Double Feature and anime. A continued attempt to learn about film purely through immersion. What Akira has in common with previous films Double Feature has covered. The influence of Akira on live-action American storytelling. Biological technology in a cyberpunk way instead of a body horror way. Doing new and unfamiliar things with body horror. The introduction of commercial Japanese animation to the American youth market. An obsession with power. Changing forms. Future Tokyo, animated. The animation breakthroughs unleashed by Akira. Keyframes, limited animation and sound. The Sky Crawler’s vision of corporate-sponsored warfare. Quenching the (probably not real) human need for violence. Modern-day gladiators. A surprisingly realistic depiction of a type of warfare not often seen. An element of mystery is revealed. Anime’s fixation on childhood. Inspecting youth in military. Foreign animation and eroticism.
Trailers
Covers
Click on a cover to view/download high resolution version.Akira
Released: July 16, 1988
IMDB | Wikipedia
Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo
Writer: Katsuhiro Ôtomo, Izô Hashimoto
Starring: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
The Sky Crawlers
Released: August 2, 2008
IMDB | Wikipedia
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Writer: Hiroshi Mori, Chihiro Itô
Starring: Rinko Kikuchi, Ryo Kase, Shôsuke Tanihara
A group of eternally young fighter pilots known as Kildren experience the sudden loss of innocence as they battle the enemy in astonishing dogfights above the clouds.