. It's the communication skills that this film has.

For you to be able to go through what it wants you to feel is so direct and so in your face that it can go beyond language. And I think that's just testament to Atomo's direction of the film. Like, the pacing is merciless. Those quiet moments that we do get that are very fleeting, they often just dissolve straight into chaos. And I really enjoy that. The camera, the way it moves, it's like a hunted eye. Like, we've got violence just erupting everywhere without warning.

Always on the edge of our seat, always feeling slightly disoriented. And then obviously, like you said, they lean more into that in certain scenes where you've got these surreal psychic related scenes that tied to the espers and stuff. Like. Like Atomo just was on one. He was on a heater with this franchise and with this. With this film. And I think what makes this even more impressive, like, there's no cgi, no shortcuts were taken with this movie.

This is just animators absolutely cooking themselves to near exhaustion in the late 80s. Like, can you imagine how it was at TMS Entertainment then in the 80s? And they're drawing these, drawing these sort of frames together and adding the. The color and the texture and the light and then just sort of passed them around the room like they would have been so, so goddamn happy and excited and probably unaware as to what was to come off the back of the release of this.

But I think I feel deep down they knew they were making something special. Yeah, this is. There's another film that came out. This is not anime. It's called Loving Vincent, where they drew ever. They filmed the film and then they painted every frame of the film as a art style of Vincent Van Gogh. And the flashbacks are done, as in a sketch, as similar to his art style. And like, I like watching that movie. It's too hard to watch in one sitting because it is so much to take in.

But that exact same feeling of, like, this is motion art. Like, it's not so much like, you go to a museum and see a painting and you can kind of think, man, what. What was happening at the day when this painting was done?

Or how did they capture that moment in their head that was so reflective to be able to remember this for six months, to paint straight or whatever, and to see, like, to see this art form actually transform in front of you and have motion, have a heartbeat, have a pulse, and actually convey, like, an existence in the. In your screen. It's all because of how beautiful the artwork is.

And I can only imagine being involved in this and having that pride of seeing it move for the first time, like going from a still each time to an actual motion. And. And yeah, it's. I. I kind of, like, this might be a controversial thing. I think the movie's great. I think the movie's good. I like this movie because of its artwork more than I actually like the story of this film.

Like, I will go back to watch this again because I want to see how these characters express motive and how to see the city evolves. How to see a protest take form in these films and in this film, sorry, is electrifying. You can feel that pulse. And, yeah, the artwork, I think, is the main star of this whole film. I agree with you on this 1 million trillion percent.

Like, the art and the animation is just in such rare air that, like, I'm not saying it carries the movie because the story's great, the voice work and stuff that we'll talk about soon. Nothing is really fantastic, but the. The art and the animation itself is the star of Akira.

And there ain't nothing wrong with saying that either, because it's a goddamn star that you look at fondly years later, decades later, and still just look at it with so much love and like heart shaped eyes because it is gorgeous and it stands the test of time. And I think, like, as well, just to add to that, again, we keep talking about how somewhat dystopian or horrible this story is.

Then you have this juxtaposition of beautiful art, like, to look at, you know, it's like complementary despair, you know. Yeah. I think that's one thing I love the most about that sort of dystopian, post apocalyptic way of storytelling or world building.

Because even though it is heartbreaking and horrific and dread inducing and there's a lot of gray and muted color and death and destruction and despair, there's still so much beauty in the way that can be animated or framed or shot, because you can still find some good in that. And yeah, the, the cinematography in live action or, yeah, the direction in something like Akira can really help elevate and, you know, make.

Make you feel things, even though this world is a. And people are dying and downtrodden and feeling horrible. 24 7, 365. Now we've had that perfectly said, sir.

All right, I'm gonna do something a little different here with the pod. And we're just going to take a little break here because I feel we need a little bit, little quick Akira law break. Leave me alone. Because this film, it's not just influential, it's unfairly powerful. So I've sort of correlated my thoughts and added a couple of random facts that I think can sort of add weight to this discussion and just hopefully get people. Whoa, I did not know that. This is awesome.

Add some more mystique and hype behind this legendary title. So Akira, like I mentioned earlier that I touched on very briefly, this film was made before the manga was finished, which, you know, is something that's a little scary sometimes. We've seen the good with Akira. We've seen the not so good with Game of Thrones as you will. But yeah, director and creator Katsuhiro Otomo was still writing the story while he was directing this movie, which is insane in itself.

And the fact that it didn't fall into a heap and just become a big emotional metaphorical mess like something like Neon Genesis Evangelion and did at times, is testament to Atomo. So I really appreciate that the film isn't adapting a complete vision. It's visualizing an idea mid evolution, I guess you could say. And I think that's why the ending, you know, something we'll talk about in more detail soon, it feels like less like a Conclusion. And more like a transformation.

We're sort of seeing an artist wrestle with godhood, power and identity in real time time. The next bit, here's one that I. I personally really love. When I was sort of doing some digging, they recorded the voice acting before the animation. And that's again, something unheard of for this type of medium. Because what they wanted to do, Otomo wanted the lip sync feel to.

To feel natural and cinematic and closer to a live action film, as opposed to some of the TV anime where you see those lip flaps are, you know, taking some liberties instead of aligning perfectly with the Japanese or the English track back. So that's like. Even though we're seeing these crazy, chaotic moments, the dialogue is still feeling grounded and related to the scene. People are talking like people. There's no anime archetypes. I think, with the discussion.

Like, even though, yes, it's dystopian, post apocalyptic, you know, Neo Tokyo, there is some stuff like, man, I'm picturing like, I could be here in Neo Tokyo. Next up, soundtrack. If you've ever watched a Kiran thought, why does this music feel like a rich one wall? That's because Sam kind of is. The soundtrack was created by a massive experimental collection that blended traditional chance, Indonesian Gamlan, Buddhist rhymes and industrial percussion.

Some tracks were recorded live, like ceremonies, and not layered later. So something, again, a little different for the time period there. The result is music that doesn't feel composed, it feels summoned, which I really like. And it does have this very spiritual, emotional feel.

When you're seeing the soundtrack rise and fall throughout key moments in the movie, like Neo Tokyo itself, it's chanting, we're going to shift into themes really quick because Akira, I guess we could say, is way smarter than it pretends to be at times. And some of that goes over my head still to this day. Others I can sort of understand and comprehend. So I've tried to sort of put my thoughts in here. Tetsuo isn't a villain. He's adolescent insecurity turned cosmic.

Like I mentioned earlier, everything that destroys him already existed before he had his powers. And I think that's something that's universally relatable for people like ourselves. And people out there, like the psychic abilities, they don't corrupt him, they just remove the filter that he had up until that moment. Tetsuo doesn't want to rule the world. He just wants to stop feeling weak and feel like on the same level as Canada. And that's what makes him so terrifying.

And then we sort of shift now, to Neo Tokyo itself. It isn't just a cool cyberpunk city. It's a trauma response. The original explosion mirrors Japan, Japan's post war scars. Neo Tokyo is rebuilt fast, loud, neon, modern, but emotionally hollow. You know, there's protests happening everywhere, corruption everywhere. People are surviving, but not healing. Akira isn't saying technology is bad, it's saying rebuilding without reflection is dangerous. Then there's Akira himself. Here's the thing.

Akira isn't really a character. He's an idea. He represents potential without restraint, power without purpose, creation without humanity. He's not good, he's not evil. He's inevitable. Sam. And now let's hit the fun prophecy moment. Akira predicted the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the film, Neo Tokyo is preparing for the Olympics in 2020, which actually happened. Cue some spooky music right there.

And now the bike slide, obviously the one that we've sort of been talking about here and there throughout this podcast. So far, that bike slide has become probably the single most referenced moment in animation history. We're seeing it recreated in Western animation in other anime video games films constantly. That shot alone has its own cultural legacy. And I love that you mentioned the bike being its own character.

And I think sort of, you know, circling back to that right now, it confirms that is the case. And finally, we're going to talk about. Akira is the reason anime broke into the west the way it did. This film proved animation could be violent, political, adult, philosophical, and visually unmatched without Akira. The global anime landscape no doubt looks very, very different today in 2025. And here's the kicker. Hollywood has been trying and failing to remake Akira for decades.

Different directors, different studios, different eras, different actors. Mark goddamn Wahlberg was attached to play Canada for a hot minute, which is terrifying to think about, and yet it always collapses, which I am personally happy for. Because Akira isn't just a story. It's a time, it's a place, it's trauma, it's childhood, it's adulthood. And it's very much a cultural wound. And you can't remake that. You can only witness it. All right,

so that's my random Akira lawbreak rant over. Let's shift into soundtrack and voice acting. What do you want to say in regards to anything I mentioned? Like I mentioned the. The soundtrack itself, and Yamashigurumi is the person that sort of wields and yields the score overall, but I love that it's eerie, yet primal, yet crunchy and futuristic, and like I said, very historical at the same time. I look Soundtrack's always kind of like the least thing I kind of take in from a film.

And, like, if it does kind of, like, resonate with me, it means that, like, I think it goes beyond itself in it. Like, for example, and everyone's gonna hate me for this. M. Night Shyamalan's the Last Airbender is one of the worst, worst films of all time, can confirm. But that soundtrack is incredible. Like, that soundtrack is genuinely pretty good. I remember walking up and, like, that movie sucked. But one star for the soundtrack. I think in this, it kind of.

It adds to the anxiety the film is building because it kind of feels like a ticking clock, in a sense. And I think the music helps you raise your. Raise your tension, I guess I can't think of the word right now, but, like, it makes you kind of feel the stress of the situation that all the characters are in and stuff. I think that's kind of the big thing I took away from it. The voice acting is. I didn't know about that. They recorded the voices before the animation, which is so wild. Nuts, huh?

It makes it so much more impressive. Like, the fact that these, like, actors are actually, like, experiencing the film without having a visual representation and then, like, having that translated into the animation after is so unique because a big part of me was like, I feel like this drawing is alive. And I think that's exactly why. Yeah, I agree with you. I feel it's such an interesting way to attack this material.

And, yeah, I guess it allows them to not be restrained by the limited lip movement and mouth movement. If the scenes were already drawn and animated at that time, they can actually add more context and slow their delivery down and show more struggle. And like you said, it then turns the film into something that's a little bit more living and breathing and more relatable and synchronized when it comes to that vocal delivery.

From. From the vocal standpoint, I feel the Japanese and the English cast both deliver their lines with really, really heavy emotional weight. Like, Mitsuo Iwata looks handles Kannada in the Japanese, and Nozumu Sasaki handles Tetsuo in the Japanese adaptation. And the funny thing. Oh, not the funny thing, but the interesting thing as well. With the English adaptation, we've had the.

The first go around from 1989, and we have Cam Clark and Jim Rabson looking after Kanada and Tetsuo, but then they redid it in 2001, and, you know, one of the most sort of famous voice actors doing the rounds currently, especially in anime, Johnny Young Bosch handles Canada And Joshua Seth takes over Tetsuo. So they've had two different English goal rounds at this. When it comes to the Akira English adaptation, I've watched all three. I've watched the original Japanese.

I've watched the original English translation with Cam Clark and GM Rabson, and then obviously seeing Johnny and Joshua sort of handle Kanada and Tetsuo as well. I feel the English dub is easy, or not easier, but it's the. It's the ultimate way for me to consume this. Obviously, because I'm not a native Japanese speaker, I don't have to then lose part of my focus on a sub track down below.

I can just be fully immersed just into the world around me and all 160,000 of those random frames I mentioned earlier and just get full absorption of the visuals as well as the audio. So, yeah, the. The vocal performances, like, you can see the desperation, you can see the despair, and then you can also hear that to that same level. Like, there's no disconnect where some of this voice acting has been mailed in.

Like, I feel the voice acting is just as strong as the visuals, and they really complement and sort of elevate the material. I think that's why, like, it's gonna be. It would be so hard to make a live action of this because I think it's too in depth of its own DNA of strength. Of all the artworks themselves, the music, the art, the voices, the. Even the Foley of, like, you know, like, sound explosions and stuff, or, you know, audio effects and like, oh, there was something I was gonna add.

Like, I. I agree completely. I do try to watch. Anytime I do an anime, I'm like, I tried to watch this and I. Without the dub, like, I tried to watch it in, like, you know, the original Japanese, and there is just so much happening. There is so much going on. And I'm not the person to be like, I don't want to read and watch a movie. I really wanted to just watch this movie.

Like, I just wanted to take in what I was seeing on the screen, not to have a look at the bottom of the screen, which is so. It's such a boomer way to say anything. I'll say it immediately out loud. But I think the best way you can take in a career is, like, the way that is most comfortable for you to watch because there is so much happening. It's such a complex story, and characters have so much more depth than anything else that I've watched in recent years.

And, yeah, I agree with that entirely. Yeah, it's, it's fantastic.

Especially from a, from a dub standpoint, like, over the years, a lot of the dubs that are out there haven't always been the best, but I do appreciate, not only for, you know, the, the first entry into the Western market where I mentioned Cam and Jan looking after Canada and Tetsuo, they did fantastic, as did the broader ensemble cast, but that 2001 sort of reimagining with Johnny Young Bosch and Joshua Seth taking over and, and that other broader ensemble cast, again, like, double thumbs up,

hat tip, like, very, very happy with that result. And it holds up and translates so well and adds so much more weight to everything else going on around it. And then, yeah, as a, as just a humble boy from the country who can barely speak English at the best of times, not having to worry about that sub track really takes a lot of this.

Well, I' stressed watching this movie, but it takes, takes out more of the stress not having to sort of read and catch up and understand what's happening around me at the same time. So, yeah, big thumbs up for me. I think, like, the story of this film, like, the visual aspect is telling the story so much, just as well as the characters, dialogues, and like 100. 100.

Yeah. And it, you'd feel, you'd feel like you're doing the movie a disservice if you're just so hyper focused on a sub track all the time and not been able to really appreciate and soak in all this gorgeous atrocity that's on the screen. Yeah, 100%. And I, I, I agree with you. And I say that with, like, I promise I respect the original native language in anime, I swear to God. But like, especially with this, you kind of just need to take it in.

You need to be having a comfortable experience to exist in this film. Yeah. Either way, you're gonna have a great time, whether you're gonna go sub or dub. Like I said, we don't, we don't yuck anybody's yums here at Sakura Society, however you want to consume your content is totally fine. But at least from my perspective, it was the best way to experience it. With that 2001 voice acting refresh with Johnny Young Bosch and Joshua Seth sort of helming our two leads there. But

let's shift. Sam. Let's talk favorite scenes and moments from the movie. Whether you want to try and go chronological, chronological order here, or just anything that comes to mind, and we can sort of just, just take it from there. Yeah. What are some of the scenes that stand out and stuck with you after these repeated viewings? I. I think pretty much everything from the. From the. The Olympic stadium sequence, like, it's just.

I think it's when the movie really shows its true identity and like, it's when you see him transform into this grotesque digital monster. It's so not. It's not even off putting. It's so indulgent. It's like you want to look at the beast. You want to see it evolve in front. And I remember watching this the other night when it. Because I forgot about it. Like, I thought we had reached the peak as it was getting up to it.

And then when that happened, I was like, I forgot about how beautifully ugly this is. And that, like, I don't get me wrong, I was applied throughout the whole film. But, like, that's when, like, it just captured me entirely. Like if I was a fish in a river. That's when I'm not even on the hook anymore. I'm in the fisherman's bucket. Like, it's just. It's. I. I love everything about that and I. I don't really have key moments of it because I find like, the.

The movie is kind of like, hard to, like hard moments. I like, like aspects of it, I think, and like the protest scenes and the preaching scenes and talking about like, the full. The prophecy with the like the Notre Damas looking character. I don't know the character's name. I'm horrible. But like, that, that. The action sequences. The, like, not the action sequences because that's like a lot of this film, but like the motorcycle chases throughout it. It said.

It's the same feeling that you get from like watching Terminator 2 in the, like when he's being chased by the truck. And it's. It's in a cartoon. Like, it's not. It's not a real motorcycle and you still feel like you're in the edge of your seat. Like, all of those things kind of draw me in. Like. Like I said earlier that I. I love this movie for the artistic value over everything else. And. And I want to keep watching entirely because of that.

And those are the moments that I will always come back to watch. Even, like, it's such an. Okay. Actually, I think I do have a. It just came into my head. But I think I do have a favorite scene which was like the. The bar fight scene with the jukebox at the start. Like, I. There's something about that, I think that is so relatable and so real that you understand where these Characters are. And it's such a perfect introduction to who they are, not what they are and stuff. And it's real.

It's. They're human. It's. It's, you know, the. The calm before the storm. And even then it's not even calm. Yeah. And the storm is eternal, it feels like. But yeah, I feel. I feel that opening where we've got Neo Tokyo sort of structural collapse. Like, I love that it's just this tone setter right off the get go, this dystopian world. Like there's this reborn city which is booming with life, but it's also booming with decay and heartbreak and despair.

I love that you mentioned the motorcycle chase. Like. Like seeing that red bike sort of nipping around the neon streets. Peak anime right there. Peak. Just cool. Awesome factor. I love that your reference Terminator 2. And I also, even though it's a completely different world as far as this is real life where I'm going to reference something that's more digital world. But also like gave me some like awesome, cool Tron moments too with like the bike scenes and use of neon and everything.

So again, like just nerdy sci fi fist bump bumps. Even the glow of the lights when they go past in the corner of Drift and you see this, the glow of the brake light just stay in. Like I had that feeling of like that Tron essence. Yes. Yeah. So, so good. So cool. This movie, even though it is heavy and emotionally draining at times, it's just got this cool factor to it throughout.

And I love that that it still has that cool factor in it, you know, as we edge closer to 40th year anniversary, Tetsuo meeting Takashi. So we sort of see that accidental collision with the escaped Esper that really changes just everything. Right. And I like in this moment in these scenes, we sort of pivot from gang chaos to government terror. So we sort of have a bit of. A bit of a focal shift as far as these are the people we've been sort of getting to know with. And this is the world.

And now we're shifting into that government experimentation and horrible that governments do in this film and in real life on that as well. Like seeing Tetsuo's powers start to awaken and we get that frightening sort of body horror type of vibe. Like I'm a sucker for body horror. I love, love it to the point of feeling squeamish and uncomfortable and gross. And we get a bit that in here, seeing him then, yeah, rampage through Neo Tokyo.

Like it's visceral it's violent and symbolic of power without restraint. Like, this is a young man that's just realized that he is, you know, God on earth right now and cannot be touched. And he is just, you know, running rampage through this place with zero given. And it's just done so well. And yeah, sort of that awakening at the stadium like you mentioned is just so surreal, but still so unforgettable for me.

Like just seeing these, these mind melting visuals almost of power that I just fully can't comprehend. I'm just like, whoa, this is, this is cool. Like, I remember watching this as a kid and getting to these scenes and just going, oh my God, what is happening? It's exactly that. Every time you see it again, like, you just like, how, how, how is this even unforming in front of you? It's an adventure for your eyes, my dude.

Yeah. Like, you've got to, you know, suspend reality, but then at the same time you go, I get it. I don't comprehend it, but I get it in a way.

I wanted to ask you, and I probably should ask you earlier, when we were talking characters, where do you think Tetsuo belongs? Is he, like, is he hero? Is he anti hero? Is he villain? What brush would you paint Tetsuo with? It's weird because, like, if you asked me at the start of the episode or earlier on when we were introducing the character, I would have been definitely. I even think I mentioned he's a villain.

But the more you kind of explain, it's like this adolescent character that's experience and powers. Like the reflection. I've had conversation about it, about myself going through not similar feelings, but adolescence and like, what is going through your brain and the dynamic of friendships, how you see your friendships and how you want them to be, how you want to be seen by them.

I think he's an anti hero or an anti villain, I guess, like, in the sense of, like, he doesn't want to be there as much, but he is definitely enjoying the power dynamics being shift. And it's funny because, like, even watching it, you don't hate him. You. You feel sad for him. You feel like, I think one of the biggest elements of despair towards Tetsu. Tetsu, man, I'm horrible. So sorry. I knew I was gonna happen the whole time thinking about goddamn cheesecakes or some. Anyways, Uncle Tetsu's.

Yeah, that's where my mind went, man. Delicious. By the way, Uncle Tetsu, if you want to sponsor the podcast, slide into my messages because I've eaten many Many of your cakes over the years, your creme brulee crepes that they do do, they're. They're the goat, though. Those things are the goat. They're fantastic. That's why it's on my mind, man. It's just. It's an Akira food. No, I'm kidding. But anyways, that could be seen in any ways.

But I. I think, like, you feel bad for him, you feel sad for him, and you. You want the best for him, and it just. It gets worse and worse and worse. And then you. There's a point where you kind of accept there is not going to be a coming back from this. And when you accept it, it's pretty much the end of the. The film, which is a little jarring for first.

First and second views, I'd say, like, now that I've watched it a few times, I can sort of appreciate a little bit more and I guess the, the philosophical of this film and the, the social commentary and whatnot. And I appreciate that there isn't any, any sort of, you know, Kumbaya happy time ending moment where they save Tetsuo and, And, you know, do all these things. Like, it is bleak and I like that it's. That's grounded in this sci fi reality that you can understand.

Yep. This. This is probably how it would play out. Yeah. Without that. And if the movie did end with a positive message, it destroys the whole film. It. It needs to end with that feeling, that sunken feeling of depth in your heart, in your chest, in your sternum. It's like it. If it ended nicely, it's not real, if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's fair. Quick little throwback here and a bit of homage.

Like this podcast used to be called More Than Hentai, so I just wanted to have a little, little nod and a hat tip to that with a segment call out known as More Than Hentai. Question mark. And I feel that Akira is more than Hentai. It's more than sci fi. It's more than cyberpunk. It's more than coming of age. It's existential collapse and rebirth packaged into uncompromising animation. I say that I actually, I think it goes beyond its own self.

If you told me that this was like its own film and not anime, I would believe you and not have a clue what you meant. Like, it's. I don't know, it's. It's too much. It's too much of everything. Like you said, it's philosophical, it is somewhat loving. It's Somewhat despair. It's somewhat horrific and it's somewhat comedy. Like, there is. There is a little bit of everything in Akira and I think that's why, like it.

When you said it was like the first anime to break the western market, it makes sense. It makes complete sense. It'd be like, in the same way that Terminator 2 would be the first action movie to break into. Like, I'm only relating them because, like nuclear type films and stuff, but like that broke into like a Eastern market, if you will, or something like that. It's just, they grounded in depth and you. There is so much care into everything that goes into this film and.

And that's what makes it great. It's not just itself. It's more than that. 100%.

100%. So let's. Let's shift into the last parts of the potty here. We'll talk about impact, watchability, and final thoughts. I think this is a bit of a rhetorical question for both of us, but as those credits rolled again on that rewatch, did it leave you wanting more? Yes and no. Like, I would like to know what's next in in the City and everything. And like, with where these characters are, how they accept it and what happens pretty much to everyone.

But at the same time, I don't think I'd ever get what I want out of it if I got more, you know, like, it's. I think it needs to kind of end where it does. I feel similar. Like, yes. Not in the way that, like, it doesn't feel unfinished, but I think in the way it just refuses to over explain itself. Yeah. Like, it ends in a way that really lingers and unsettles and invites interpretation. And I appreciate that a lot of the time, but I'm also a viewer that hates that.

Like, if I watch an A24 art house horror noir that's, you know, 700 layers deep in. In story and metaphor and stuff, and I then have to go on Reddit to actually understand what I watched. Yeah, for me, that means it's not a good movie. Like, if I have to. To go and talk to people on the Internet to fully comprehend that, like, from front to back, I don't think it's good storytelling and this isn't done in that way. There's just a few things where I'm like, I wonder what that meant.

So what did Atomo imply with this, this scene or this interaction or this thing that plays out in front of our eyes here? So it gives me just enough to peek and maintain and hold my curiosity, but not enough for me to go, I don't understand what happened. This sucks. I'm done with this movie. So I think it straddles that line to the right level for me as a viewer. Yeah. If the movie. I think if a movie did held your hand too much, it would lose a little bit of its appeal.

The mystery of everything in this film that is underlined, of everything. Sorry, I should say, is more indulging for your second viewing, your third viewing, your fifth view, and your tenth viewing, because you. It's kind of like. I was going to say it earlier, like, in order to create a good villain, you need to make them likable. And I feel like this movie has this depth of, like, in order to make it good, you need to want to go back to it.

And that's like, you know, same reason why we kind of admire someone like Hannibal Lecter. You don't want to like them, but you do because they're. It's somewhat admirable. And you don't want to admit that this is kind of like you want to have a proper understanding of what everything is going through, and you want to dig deeper into it. You want to go into the lore of it. Like, it's. I don't know, it's.

I, like, I already want to watch it again because I want to try and make up my own red string theory on my mic whiteboard at home with, like, attaching everything to it and stuff and learning more about this world and even, like, the creation of it, too. It's very true. Like, it's crazy to sort of see in these end scenes where. Where we're seeing that psychic power destroying most of Neo Tokyo. And, you know, after it disappears, we're left with this giant void that is like.

It gets very art housey and very deep and layered, even more so in these sort of final scenes. And then you know, sort of jump forward to the end there, where we're sort of having those shots of the sun rising over the destroyed city, which is gorgeous. But then, you know, Tetsuo coming into full control of his powers in this moment. But then Akira transports his spirit into the universe, and then sort of the credits roll just as we hear the I am Tetsuo. And you're just like, what is going on?

Is there a sequel coming? Is this like a big swerve at the end here? And we're gonna get more. But not just ends like that and lingers. And I like that it lingers in a way that I'M comfortable with that curiosity. And like you said, Sam, like it makes me want to go back. And when I do rewatch, I feel like I peel another layer back, back on this esper shaped onion here every time. And I'm like, oh, I get that now or I get that metaphor or that visual reference or whatever.

Like it's, it's really well done. Yeah, this is the, the fun of the question, not the annoyance of the question. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, definitely did leave us both collectively wanting more for very, very different but similar reasons. And yeah, it's not because it feels unfinished or incomplete. There's just so much more to this world and these characters that I just need to know about from an impact standpoint point.

Obviously from things we've talked about throughout this episode, you can understand why Akira still matters nearly 40 years since it first hit the screens. Because Akira still leaves you with that same reason that it changed the medium that we know today. Like the, the sense of scale, the confidence and refusal to hold your hand really shaped or reshaped, sorry how the world viewed animation at the time.

Time. Proving that it could be very cinematic, it can be violent, like I said, it can be very adult oriented and focused. And it was just such a benchmark that influenced everything from stuff like Ghost in the Shell that we talked about earlier, Evangelion that I mentioned, Hot Minute there as well, to modern cyberpunk across film, television, games beyond.

Like, this was such an IP in a title that was so far ahead of its time that some franchises are only just catching up now, you know, near 40 years later. Yeah, I think it's going to be generational. I think there's going to be a spike in every future generation that comes across this film and it becomes that hype again. And there'll be a new edition that gets released on a format of media of sorts, of whatever is the cool, hip thing at the time.

And I, I think the film has so much impact that it can be. Go beyond the fact that it's anime and you could show it to someone that's in their 40s, that's never watched an anime film in their life and they would understand what is trying to say rather than trying to be like, I don't watch this type of medium and it's, it's so much bigger than what itself is. Like, it's like I've heard like, I like you and I have talked about in the past. So like my standpoint with anime is very.

A love hate relationship. I think in the best way to put it, like, I'll go into it and I'll jump out. Go into a jump out. But ever since I first laid eyes on that fateful night where I watched it too late and too inebriated, I still get it and I think I always will. Like, if I ever have a son one day and he was like, oh, I'm getting an anime, where should I start? I'd probably be like, it, it should be here. Like, I think this is one of the most impacted films that you could watch in anime.

And then he'd be like, what else? I'd be like, I don't know, talk to your mother. That's her thing. And I'd walk away. But you know what? I think that's perfectly fine as well. Like, if we're gonna sort of say on what level or of recommendation this would be for, for fans of anime, whether they be new, lapsed or just constant fandom, like, I feel this isn't just a recommendation for anime fans, this is a recommendation for fans of cinema in general. Like, this is required viewing.

This is a landmark film that still feels very bold, very dangerous and very emotionally charged all these years later. And, and if you're just looking for good storytelling and, or gorgeous aesthetic and art style, Akira is certainly the film for you. Sam, let's shift into our final, final verdict here. But listeners, viewers of OI Squad, if you are still on the fence about Akira, the most common compared anime on my anime list are as follows.

Ghost in the Shell, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Psycho Pass, Elf and Leaf, or Cyberpunk Edge Runners. So if you watch any of those titles and really love them, there's a goddamn very high chance you're really going to love Akira and vice versa. If you've watched Akira and haven't watched any of those five, go check them out right now because they are fantastic titles that I have loved some more than others.

Elf and Lead has probably the Most shocking opening 10 minutes of anime that you might just about see. Outside of that, the rest destroys. Ho hum. But all those other ones there, Chef's Kiss, double thumbs up, hat tip, all the good stuff, stuff. But Sam, as the cherry blossoms begin to fall in this episode, leave us with your parting words, your final thoughts, and your rating, however you choose to measure it, on Akira.

Look, I would say, like I'm a great virgin viewer of anime, you know, dipping my dick into the pool. As I said earlier, I think this is like, if you're that person and Grant, if you're listening to this, you're definitely not. But if you know someone that's like, I want to jump into anime for the first time, I would say, as someone that this is kind of like the one that drew me in. And I really like to go back to out of most things. I think it's great for that.

I, I would say that, like, my final verdict of the film, if I was to give it what, what is the preferred rating system out of 10 out of 5. You can make it up. This is your rating. So this is going to be unique for everybody. So you could make it out of 5 out of 10. Something that makes sense. Something that makes no sense. This, this is your rating, my friend. I think, like, I'll give it like two out of fives, right?

So, like, I think out of excitement and drawing in this, for me, it's a total, like 4 out 10 of, of 5. Like, in the sense of, like, it doesn't distinguish anything else. It's just that, like, I don't understand the world of anime that this is in, and for what. I experience it in that world. I think it's so close to it. I'm not sure if there's something better, but I understand if there's not. I would say, as the excitement and the personal opinion that I have, it's five.

Like, it's just incredible to watch. The art style itself is inviting. I don't want to be a Weeb that says, like, I want to live in this world, but if that's what a dystopian future looks like, looks like, like, that's kind of fun and exciting and horrible all at the same time. And I think the fact that culturally, something can be done 40 years ago and still have relevance in current culture, not just in current media, it's pretty impressive, you know?

And, yeah, I, I, you know, I, I will cherish this film in a different way to how I cherish other films in the sense of, like, when everything's kind of awful, I watch it to kind of find some solace that the world can be awful, but at the same time somewhat beautiful. You just got to try and find a bit deeper. The last thing I'll say. And, you know, this is great. I loved actually talking about it with you so much more.

I actually think it makes me, like, understand the movie so much from a different perspective in such a deeper conversation. And yeah, I just really hope this counts as my duolingo lesson today. So I'm really excited, you know. Me too. I'm very excited and very appreciative if you've taken some time out of your very busy schedule to come riff with me. Especially this close to Christmas. You know, it is the holiday season. Hope you're all out there.

There do have a happy, healthy and very safe holiday period. However you celebrate or not celebrate. But yeah, Akira, it's required viewing, it's fantastic, it's emotional, it's gorgeous, it's heartbreaking, it is endlessly topical and it is a tent pole of a title that is still getting sort of a lot of reverence and relevance. Yeah. Nearly four decades later. So, yeah, hat tip to everybody involved on that one. One.

Yeah. If I was to score it, I'd probably give it a solid 8ish out of 10 if we're just going to keep it simple, you know, or four out of five if we're going to sort of scale that metric down a little bit. Doesn't mean it's a bad thing. But I feel my vibes with it are very much in line with the My Anime List score that has been verified by over half a million people around the world of 8.16. So I'd sort of fall firmly in line with that if we're going to sort of do a out of 10 metrics trick.

But it is required viewing. It is so good. It's. It's a fantastic film shaped anime gateway drug for people that are new to this medium or that people just want a good mature adult story told in a way that's accessible, that makes you think and it makes you go, wow, just because of the visual and the sort of audible based quality that is throughout these two hours. So, yeah, it's fantastic. I'm happy that we've rewatched this and I like that you've sort been of, of, yeah.

Rewired my brain a little bit on some of my thoughts and inner workings on Akira. Even though, yeah, this film is, yeah, nearly as old as me. So, yeah, shout out to Akira. Shout out to you, Sam. Anything you wanted to mention? Where can all my fantastic viewers and listeners find you and all the cool stuff that you do? I mean, I'm all over like, you know, the socials just as Comic Sam.

So there's a variation at the end where it could be.gif.movie.mp4 or whatever, but if you search Comic Sams, you'll find that anywhere. If you're around Sydney and you want to come to a show, message me on Instagram and I'll definitely tell you where there's one is there's always one in the link in the bio. The last thing I'll say is that, look, I love this. I love talking about movies. It's one of my favorite absolute things to do more than just the movie itself.

And you know, if there's ever an anime movie that you want to watch with me, I would love to come back and talk to you about it. I swear to God. God. Yeah, I don't, I don't want to sort of lead the, lead the segoy squad down too far of a path the moment. But yeah, there may be some capacity to, to do this sort of film thing a little bit semi regularly with yourself, Sam, which I think, you know, we can have your people speak to my people and see if we can make it work.

But I feel, I feel this sort of test episode when it comes to unpacking a movie, I feel this was great. Yeah, I love this. Tell me if I'm way off base here and I'm just here with, with rose colored glasses on, but I feel this was a banger of an episode. Sam's a banger of a human. Obviously you can find him @Beacons AI forward slash comic Sans that will get all his links in that one spot. So that way you don't have to like experiment with the GIF MP4 stuff like that. It's a great and bad idea.

I swear to God. It's so good. But yeah, you can find him there. His, his contact links will be in the show notes. But yeah, check out all the content I'm making holistically at sakurasociety code or atyour favorite podcast.com and that's the Australian way to spell favorites. So that's F A V O U R I T E. Check out In Bloom which is my bite sized servings of anime news and seasonal updates available in video and audio form. Typically aimed at the, you know, the vertical based viewing.

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Be sure to use code Sakura Society 5 at checkout. But whether your anime be subbed, dubbed or still yet to come, enjoy yourself. And much love to all all the gorgeous waifus and husbandos out there. Goodbye. Bye bye. Radio.