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I watched the Akira 4K remaster in the theater yesterday. Also the 1st time I ever saw Akira (I know...).
And tbh, I don't get why it's so highly regarded. Like, the animation was sick (especially for the time), but the rest felt so underdeveloped. It also didn't help that I couldn't stand Kaneda and Tetsuo.
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.
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.
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?"
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.
Like, the animation was sick (especially for the time)
Tbh, this is the only reason why. The story is severely underdeveloped, but at the time big improvements in tech were what sold audiences.
I kinda feel the same way about the Star Wars: A New Hope. The story was fairly anemic and did a poor job of explaining anything that was going on. It felt like an old Greek myth in terms of how things just happen as opposed to a continuous series of cause and effect. But A New Hope revolutionized media because it was the first movie to really depict alternate worlds well, giving it that technological advantage at the box office that ut wouldn't get if it released today
I watched Wolf Children, and you know what? Best Hosada film (that I've seen). It's not even close. It turns out Hosoda can make a good movie when he's not trying to shove metaverse bullshit into it.
I also went and got caught up to Goodbye, Lara. Wow! This is a great show! in a normal season it would be an easy pick for my #1 but right now it's difficult to choose between this and Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Re:Zero, and Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia.
Kinda fun that I watched these two things in the same week; they're the closest things I've seen to Miyazaki movies that didn't have Miyazaki's involvement.
Completely agree on Goodbye, Lara! It’s such a sweet and endearing show. I’m a little sad it’s almost over.
The Miyazaki comparison is so accurate. I’m particularly stuck by how things move, like the witch zooming around compared to No Face and other similar monsters.
