Huynh My Take On Akira

After watching Akira, I didn't exactly know what to think or even say. It's an interesting movie, and it has so much symbolism in it that it's hard to keep up with it if you aren't exactly sure of what to look for. I know I was lost in the movie, but when I went to class, it opened up a new perspective on the entire movie for me.

Akira to me was amazing if you look under the surface. The underlying meanings in this film are so crazy creative that it was surprising to me that they thought of this back in the 80's. I'm not undermining the people from that time period, but I'm saying that this type of film would be amazing in any given time period with similar circumstances. 

The human experimentation done by the government and the overall power of the corrupt government was a real eye opener for me. Now that I try and relate to this movie, it seems as we're heading down the path of the movie. I don't know if human experimentation is going on now, but I'm sure something grotesque of the sort is happening behind closed doors unbeknownst to the public. Our society is slowly getting controlled by the government more and more. In Korea and most of Eastern Asia, I know that the government requires vehicles to be equipped with a front facing camera by the rear-view mirror so that they can monitor the people and to see accidents as witnesses themselves. That's in addition to the multitude of CCTV cameras that watch over the streets and intersections. I say this is an invasion of privacy, but that's what your home is for, not public streets. Government regulation usually does lead to safer streets, but also heavily regulated streets.

Taken from London Cyberpunk Tourist Guide

The people in the film are all trying to find "themselves" and Tetsuo Shima, who I believe to be the main character of the film, wants to find himself as a greater and stronger being than he is now. The main character of the story could be the audience themselves, as it tries to give a fair warning as a possibility of what can happen in the future.

When the movie tells you that Akira is in everyone, I totally believe this statement. Akira isn't a person, but rather the ambitions of people. The ambitions of the character Akira led to amazing powers which attracted envious people who also wanted the power, so they tried to find it using the character via dissection. Tetsuo's "Akira" led to him becoming that grotesque form, which consumed himself, everything, and everyone he loved. It's a way of telling the audience that there's a point when to stop. Don't find yourself looking too far looking for yourself.