Deviancy in Otomo's Masterpiece, Akira

On August 6th, 1945, a giant purple mushroom cloud engulfed Hiroshima, Japan. The “Little Boy'' was dropped by the U.S. and became the first nuclear weapon to be used in war. This atomic bomb killed nearly 70,000 civilians on impact, and destroyed absolutely everything in sight (BBC 2020). As a way to finally end World War II, President Truman made the decision to drop the bomb. No matter how many battles, due to their loyalty, Japanese soldiers were constantly charging at American troops; it felt like the war was never going to end (National WW2 Museum 2020). Even after the Little Boy, Japan did not surrender. BBC (2020) states that three days later, President Truman agreed to drop another nuclear weapon south of Nagasaki, Japan called, “Fat Man” . The Fat Man bomb flattened southern Nagasaki, while reportedly killing around 74,000 civilians. These two tragic events finally made Japan surrender. 

The atomic bombs traumatized Japan, and scarred the world because of how powerful the atomic bombs were. After World War II, Japanese writers would start to express their opinions on the war and atomic bombs in their writing. Early works like, Grave of the Fireflies, Akira, and Star Blazers discuss Japan’s suffering during World War II and also mention the scary growth in nuclear weaponry. Star Blazers is about humans living underground on Earth because of a war between humans and an alien race called the Gamilons. Earth became a wasteland covered with radiation because of the war. In attempts to restore Earth, a massive ship called the Yamato was made to collect resources from a far-away planet called Iscandar. On their trip to Iscandar, the Yamato would encounter many enemy Gamilons. To battle the Gamilons, the Yamato had a new devastating weapon equipped called the Wave-Motion Gun. It was so powerful, it could wipe out entire planets (Toonami 2021).

It is clear that Star Blazers represents the advancement of nuclear weapons with its intimidating Wave-Motion Gun. It also seems like Star Blazers tries to mock the United States decision to drop the atomic bombs because when in conflict, the Yamato crew would contemplate on whether they should use the Wave-Motion Gun, or not. The atomic bombs have sparked a threatening theme among the media: How far is humanity willing to go for power?

Akira is a Japanese animated sci-fi film released in 1988 directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. Akira is an adaptation of the manga Otomo previously wrote, also titled Akira (Akira Fandom 2022). The film starts off in the year 1988. Japan’s government is experimenting with parapsychology on a group of children. Suddenly, a child named Akira would use his powers to cause a massive nuclear explosion to Tokyo, Japan's capital. This massive explosion caused other countries to panic. In fear, they believed it was an attack from a foreign nation. All this fear sparked rumors and ended up causing World War III. After World War III, Japan fell apart entirely. In the year 2019, we see that Tokyo has become a cyberpunk dystopian city now called Neo-Tokyo. Japan’s government has become corrupt, and we see motorcycle gangs run the streets.

Akira was a hit when it was first released in Japan, but what made it so popular? Akira was made in the cel animation era. There were no computers to help animate it, every frame was hand drawn and painted. The beautiful scenic backgrounds and smooth cel animation were ahead of its time, and blew audiences away (Covill 2017). Akira inspired the West when it came to music, comic books, and films. You can still see inspiration from Akira in newer films like Inception, Looper, and even in the ongoing television show, Stranger Things. Looper and Stranger Things are great examples of inspiration because much like Akira, Looper and Stranger Things are also about children gaining powerful psychic abilities and becoming powerful monsters. Covill (2017) also says that in Japan, Akira also inspired the outlook for more adult anime like Ghost in the Shell and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Akira kicks off with a bang. After hanging out in a local hole in the wall, and dealing drugs, our protagonist, Kaneda, and his gang called The Capsules, are caught in a biker chase with their rival biker gang known as The Clowns. The Clowns are causing havoc to Neo-Tokyo as they destroy civilian cars and chuck pipe bombs around. To stop them, we see Kaneda and his friends chase The Clowns on their motorcycles, and beat them with metal pipes. These two drug-stoked biker gangs in Neo-Tokyo were actually inspired by the bôsozoku. Bôsozoku is a Japanese subculture of young teenage bikers, and the subculture became an icon of youth violence and delinquency in 1980s Japan (Lamarre, 2007, p. 135). 

Bôsozoku was created after World War II when Japanese kamikaze pilots came home. In recent years, bôsozoku action and crimes have died down and are not causing as much trouble in the streets of Japan (Antonix Davis 2022). Similar to 1980s bôsozoku, we would see The Clowns and Capsules swerve on roads, get into violent street fights, and run from the police because it was all rebellious. Once we see the chase between The Capsules and Clowns end, we get a glimpse at Neo-Tokyo's government.

Neo-Tokyo’s government became a disaster after World War III. The government is falling apart and is run by the military. Throughout the film, we see a recurring character, Colonel Shikishima, attend government meetings. As the Colonel, he is only concerned about the military, and funding for the experiments on these psychic children. Through Neo-Tokyo’s government, Katsuhiro Otomo is trying to convey how governments only focus on military power. Neo-Tokyo as a whole is hanging on by a thread. Although beautiful, Neo-Tokyo residents live in a dirty worn down city. Instead of helping provide for their people, Neo-Tokyo prioritizes their police force. We see Neo-Tokyo’s police force is well armed and militarized. Despite the dystopian city it is, and all its economic issues, Colonel Shikishima demands more money to help him with his experiments on the psychic children. 

Colonel Shikishima believes that the experiments are vital and urgent because he wants to continue experimenting on Tetsuo. After another fight with The Clowns, Tetsuo, Kaneda’s friend, got injured and was kidnapped by scientist to be experimented on. When Tetsuo’s psychic patterns match Akira’s, the Colonel panics and demands more funding and research into Tetsuo. The other government council members ignore the Colonel’s request because they do not trust him and his experiments anymore because of the massive explosion Akira caused. With this corrupt government in charge, we meet another character, Kei. 

Kei is part of a resistance group that wants to overthrow Neo-Tokyo’s government, reveal all their secrets, and provide proper support to the people. Rumors spread around Neo-Tokyo as the resistance group leaks government information. After Akira’s explosion years ago, Neo-Tokyo’s government covered Akira in a secret underground lab under Neo-Tokyo. While being experimented on, Tetsuo gets a message from the underground lab that Akira is locked in. Tetsuo escapes the experiments, and looks for Akira. The people of Neo-Tokyo hear about Akira from the resistance group, and start to protest against the government, and even create a cult dedicated to freeing Akira. The public opinion helps give the resistance group more power. During World War II, the public was hostile towards the government and the emperor (Broadbent & Lincoln 2015). 

Japanese soldiers, at the time, were committed to keep on fighting to show their loyalty to the emperor (Atomic Heritage 2019). In Japan, there are even old police records from 1942 that show that people were arrested for talking negatively about the emperor and the Japanese military negatively (Broadbent & Lincoln 2015). In Akira,we see something similar take place. We see several scenes of civilians protesting to let Tetsuo help free Akira, but militarized police officers would invade these protests and aggressively take down the protesters. Even in Neo-Tokyo, talking negatively about the government or even going against it can get you arrested. 

On his way to Akira, the police would try their best to stop Tetsuo. With Tetsuo’s strong power nobody can stop him. Tetsuo is seen as a symbol of hope to the people, but he viciously murders police officers and soldiers, and he destroys Neo-Tokyo. He also gets some of his supporters killed just to meet Akira. Near the end of the film, Tetsuo comes in contact with Akira. With their powers combing, Tetsuo turns into a disgusting amalgamation of organs and transcends into a god with incredible power. The contact between Tetsuo and Akira causes another massive explosion; similar to the one Akira caused at the beginning of the film. Kaneda also gets caught in the mix of Tetsuo transforming and we see Akira’s past. 

We see how Akira and the other children he was friends with were all victims of government experiments. They were all children experimented on to become government weapons. Seeing Akira’s past causes the viewer to question if he was in the right to destroy Tokyo thirty-one years ago. We also see the parallel of Akira destroying Tokyo at the beginning of the film, and then we see Akira destroy Neo-Tokyo again, but it is the birth of a new god, Tetsuo. When Tetsuo and Akira fully emerge, they put are put to rest into a tiny orb that Kaneda holds and absorbs. Akira and Tetsuo fade away. I believe this concept of destruction and rebirth is similar to Japan’s status after the atomic bomb wer dropped. 

Like the beginning of the film, when Tokyo is destroyed it evolves into Neo-Tokyo. Although Neo-Tokyo becomes a dystopian city, the transformation of Tetsuo and Akira gives our main cast of characters hope for the future.When World War II ended, the U.S. aided Japan. The Japanese government switched to a democracy, and the emperor became a symbol to Japan (Kumano, 2006, p. 36). A lot of Japanese people did not agree with Japan’s actions and involvement in World War II. Japanese civilians, and even some soldiers agreed that Japan should be “put in its place,” after everything they did in World War II (National Opinion Research Center, 1946, p. 11). I believe this change in government was a new beginning for the Japanese people. Although Japan had to experience the destruction of two atomic bombs, it did lead to the birth of a new nation. 

Akira is a powerful film that criticizes history and the future of our world. It mocks Japan during World War II, but it also warns us on the growth of nuclear technology because of government power. We see deviancy in each cast member of the film. Kaneda is part of a violent biker gang, Tetsuo becomes a beacon of hope but deals with his issues in selfish, gruesome ways. The psychic children and Akira were victims of government experiments, and Colonel Shikishima is the cause of these children becoming what they are. Finally, we have Kei who wanted to show the residents of Neo-Tokyo how corrupt their government is. This sci-fi film touches upon a lot of issues our society currently deals with, and portrays each theme with a great premise followed by beautiful animation. 

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Sources

Akira (anime) | Akira Wiki | Fandom. (2022). Akira Wiki. https://akira.fandom.com/wiki/Akira_(anime)

BBC News. “Hiroshima Bomb: Japan Marks 75 Years since Nuclear Attack.” BBC News, 6 Aug. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53660059.

Broadbent And Lincoln. (47567–05-08). The Japanese anti-war resistance during WWII | Red Flag. https://redflag.org.au/article/japanese-anti-war-resistance-during-wwii

Covill, M. (2020, December 22). ‘Akira’ is Frequently Cited as Influential. Why is That? Film School Rejects. https://filmschoolrejects.com/akira-influence-12cb6d84c0bc/

Davis, A. (2022). Bōsōzoku – Subcultures and Sociology. Grinnell College. https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/subcultures-and-scenes/bosozoku/

Emperor Hirohito. (2019). Atomic Heritage Foundation. https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/emperor-hirohito

Japan and the Post-War World. (1946). National Opinion Research Center. https://www.norc.org/PDFs/publications/NORCRpt_32.pdf

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Malloryk. “The Most Fearsome Sight: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, 5 Aug. 2020, www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/atomic-bomb-hiroshima.

Star Blazers | Toonami Wiki | Fandom. (2021, July). Toonami Wiki. https://toonami.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Blazers