History of Wonder Boy and Young Nastyman

Title's an obscure reference to an old fan-made music video I saw years ago when I first saw Akira. I know I should probably be expanding my horizons and reading/watching something new, but to be honest I forgot a lot about what happened in the movie. I saw it when I was in middle school and all I remembered was a giant flesh baby.

When the movie first started up I wasn't sure how it fit into the cyberpunk genre, but when it ended, I put some thought into analyzing it. It actually has a lot of the elements normally found in the genre. The technology doesn't seem that impressive, and that was what threw me off at first. Most of the cyberpunk I can remember reading had a lot of new technology, some impressive stuff, robots, data coming out of everyplace, drugs, and hackers. Actually, Akira features the lot to a minimal extent, but to an extent nonetheless. Kaneda, the main character, is the leader of a motorbike gang. He's not all that bright {which is nice to see for a change} but he has a lot of personality. It's clear to see why he's the leader despite his juvenile antics. The motorbikes don't hover or anything, they're not data pirates or junkies; they seem like the sort of typical gang you'd expect to find in ten years time rolling out through Tokyo. This future doesn't seem like much of a jump from ours. The people are just as clueless as they've ever been and the technology isn't a bear to try and understand from our perspective.

However, as stated before, there are more elements that attribute it to the cyberpunk genre. The setting is nearly post-Apocalyptic, though oddly enough it is firmly wedged in between both 'post' and 'pre'. The city was devastated once before the first time that Akira's power had awoken and it is just about ready throughout the movie to see yet another similar apocalypse. Most cyberpunk settings bear this trait. The world is nitty and gritty, full of violence and protest. Crime is rampant. Anarchy is in the air. Politics are corrupt. The system is shutting down. A cyberpunk world is never a pretty one. As brought up by the experiments, mankind is facing an evolutionary milestone. People are attempting to control a power they have yet to understand. In the middle of it all, we have our quaint band of misfits trying to live in their teenage wasteland that end up involved in the mess that is their world changing when one of their own is abducted.

I still think it's a stretch though. The story still seemed to focus more on people versus power rather than man and machine. There were drugs involved as well, but half of the talk was actually about medicine to help curb Tetsuo's power and the other half might have been something else that wasn't nearly as significant. Like said before, there was a government on the brink of collapse and protesters rioting in the streets. The fall of the system can be glimpsed upon when the school is focused on briefly. The children are completely out of control and the school itself is a mess. It is indeed a society where the lower classes and the hooligans can rule the streets, leaving the high and mighty to their own dirty work.

I liked this movie, but seeing it now and understanding it better, it's a memorable one at that. I couldn't see this as something in a book because I believe wordy explanations would end up distracting readers from the purpose. Akira isn't really about technology and how far it's come. In fact I think the movie made it a point to show how stunted technological evolution became after a big war, and I appreciate that. Hell, we were supposed to have hover cars now if The Jetsons were in any way legit. Akira is a movie about people. Not just 'people in the future' or 'these people' but 'you' too. Tetsuo didn't make all the best decisions and power is something one should be careful with. He wasn't quite careful with it at all.

-Peace out.