Akira

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Akira

R

1989

2h 4m

Sci-Fi

Anime

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

103 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

In 1988 the Japanese government drops an atomic bomb on Tokyo after ESP experiments on children go awry. In 2019, 31 years after nuking the city, Kaneda, a bike gang leader, tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a secret government project. He battles against anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader until Tetsuo's supernatural power suddenly manifests. A final battle is fought in Tokyo Olympiad exposing the experiment's secrets.

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Critics Consensus

Akira is strikingly bloody and violent, but its phenomenal animation and sheer kinetic energy helped set the standard for modern anime.

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Hugo Davenport

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Sep 4, 2026

Most strikingly of all, the film is bathed in the harsh brilliance of a post-Einsteinian consciousness -- an awareness of both the horrors and the wonders of the uncharted worlds beyond the atom.

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Robert Garrett

Boston Globe

Sep 4, 2026

The hard-edged animation style is crudely inventive in the way of a fast-paced video game, but it's also very repetitive and boring. Like junk food, a little bit of it goes a long way.

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Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

Sep 4, 2026

2.5/4

It's a vision of the future that is at once startlingly imaginative and frighteningly like urban life as we know it today, poised on a new millenium.

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Chuck Waters

News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)

Sep 4, 2026

3.5/4

If you could take crystallized essences of Heavy Metal, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Speed Racer and Tron, encase them in a kaleidoscope, focus and gaze, maybe you'd get some idea of Akira's brilliance.

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Russell Stamets

Tampa Bay Times

Sep 4, 2026

4/5

Katsuhiro Otomo's futuristic morality-action epic Akira brings the animated feature to a new level of seriousness comparable to the best of live-action films.

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Gary Susman

Boston Phoenix

Sep 4, 2026

The film's overkill adds up to an overwhelming visual experience at the service of a compelling tale. Akira tells a profoundly human story.

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Jayden

Oct 30, 2026

So overrated.

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Michael Z

Sep 17, 2026

Amazing to see this film restored and on the big screen. 🤌

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Charles A

Sep 17, 2026

A classic for a reason.

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Eli R

Sep 13, 2026

Really a masterpiece

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Cesar D

Sep 12, 2026

Great animation mature themes and story in a post war future about how having powers of a good can go bad and turning children into weapons is a terrible idea.

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Adam W

Sep 10, 2026

Truely every bit of classic anime its porported to be

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Katsuhiro Ohtomo

Director

Mitsuo Iwata

Shôtarô Kaneda

Nozomu Sasaki

Tetsuo Shima

Mami Koyama

Kei

Tessho Genda

Ryûsaku

Hiroshi Otake

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Akira: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In 1988 the Japanese government drops an atomic bomb on Tokyo after ESP experiments on children go awry. In 2019, 31 years after nuking the city, Kaneda, a bike gang leader, tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a secret government project. He battles against anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader until Tetsuo's supernatural power suddenly manifests. A final battle is fought in Tokyo Olympiad exposing the experiment's secrets.

Director: Katsuhiro Ohtomo
Producer: Shunzo Kato, Ryôhei Suzuki
Screenwriter: Izou Hashimoto, Katsuhiro Ohtomo
Distributor: Streamline Pictures
Production Co: Akira Committee Company, Ltd.
Rating: R (Graphic Violence|Brief Nudity)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Anime
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 1989, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Sep 4, 2026
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 12, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.3M
Runtime: 2h 4m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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