Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
One of the greatest anime movies of all time… is wrong? Or is Akira simply overrated trash?
Akira is an all time classic movie, a must watch for any anime fan, and one worthy of dedicated discussion and analysis of its themes in video essays like this one. Its two-hour run time follows the best friend characters Kaneda and Tetsuo, as the latter develops psychic powers, and the former has to stop him, a far cry from their bike gang origins; where we get the famous Akira slide from. Amidst all this there’s also widespread societal chaos, from bad politicians, to anti-government terrorists, to Akira cultists, and even more. Neo-Tokyo is a society on the verge of collapse only 30 years after its original destruction, and Tetsuo becomes the catalyst for Takashi, Masaru, and Kiyoko, three more children with psychic powers, to revive Akira and stop Tetsuo from turning the city to trash. Against them the whole time is the character Colonel Shikishima, the military commander of Neo-Tokyo, who’s hamstrung from responding properly to this danger by the corrupt politicians and the revolutionary chaos. He’s clearly the hero, providing many memorable lines against the others who allow destruction. But, is positioning Colonel Shikishima as the hero where this great anime movie goes wrong? I think Akira’s final message is one which is good in faith, but bad in practice. So, let’s analyze this classic and its characters, discuss its themes, and provide a rebuke to it in this video essay. Is Akira actually overrated or bad?
Part 1 music: Martian Cowboy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Part 2 music: Atlantis by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
#anime #akira #tetsuo #kaneda #animediscussion #animeanalysis #professorviral
One of the greatest anime movies of all time… is wrong? Or is Akira simply overrated trash?
Akira is an all time classic movie, a must watch for any anime fan, and one worthy of dedicated discussion and analysis of its themes in video essays like this one. Its two-hour run time follows the best friend characters Kaneda and Tetsuo, as the latter develops psychic powers, and the former has to stop him, a far cry from their bike gang origins; where we get the famous Akira slide from. Amidst all this there’s also widespread societal chaos, from bad politicians, to anti-government terrorists, to Akira cultists, and even more. Neo-Tokyo is a society on the verge of collapse only 30 years after its original destruction, and Tetsuo becomes the catalyst for Takashi, Masaru, and Kiyoko, three more children with psychic powers, to revive Akira and stop Tetsuo from turning the city to trash. Against them the whole time is the character Colonel Shikishima, the military commander of Neo-Tokyo, who’s hamstrung from responding properly to this danger by the corrupt politicians and the revolutionary chaos. He’s clearly the hero, providing many memorable lines against the others who allow destruction. But, is positioning Colonel Shikishima as the hero where this great anime movie goes wrong? I think Akira’s final message is one which is good in faith, but bad in practice. So, let’s analyze this classic and its characters, discuss its themes, and provide a rebuke to it in this video essay. Is Akira actually overrated or bad?
Part 1 music: Martian Cowboy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Part 2 music: Atlantis by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
#anime #akira #tetsuo #kaneda #animediscussion #animeanalysis #professorviral
