Akira Movie
Akira is a live-action film adaptation of Japanese
manga artist and
anime director
Katsuhiro Otomo's graphic novel series of the same name. Set in "New Manhattan" three decades after a nuclear attack wiped out
New York City, the film follows a teenage biker who gains superpowers after being exposed to a government experiment. The manga and the animated film that preceded the live action version are considered seminal works in the
Cyberpunk genre.
Fast Facts
- Release Date: Summer 2009
- Director: Ruairi Robinson
- Producers: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson and Andrew Lazar
- Written by: Gary Whitta
- Distributor: Warner Bros.
- Katsuhiro Otomo directed a 1988 animated Akira film
Tetsuo
Though the manga and films all bear the title Akira after the protagonist
Akira Kaneda, the story revolves around
Testuo Shima, Akira's friend who goes mad with power when an accident gives him immense psychic abilities, most notably the power of
telekinesis. In the animated movie, at one point while battling the Army, Tetsuo's arm is destroyed, but he quickly forms a replacement arm out of scrap metal that he can move using his telekinetic powers. This works perfectly with his name, as Tetsuo is
Japanese for man of iron.
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