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DVD Akira (Special Edition)
Artist-writer Katsuhiro Ôtomo began telling the story of Akira as a comic book series in 1982 but took a break from 1986 to 1988 to write, direct, supervise, and design this animated film version. Set in 2019, the film richly imagines the new metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, which is designed from huge buildings down to the smallest details of passing vehicles or police uniforms. Two disaffected orphan teenagers--slight, resentful Tetsuo and confident, breezy Kanada--run with a biker gang, but trouble grows when Tetsuo start to resent the way Kanada always has to rescue him. Meanwhile, a group of scientists, military men, and politicians wonder what to do with a collection of withered children who possess enormous psychic powers, especially the mysterious, rarely seen Akira, whose awakening might well have caused the end of the old world. Tetsuo is visited by the children, who trigger the growth of psychic and physical powers that might make him a superman or a supermonster. As befits a distillation of 1,318 pages of the story so far, Akira is overstuffed with character, incident, and detail. However, it piles up astonishing set pieces: the chases and shootouts (amazingly kinetic, amazingly bloody) benefit from minute cartoon detail that extends to the surprised or shocked faces of the tiniest extra; the Tetsuo monster alternately looks like a billion-gallon scrotal sac or a Tex Avery mutation of the monster from The Quatermass Experiment; and the finale--which combines flashbacks to more innocent days with a destruction of Neo City and the creation of a new universe--is one of the most mind-bending in all sci-fi cinema. --Kim Newman
Visually Astonishing, Dark and Original is what best describes Katshuiro Otomo's Masterpiece `AKIRA'. Now here is an animated film that is way ahead of his time, the film was released in 1988 even before Disney created computer FX's in their animated features. AKIRA is one of my favorite movies of all time it has beautiful visuals, great animation, an extraordinary story and a stunning soundtrack. I have read the entire AKIRA manga comics and yes it makes the movie that much easier to understand but with the new DVD edition which contains the correct dubbed version that allows the viewer to understand the film a little easier. I first saw AKIRA when I was 17 years old and ever since then I have collected great anime, at first I was confused but yet intrigued and consumed by the plot, I wanted to know what the story was about. Finally after 4 times viewing the film I understood the plot and the message Otomo wanted to deliver in this feature. The story is fascinating it takes place in the future in the city of NEO-TOKYO were citizens live in a constant chaos of an urban revolution, while the youth lives reckless on the dark streets gathering in bike gangs the government proceeds with the so called `akira project'; a mayor step in scientific discovery based on human energy.
AKIRA is a movie about betrayal, love, loyalty, anger, and fiction. For those who do not understand it is a movie about the universe and how us humans connect with it,they say we use about 11% of our brains but what if we were able to use 40% or even 100% of it, what then? And what if some of that percentage was damaged by hate, depression, or anger, this is the case of TETSUO who is the center character of this film. The possibilities are far from anything we can imagine, `AKIRA' provides a fictional possibility that self energy exists within all of us and that is just as delicate as it is powerful.
This is an epic proportion animated feature, the action sequences are creatively amazing, the plot is very intriguing, dark and character driven like no other film. It is one of a kind and even after 14 years we have yet to see anything like it whether is an animated or a feature film.
Great but not a match to steamboy
This was a great movie. I would have never known of it except its written on the front and back of the Steamboy dvd, and any poster. After seeing that movie i was ready to see this one!!! It wasnt as good but it is still a great movie. When i saw the animation on the box i got a little scared of how ugly they looked. But in the actual movie they look great. But this is a very dark movie, lot of scary stuff especially the blue kids. But other than that it is a great movie. I think the Voice over sounded good. I dont know what other reviewers were talking about they sound good to me. You can always watch it in japanese. The only bad thing about this movie is the rating. I know it fits the movie but when i tried to buy it i was turned down because i was too young.(17). aparently a new law had passed a week before the age limit was changed to 18. So with my parents i got it the next day!
NO
i heard they changed the voices from the oringal english voice overs
big mistake by the oringal not the specail edition
The skillful blending of drawn animation and computer-generated imagery excited anime fans when this science fiction mystery was released in 1995: many enthusiasts believe Ghost suggests what the future of anime will be, at least in the short term. The film is set in the not-too-distant future, when an unnamed government uses lifelike cyborgs or "enhanced" humans for undercover work. One of the key cyborgs is The Major, Motoko Kusanagi, who resembles a cross between The Terminator and a Playboy centerfold. She finds herself caught up in a tangled web of espionage and counterespionage as she searches for the mysterious superhacker known as "The Puppet Master."
Mamoru Oshii directs with a staccato rhythm, alternating sequences of rapid-fire action (car chases, gun battles,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Atsuko Tanaka - Iemasa Kayumi Director(s): Mamoru Oshii DVD Release Date: Released the 31 March 1998 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A peak achievement of Japanese anime, Ninja Scroll is a propulsive mix of samurai action adventure and supernatural fantasy from writer-director Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Supernatural Best City). This is defiantly animation for grown-ups, complete with fountains of blood, plenty of naked flesh, and (in both the subtitled and dubbed versions) some decidedly strong language. (Students of Japanese language could pick up some useful expressions.) The plot sounds like a 16th century variation on the X-Files: An entire village has been wiped out by a mysterious plague and an anti-government conspiracy of invulnerable demons seems to be responsible. A wandering ninja, Jubei, and his female counterpart, Kagero, team up to defeat the plotters. Jubei is a classic reluctant hero,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Kevin Seymour - Yoshiaki Kawajiri DVD Release Date: Released the 19 May 1998 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This epic, animated 1997 fantasy has already made history as the top-grossing domestic feature ever released in Japan, where its combination of mythic themes, mystical forces, and ravishing visuals tapped deeply into cultural identity and contemporary, ecological anxieties. For international animation and anime fans, Princess Mononoke represents an auspicious next step for its revered creator, Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service), an acknowledged anime pioneer, whose painterly style, vivid character design, and stylized approach to storytelling take ambitious, evolutionary steps here.
Set in medieval Japan, Miyazaki's original story envisions a struggle between nature and man. The march of technology, embodied in the dark... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 19 December 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Mamoru Oshii's landmark Ghost in the Shell (1995) largely defined the cyberpunk genre and influenced the Matrix films in the U.S. The long-awaited sequel continues the adventures of Batou, Major Kusanagi's former assistant, who was left behind when she disappeared into the cyber-realm of the Net. With his new human partner, Togusa, Batou investigates a series of bloody murders involving gynoids, robots with sexual functions. The case leads them to the headquarters of the Locus Solus company, where Batou uncovers the evil secret behind the creation of the gynoids. Innocence includes some staggeringly beautiful CG images, especially a parade depicting characters from Chinese mythology. Oshii contrasts this glittering beauty with a Blade... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Akio Ôtsuka - Atsuko Tanaka - Tamio Ôki Director(s): Mamoru Oshii DVD Release Date: Released the 28 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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One of the most ambitious animated films to come out of Japan (or anywhere, for that matter), Perfect Blue is an adult psycho-thriller that uses the freedom of the animated image to create the subjective reality of a young actress haunted by the ghost of her past identity. Mima is a singer who leaves her teeny-bop trio to become an actress in a violent television series, a career move that angers her fans, who prefer to see her as the pert, squeaky-clean pop idol. Plagued by self-doubt and tormented by humiliating compromises, she begins to be stalked, in her waking and sleeping moments, by an accusing alter ego who claims to be "the real Mima," until she collapses into madness as her coworkers are brutally slain around her. Director Satoshi Kon, adapting the novel by Yoshikazu... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Satoshi Kon DVD Release Date: Released the 02 May 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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