Where to find it: I recommend watching the sub, which is available via Hulu US and the Blu-Ray editions. Otherwise, you can find dubs on most anime streaming services.
What is it, in summary?: A cyberpunk anime film set in the futuristic Neo-Tokyo, after a black domed explosion thirty years prior destroys Neo-Tokyo and sets off World War III. Friends Kaneda and Tetsuo are a pair of biker gang members living in Neo-Tokyo. During a gang confrontation one evening, a government escapee with psychic powers interrupts the fight and comes into contact with Tetsuo. The military soon arrives to reclaim the escapee, but takes Tetsuo along with them and subjects him to the Akira Project, granting him powerful psychic abilities. However, these powers combined with a severe inferiority complex harbored since childhood waste no time in sending Tetsuo flying off the deep end. He escapes and begins to rampage across Neo-Tokyo, with Kaneda trying to stop him.
What do you love about it?: The film is gorgeous and sounds amazing: there is a reason it's a defining film for the cyberpunk genre. There is a lot to chew on when it comes to characters and themes. I love the world presented in it as well, and there are a lot of angles to explore for worldbuilding.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Worldbuilding, alternate points of view, body horror, during canon, crossovers, fusions
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Canon itself is short; there is a reason I didn't nominate the manga, ha.
Akira (Anime 1988)
Media: Anime/Film
Approx length: 2h 4m, including credits
Where to find it: I recommend watching the sub, which is available via Hulu US and the Blu-Ray editions. Otherwise, you can find dubs on most anime streaming services.
What is it, in summary?: A cyberpunk anime film set in the futuristic Neo-Tokyo, after a black domed explosion thirty years prior destroys Neo-Tokyo and sets off World War III. Friends Kaneda and Tetsuo are a pair of biker gang members living in Neo-Tokyo. During a gang confrontation one evening, a government escapee with psychic powers interrupts the fight and comes into contact with Tetsuo. The military soon arrives to reclaim the escapee, but takes Tetsuo along with them and subjects him to the Akira Project, granting him powerful psychic abilities. However, these powers combined with a severe inferiority complex harbored since childhood waste no time in sending Tetsuo flying off the deep end. He escapes and begins to rampage across Neo-Tokyo, with Kaneda trying to stop him.
What do you love about it?: The film is gorgeous and sounds amazing: there is a reason it's a defining film for the cyberpunk genre. There is a lot to chew on when it comes to characters and themes. I love the world presented in it as well, and there are a lot of angles to explore for worldbuilding.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Worldbuilding, alternate points of view, body horror, during canon, crossovers, fusions
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Canon itself is short; there is a reason I didn't nominate the manga, ha.
Content warnings: Gore, violence, body horror