Akira review

The anime masterpiece gets a big screen re-release. Get thee to a cinema.

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When you absolutely, positively have to get some anime in your life, accept no substitutes; 23 years on, Akira is still the genre’s crowning achievement.

Biker gangs roam post-WWIII streets of Neo-Tokyo and when one of their number gains stupendous psychic powers, all hell breaks lose.

In truth, it’s a pretty confused plot (inevitable, given the 2,000-page source material), but who cares?

Pretty much every frame delivers startling new peaks of animation, and the sheer ambition of the thing takes the breath away.

Give yourself a reward, if you can understand the ending, though.