Akira, 1988

Akira was probably one of the first sci-fi movies I ever watched, and it was the stuff of nightmares. My older brother watched it religiously since he was (and remains) a huge anime dork, meaning it absolutely plagued me. Numerous scenes from the movie are etched into my memory for what seems like the rest of my life, including Tetsuo’s grotesque transformation in his final battle against Kaneda, as well as the striking orbital laser that comes down to try and kill the former as he lays waste to Neo-Tokyo. For all intents and purposes, Akira was the baseline of what sci-fi could and should be in my life, and that set a really high standard early on.

Akira is rightfully heralded as a classic for its heady themes, no-frills approach, and gorgeous animation. It is, after all, the origin of the beloved (and often imitated) “Akira slide.” More than 30 years later, it’s one of the boldest films ever and hasn’t been matched, let alone overcome. Tons of sci-fi films posit questions about the efficacy and true role of the military, but I think few have the open disdain and grime of Akira. Neo-Tokyo may look sleek and cool, but it’s the template for the artifice of cyberpunk settings. Underneath it all, everything is rotten.

Besides the obvious reasons for Akira’s acclaim, I think it’s also pretty neat that my earliest exposure to the genre came from outside of the American bubble. I think it’s easy for folks to mistake any one view for the dominant perspective on a subject, but Akira instilled a sense early on that there is far more to the world, fiction, the future, and our anxieties than my few blocks, city, state, or country. — Moises Taveras