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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Michael Z

21 hrs ago

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

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Charles A

1 day ago

A classic for a reason.

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Eli R

5 days ago

Really a masterpiece

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Cesar D

5 days ago

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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Santiago

Sep 9, 2026

Great animation style, you could tell they were showing off and really getting into flow state with the art. Message was awesome and communicated well. Music and ambiance was very deep.

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Katsuhiro Ohtomo

Director

Mitsuo Iwata

Shôtarô Kaneda

Nozomu Sasaki

Tetsuo Shima

Mami Koyama

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Tessho Genda

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Hiroshi Otake

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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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