Akira (1988)

Country of Origin: Japan
Year of Production: 1987
Running Times: 124m
Length:
Format: 65mm (negative format)/35mm and 70mm (print formats)
Colour Format:
Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1 (70mm prints)/1.85:1 (35mm prints)
Sound: Dolby

DIRECTION

Directed by: Katsuhiro Otomo (opening credits) Supervising Director: Katsuhiro Otomo (closing credits)

SCRIPT
Written by: Katsuhiro Otomo (opening credits)
Screenplay: Katsuhiro Otomo, Izo Hashimoto (closing credits)
Based on the graphic novel "Akira" by Katsuhiro Otomo first published by "Young Magazine", Kodansha Ltd.

ANIMATION
Chief Animator: Takashi Nakamura
Assistant to Chief Animator: Koji Morimoto
Animation Directors: Yoshio Takeuchi, Hiroaki Sato
Assistant Animation Directors: Hiroyuki Ishido, Norihiko Sudo
Key Animators: Atsuko Fukushima, Toshiyuki Inoue, Tomihiko Okubo, Masuji Kigami, Yoshiyuki Okiura, Sadahiko Sakamaki, Satoshi Hirayama, Seiji Muta, Satoru Utsunomiya, Kazuyoshi Takeuchi, Toyoaki Emura, Masatomo Sudo, Shinichi Suzuki, Hitoshi Ueda, Kuni Tomita, Ayumi Tomobuki, Chiharu Sato, Yasuhiro Seo, Yoshinori Tokiya, Hideki Nimura, Hirotsugu Kawasaki, Osamu Nabeshima, Masaharu Tada, Koichi Hashimoto, Hidehiko Okano, Hiroyuki Horiuchi, Yasushi Nagaoka, Morifumi Naka, Shinya Ohira, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Satoshi Urushibara, Hideko Yamauchi, Yasuomi Umetsu, Akinobu Takahashi, Shinichi Terasawa, Toshiaki Hontani, Tatsuo Ryuno, Shoichi Masuo, Shuichi Obara, Yoshinori Kaneda, Toshio Kawaguchi, Masaaki Endo, Kyoko Matsubara, Shinji Otsuka, Tatsuyuki Tanaka, Kazuyoshi Yaginuma, Jiro Kanai, Hiroyuki Takagi, Makiko Futaki, Shinji Hashimoto, Kitaro Kosaka
Key Animators Telecom Animation Film Co., Ltd.: Koichi Maruyama, Yoshinobu Michihata, Masanori Ono, Kenji Yazaki, Horaki Noguchi, Toshihiko Masuda, Yuichiro Yano, Yuko Kusumoto, Hiroyuki Aoyama, Seiichi Takiguchi, Hirokazu Suenaga, Toshiya Washida, Keiko Tomizawa
Animation Checkers: Mitsunori Murata, Hisahiko Komiya, Hitomi Tateno
Assistants to Animation Checkers: Yoshihisa Maki, Kiyoaki Sakuma, Naoshi Ozawa, Norio Matsumoto, Hiroyuki Morita, Osamu Tanabe, Mariko Aoki, Tetsuya Ishikawa, Yutaka Sakamoto, Akiko Yamaguchi, Yuichi Katayama, Motoki Yagi
In-betweeners (Nakamura Production): Hisao Yamazaki, Takashi Noto, Takayuki Ishizuka, Shusaku Chiba, Shinichi Sasaki, Takuro Shinpo, Koichi Taguchi, Masayuki Yanase, Setsuya Tanabe, Koichi Hatsumi, Kazuyuki Iizuka, Noriyuki Nakajima, Tatsuya Uetsu, Teiji Hiramatsu, Yoshiuki Fukuda
In-betweekers (Dragon Productions): Junko Isaka, Midori Nagaoka, Tomoko Takei, Chieko Shiobara, Masami Takebuchi, Katsumoto Ehara, Kenji Yamamoto, Yuichi Miura, Yoshiaki Wakaki, Takayaki Shimura, Akiko Nakamura, Mariko Takekuchi, Kaori Miyagawa, Yoshiko Kuriihara, Daihachi Okajima, Kenichi Katsui, Mariko Araki, Akiko Yoshii, Miyuki Murai
In-betweeners (Telecom Animation Film Co.]], [[Ltd): Shinsuke Harada, Yoko Sakurai, Junko Saito, Masako Hayashi, Akiko Kawauchi, Noboru Sasaki, Norio Saito, Kayoko Nakafuji, Hisao Yokobori, Yoko Nagashima, Toshie Nkagome, Yasuhiro Takema, Yayoi Toki, Takashi Kawaguchi, Takuo Tominaga, Takashi Umeda, Hiroko Yoshizawa, Junko Uenoyama, Masayuki Osawa, Shojiro Nishimi, Masato Mukai, Takeshi Konakawa, Emiko Hirama, Yuji Nakamura, Hiroko Takatani, Yukari Fujii, Yumi Yanagawa, Masayoshi Shimura, Natsuko Takahashi, Nobuo Kamaki, Hiroshi Sato, Seiko Azuma, Akira Tsukada, Keiko Yozawa, Yoshiko Fujita, Miyuki Aoki, Tatsushi Narita, Mayumi Suzuki, Hinako Komatsu, Sachiko Kobayashi, Koji Kawasaki, Yoshiaki Matsuo, Eiichiro Nishiyama, Hiroko Watanabe, Rie Niidome, Takuya Iinuma, Yasuyuki Shimuzu, Emiko Nishiyama
Cooperative Animation Studios: Oh Production, Gainax, Studio Dub, Studio DEEN, Mook, Shindo Production, Tamazawa Animation, Studio Musashi, Studio Look, Fantasia, Boomerang, Kyoto Animation, Next One, Marchen-Sha, WARP, Samtack, Studio Pierrot, Tezuka Production, Group Lynus, Raijin Film, Tiger Production, Studio Kuma, Super Spirits, Asunaro Studio, Animal-Ya, Magic Bus, Anime Art, Radical Party
Colour Keys: Kimie Yamano, Michiko Ikeuchi, Setsuko Tanaka
Ink and Paint Checkers: Noriko Shiotani, Noriko Ogawa, Yuriko Kashiwakura, Teruyo Tateyama
Inkers and Painters (Yuminsha): Shihoko Nakayama, Naoko Kawakami, Mika Tsuda, Minoru Ueno, Atsushi Sano, Minako Mori, Hideyuki Yagisawa, Tomoko Mitsui, Yukihiko Michimoto, Yumiko Kawaguchi, Junichi Uehara, Harumi Yatsu, Atsushi Fujitsuka, Hiromi Sirouchi, Mayumi Kimura, Miho Uchiyama
Cooperative Ink and Paint Studios: Telecom Animation Film, I.M Studio, Osaka Animation Studio, Studio Robin, Easy World, Suzuki Animation, Studio Kuma, M I, Studio Noel, Studio Marine, Office Next One, Fantasia, Studio Look, Body Planning
Layouters: Takashi Watabe, Kiyomi Tanaka
Special Back Ground Effect: Noriko Takaya
Back Ground (Studio Fuga): Tsutomu Uchida, Asako Kodaira, Satoshi Kuroda, Miyuki Kudo, Kenji Kamiyama, Katsufumi Hariu, Mariko Kobayashi, Noboru Tatsuike, Hajime Soga, Tatsuya Kushida, Sanae Ichioka, Toru Hishiyama, Tokuhiro Hiragi, Masatoshi Kai
Back Ground (Studio Uni): Jiro Kawano, Kaori Yamasaki, Tatehiko Uchida, Akira Furuya, Akiyoshi Iijima, Takashi Nakamura
Back Ground (Baku Production): Mitsuhara Miyamae, Hirofumi Hagimiwa, Kazuhiro Sato, Osamu Honda, Tatsuo Imamura
Back Ground (Ishigaki Productions): Yukihiro Shibuya, Mamoru Konno, Hiroyuki Mitsumoto, Kenichi Takahashi, Hiroyuki Ogura, Kazutoshi Shimizu, Kazuhiro Kinoshita, Yoji Nakaza, Yukiko Iijima, Eiko Sudo, Yoshie Kanajima, Kaoru Honma, Fukiko Hashizume
Back Ground (Kobayashi Production): Shinji Kimura, Nobohiro Otsuka
Special Cooperation for Back Ground: Takumi Nagayasu
Quick Action Recoder Operator: Goro Morita

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Katsuji Misawa
Animation Camera Shooting Staff (Asahi Productions): Atsushi Okui, Akio Saito, Kazuta Furubayashi, Shuichi Ito, Hideko Takahashi, Tetsu Keibu, Kazunobu Okeda, Yoichi Hasegawa, Yuki Asaine, Toshiyuki Umeda, Youji Toki, Hiroyuki Matsuzawa, Yukinori Sakai
Animation Camera Shooting Staff (Toms Photo): Hajime Hasegawa, Kenichi Kobayashi, Takashi Nomura, Hiroshi Kanai, Moriyuki Terashita, Hitoshi Nishiyama, Hitoshi Shirao, Takahisa Ogawa, Hironori Yoshino, Kiyoshi Kobatashi, Atsushi Yoshino, Kazunari Ichinozuka, Mika Sakai, Atsuko Ito, Kyoko Osakai
Cooperative Animation Camera Studio: Trans Arts
Best Boys: Bunichi Matsumoto, Haruhisa Yamaji, Shinji Takahashi, Tomohiro Suesada, Minoru Arai, Junya Yoshida

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Takeshi Seyama
Assistant Editor: Hiroshi Adachi
Film Laboratory: Tokyo Laboratory Inc.

MUSIC
Composer & Conductor: Shoji Yamashiro
Musical Director: Shoji Yamashiro
Sound Architect: Keihi Urata (Emu)
Performers: Geinoh Yamashiro Gumi
Musical Recording Directors: Keiji Muraki, Shiro Sasaki
Musical Recording Engineer: Heizo Yoda, Hideo Takada, Keiichiro Yoshiaka
Musical Editor: Haruhiko Ohno
Music Recording Studios: JVC Aoyama Studio; Vario-Hall; Showa Women's University Hitomi Memorial Hall
Musical Produced by: Akira Committee/Victor Musical Industries, Inc.

SOUND
Sound Recording Director: Susumu Aketagawa
Supervising Sound Recording Engineer: Tetsuo Segawa
Producer of Sound Recording: Tokuya Shimada
Assistant to Sound Recording Director: Masafumi Mima, Magic Capsule
Sound Recording Engineers: Yukie Naito, Toshifumi Seike
Sound Recording Production Manager: Kozo Ogata
Sound Effect Supervisor: Shizuo Karahashi
Foley: Kenji Shibasaki, Toyo Onkyo
Sound Recording Production Studio: Digital Sound Design Studio Eureka
Sound Recording Studio: Aoi Studio
Dolby Stereo Consultants: Mikio Mori, Continental Far East Inc, Tokyo, Japan

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Artist: Takashi Maekawa

VISUAL EFFECTS
Computer Graphics (High-Tech Lab. Japan Inc.): Ryoichiro Debuchi, Yukiko Katsuya, Yuriko Amemiya, Naoko Motoyoshi, Chie Furubayashi
Cooperative Companies for Computer Graphics: Sumisho Electronic Systems, Inc.; Wavefront Technologies

DESIGN
Art Director: Toshiharu Mizutani
Art Designers: Kuzuo Ebisawa, Yuji Ikehata, Kouji Ohno

OTHER CREW
Akira Committee Office: Shozo Sugiyama, Akira Horiguchi, Yukari Imamura
Production Assistant: Keiko Nobumoto
Publisist (sic): Ryosuke Kumai

VOICES

Mitsuo Iwata (Kaneda)
Nozomu Sasaki (Tetsuo)
Mami Koyama (Kei)
Tetsusho Genda (Ryu)
Hiroshi Otake (Nezu)
Koichi Kitamura (Miyako)
Michihiro Ikemizu (inspector/Committee I)
Yuriko Fuchizaki (Kaori)
Masaaki Okura (Yamagata)
Taro Arakawa (Watanabe)
Takeshi Kusao (Kai)
Kazumi Tanaka (Army)
Masayuki Kato (Engineer Sakiyama/Committee D)
Yosuke Akimoto (manager)
Masato Hirano (Takeyama/spy/Committee F)
Yukimasa Kishino (Kuwata/terrorist/assistant/Committe B)
Kazuhiro Kando (Masaru (No. 27))
Tatsuhiko Nakamura Takashi (No. 26))
Sachie Ito (Kiyoko (No. 25))
Issei Futamata
Kozo Shioya
Michitaka Kobayashi
Hideyuki Umezu
Satoru Inagaki
Kayoko Fujii, Masami Toyoshima, Yuka Ohna (girls)
Taro Ishida (Colonel Shikishima)
Mizuho Suzuki (doctor)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION VOICES

Jimmy Flinders
Drew Thomas
Lewis Lemay
Barbara Larsen
Stanley Gurd Jr
Tony Mozdy
Deanna Morris
Bob Berger
Marilyn Lane
Watney Held
Burt Walters
Julie Phelan
Christopher Mathewson
Brad Wurst
Jim Warrington

DIGITALLY REMASTERED AND ENGLISH VERSION 2001

PRODUCTION
Produced by: Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc. in association with ZRO Limit Productions
Executive Producer: Yosuke Kobayashi
Planner: Hideki "Henry" Goto
Producers: Hiroe Tsukamoto, Yutaka Maseba, Haruyo Kanesaku
Production Coordinators: Sawako Furuya, Kei Onishi

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Digitally Remastered at: IVC Inc. High Definition Center
HD Project Engineer: Howard Lukk
Telecine Colorist: Mark Nakamine
DRS Technician: Tony Catanese
Project Manager: Danielle Ste. Just
Translation & Subtitle Timing: David Fleming/ZRO Limit Productions
Subtitling: Captions, Inc.

SOUND
English Dialog Production: Animaze Inc
ADR Director: Kevin Seymour
ADR Screenplay & ADR Supervision: Kevin Seymour, Heidi Wilbur
Digital ADR Engineers: "Big Phil" Brewster, Michael McCarty
Recording Facility: Magnitude 9 Post
Sound Effects/Dialog Editing: Lisa Hannan, Les E. Claypool III
Audio Post Coordinator: Lisa Tarull
Remixed at: POP Sound
Re-recording Mixer: Ted Hall
Re-recording Assistant: Shane T. Keller
Supervising Sound Editor: Les E. Claypool III

ENGLISH VOICE TALENT
Johnny Yong Bosch
Joshua Seth
Wendee Lee
Sandy Fox
James Lyon
Cody Mackenzie
Robert Wicks
Sparky Thornton
Chloe Thornton
Detroit Louie
Matt "Masamune" Miller
Matthew Hustin
Dylan Tully
Michael Sorich
Russell Thor
Ray Michaels
George C. Cole
Lee Kelso
Pee Jay Lee
Mona Marshall
Michael McConnohie
Georgette Rose
Peter Lee
Jim Taggert
G. Gordon Baer
Robert Axelrod
Reba West
Steve Cannon
David Umansky
Steve Kramer
David Lucas
Henry Douglas Grey
Simon Isaacson
Ted Rae
Raphael Antonio
William Frederick
Frederick Bloggs
Kurt Wimberger
Lisa Tarulli
Jessica Gee
Joe Romersa
Ivan Buckley
Jonathan C. Osborne
Josil Ferhardt
Jean Howard
Guy Pinkham
Mike Lembaw
Harold Muckle
Doug Stone
Bambi Darro
Christy Mathewson
Emily Brown
Ethan Murray
Sam Strong
Richard Plantagenet
Dan Martin
Jackson Daniels
W.T. Hatch
Christopher Joyce
Adam Sholder
Tony Sarducci
Barbara Goodson
Lex Lang
Dougary Grant

Neo-Tokyo, the future: a motorcycle gang stumbles upon a top secret military experiment while duelling one night with a rival gang. Following an encounter with a group of strange, wizened children, one of the the gang, Tetsuo, starts to mutate into something more than human. But how does this tie in with the social unrest gripping the city? And who, or what, is Akira?

An astounding achievement, Akira broke Japanese anime in the West, much to the dismay of the anime snobs who constantly try to distant themselves from Otomo's film as it eclipses their own favourites. Ignore them - this is a masterpiece, an adult, highly litrerate and challenging film that should rate highly on any self-respecting SF movie fan's top ten list.

Canada
Video Distributor: Streamline Pictures

UK
Video Distributor: Island World Communications/Manga

USA
Video Distributor: Streamline Pictures; Orion
Laserdisc Distributor: Criterion Pictures

Australia
Rating: M

France
Rating: -12

Germany
Rating: 16

Netherlands
Rating: 16

Norway
Rating: 18

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: unrated

1988
July
16: Japan - theatrical release

1991
May
8: France - theatrical release

October
14: UK - video release

Neo-Tokyo is about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.

EXTRACTS INCLUDED IN
Akira Production Report (1988)
Akira Sound Clip (1988)

SEE ALSO
Carrie (1976)
Heavy Metal (1981)
Scanners (1981)
Tetsuo (1988)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Supurigan (1998)
The Matrix (1999)

PERIODICALS

Animag 7 pp.30-35 (UK)
illustrated review

Cinefantastique vol.20 no.4 (March 1990) p.46 (USA)
illustrated credits, review

Empire January 1992 p.100 (UK)
review

Filmvilag vol.40 no.4 (1997) pp.37-38 (Hungary)
illustrated review (Uj Tokio by Ferenc Komlodi)

Idols November 1990 (UK)
review

Imaginator no.7 p.25 (UK)
review

Legend no.19 (Winter 1995/1996) p.26 (UK)
soundtrack review

Metro no.135 (2003) pp.266-267 (Australia)
illustrated DVD review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.58 no.686 (March 1991) pp.65-67; 67-68 (UK)
illustrated credits, review (by Tony Rayns); illustrated interview with Katsuhiro Otomo (Future paradise by Tony Rayns)

The Orient Express no.1 pp.3-4 (UK)
review (by Kevin Lyons)

Perfect Vision vol.5 no.19 (Autumn 1993) pp.135-139; 138; 139 (USA)
review; article; article

Premiere vol.4 no.4 (December 1990) pp.42, 43 (USA)
illustrated review

Satellite Times February 1994 p.31 (UK)
illustrated article

Sight and Sound vol.13 no.10 (October 2003) p.74 (UK)
DVD review

Starburst no.159 (November 1991) p.48 (UK)
review

Starburst no.285 (May 2002) p.65 (UK)
illustrated video/DVD review

Variety 15 March 1989 p.18 (USA)
review

The Village Voice vol.46 (3 April 2001) p.124 (USA)
illustrated review (The art of the ridiculous sublime by Michael Atkinson)

BOOKS

The A-Z of Science Fiction and Fantasy Films p.12
review, credits

Elliott's Guide to Home Entertainment (4th Edition) pp.11-12
short review, credits, UK video data

Horror and Science Fiction Films IV p.7
credits

OTHER SOURCES

Island World Press Pack
credits, synopsis

screen
credits

KEYWORDS

animation, anime, the future, genetics, psychics, conspiracies, world war iii, tokyo, mutations, children, teenagers, schools, motorcycles, military, comic into film

Last Updated: 24 January, 2010