Tsao- Akira

Before watching the film, I assumed from the title of the anime that Akira was going to be a story based on a character affiliated with that name. However, as I watched the film I realized that the character that goes by the name Âkira never once shows up in the story, but has a different significance to the plot. 

GOT THIS PICTURE HERE

AND THIS PICTURE HERE

The setting behind Akira is in neo-Tokyo, where the apocalyptic city is full of chaos, corrupted government and military officials, gangs, motorcycle gangs, and trash all over the place. The women are treated very poorly, and the citizens of this “new” Tokyo are clearly unhappy with the way things are running. This, in my opinion, gives the authority its power more than anything. Because gangs are destroying the city, running through windows of classy restaurants, throwing grenades in police departments, etc., the colonel/general and his authority officials really don’t have much of a choice other than to use force and their power to keep things under control. This, of course, also has to do with the corruption that was initially in place that caused the people to be so unsatisfied as to do damage to show resentment in the first place.

My point is- the general really isn’t the “bad guy” of the film- from where the government stood at the beginning of the film, it is a cycle of “badness” coming from the people of the city, then the government’s reaction, then the people’s reaction, etc.  

PICTURE FROM HERE

Anyways, Tetsuo becoming corrupted by so much power is a very effective way to portray our own society. When people are given power, they will seldom just give up that power to those without it and just be like “Here’s power! Take it!” Take for example, why slavery lasted for so long. With power, the white people saw no reason to stop oppressing the minority. Thus, after so many years of being oppressed, if an enslaved, black man that has felt inferior his whole life were to discover an unlimited source of power within himself, he could very easily become blinded by such power, and want to cause harm to all those who have undermined him before- therefore becoming an “Akira” (In comparison to Kaneda making Tetsuo feel inferior through his protective nature, causing Tetsuo to feel he is always living in the shadows)

Akira, therefore in a sense, is more than just a character’s name in the plot. Akira is the art of abusing raw power; the learned experience of a mistake easily made and prone to repeat; and the result of an imbalance in equality and respect amongst peers.

RAAAAAAAAA