This week the Bad Dads take on Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 anime classic: part cyberpunk biker movie, part psychic apocalypse, part body-horror nightmare, and still one of the most influential animated films ever made.
What We Covered
- The motorcycle connection: Sidey picked Akira partly off the back of motorcycle week, with the famous “Akira slide” still instantly recognisable decades later.
- Neo-Tokyo and the set-up: The Dads discuss the opening destruction of Tokyo, the rebuilt dystopian city, biker gangs, riots, unemployment, militarised politics and general “not a happy place” energy.
- Kaneda, Tetsuo and the Capsules: Kaneda’s iconic red bike, Tetsuo’s resentment, the gang hierarchy, and the way their childhood friendship feeds the film’s final emotional punch.
- The psychic test subjects: Takashi, the other child-like espers, the hospital experiments, telekinesis, hallucinations, and the film’s blend of sci-fi plot with surreal nightmare imagery.
- Tetsuo’s transformation: From headaches and glass-of-water Force powers to satellite lasers, a metal arm, body horror, and a final monstrous collapse into flesh, pain and chaos.
- Akira himself: The reveal that Akira is not really “the guy on the bike”, but a dissected psychic force preserved in jars under the Olympic Stadium.
- The animation: Reegs praises the film’s restless visual movement; Dan says the craft makes you forget any resistance to animation; Sidey calls the full-mutant Tetsuo sequence incredible.
- Influence and legacy: The gang spot echoes and connections to The Matrix, Drive, Watchmen, 2001, Clockwork Orange, The Warriors, Godzilla destruction, and later anime/body-horror culture.
- Subtitles vs dubbing: Dan finds an English version in the “depths of the internet”, while others stick with Japanese and subtitles.
- Cris watch status: Cris did not get to the film because he could not find it properly and refused to watch it on a phone — fair, frankly.
Key Quotes / Moments
- “There’s very little ball content in Akira.”
- “The Akira slide… one of the most famous shots in animation.”
- “It’s like the Force, but way more destructive.”
- “I’m in the revolution, mate. I’m busy.”
- “SOL Campbell” as the orbital laser gag. Obviously.
- “It wasn’t quite Dogtanian.”
Verdict
A strong recommend from the Dads. Sidey calls it a great gateway into anime, Dan enjoys it more than expected and finds the animation absorbing, and Reegs loves the film’s kinetic craft and cultural footprint. Cris remains technically unconverted, but tempted.
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Bad Dads
