5 Things You Didn’t Know: Akira
4- Akira gave rise to real-world technologyGreat science fiction has a way of imagining and engendering technology that didn’t exist before, and Akira is no exception.
The Akira manga was, like most Japanese mangas, originally done using only black and white. Its first Western translation, colored by Steve Oliff for Epic Comics, pioneered the use of digital coloring and became the first digitally colored comic (a process that is an industry standard today). Oliff achieved the feat in 1988 with a program called Pixelcraft, working on an IBM 286 12mhz computer; the effort won him the 1989 Harvey Award (presented for achievement in comic books) for best color.
Moving to the street, the immense popularity of Kaneda’s unique ”feet first” motorcycle has also prompted the creation of a few reproductions of that bike, although the majority of them were not functional. At least one exception was shown at the 2004 Tokyo Motorcycle Show, and more than a few fans would love to see it go into production.
5- Akira was the West’s big introduction to animeAnimation in Japan goes back at least a century, back to a three-second clip produced in 1907 that featured a kid in a sailor’s suit writing the words “Moving Pictures” before he faced the audience, removed his cap and saluted. The art form became propaganda during the World War II; then, during U.S. occupation, it was heavily influenced by Disney.
Anime’s first true introduction in the West can probably be traced to 1967’s Speed Racer, but other examples are few and far between until Akira hit Western shores. For many, the film was their first exposure to anime, and the movie is often credited as being almost exclusively responsible for the huge Western anime boom of the ‘90s.
While interest has cooled slightly since then, one can still see plenty of recent examples of anime’s Western popularity, including the massive Pokemon franchise as well as Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The release of Akira was a seminal moment in the history of anime, particularly in the West. The film marked the beginning of the genre’s global emergence, and it remains one of the most influential movies in the long history of animation. With the pending release of the live-action film, more fans are sure to be born, which should mean more people will be interested in its origins.
Since 1982, the dense complexity of Akira has held the attention of its enormous fan base, and it should surprise no one that the brand has been merchandized excessively, from trading cards and model kits to pinball machines, video games, leather jackets, and more. Whether or not Hollywood’s live-action remake will lead to an Akira renaissance is too difficult to say. It relies on a number of variables, and it’s still altogether possible for the project to fall through, since it has happened at least once before.