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Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 38] (ani.social)

submitted 2 days ago by wjs018@ani.social to c/anime@ani.social

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Previous Thread

Welcome to another general discussion thread! Feel free to use this thread to talk about things you have watched recently, questions you have, or recommendations you want to give!

As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here (also linked in the sidebar).

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[–] wjs018@ani.social 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This pretty much reflects my experience as well. Though, like you, I didn't watch Akira until relatively recently, so that probably has something to do with it. Experiencing it in the late 80's/early 90's might have left a very different impression. From reading retrospective reviews, lots of critics praise it these days for the impact it had on the industry as much or even more than the story it was trying to tell. Short story time...

A couple years ago, my partner and I decided to watch through all of the AFI Top 100 movies, and there were plenty on that list that I genuinely thought were pretty bad. However, in reading about them after watching them, they are on the list because of the tremendous impact they may have had on the industry; special effects innovations, directing techniques, etc. I kind of lump Akira in that kind of basket these days. It was a technical showpiece that had an outsized impact on the rest of the industry, especially the actual animators who have inserted countless Akira references into their art over the years.

[–] ReluctantlyZen@ani.social 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Experiencing it in the late 80's/early 90's might have left a very different impression.

I mean, a lot of the animation is still impressive today. And I guess it's probably been a big influence for the cyberpunk aesthetic in anime and manga (if we ignore Bladerunner). But in terms of story-telling? I'm not sure what unique thing it was doing at the time. I see many reviews still praising its story and its message.

Also, a lot of the sound effects were rough, to say the least haha, but that's kind of in line for that time.

[–] catalyst@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I have similar albeit conflicted feelings towards Ghost in the Shell (2026) which just concluded it's run. Now to be clear I greatly enjoyed this adaptation and have zero regrets experiencing it. I could gush about the raw style and animation for an hour.

Buuuuuut, if I'm being honest, I do get the impression that GitS and it's original source material is more interested in showing us cool set pieces and presenting philosophical arguments than it is about telling a particularly coherent story or character arc.

Again, I'm trying to find a middle ground here cause I liked it a lot. But it also ends super abruptly and made it abundantly clear that it had no interest in wrapping up any of the plots it had started, or even giving us a particularly strong in-character reason for why Motoko made the choice she made, other than "hey isn't this neat?"

[–] ReluctantlyZen@ani.social 2 points 1 day ago

I do get the impression that GitS and it's original source material is more interested in showing us cool set pieces and presenting philosophical arguments

Having only watched the 1st movie, I get that.

However, I'd say Akira only has the setpieces.