AKIRA MARATHON

For those of you not farmiliar with AKIRA, It was an anime movie that came out in 89. Until a week ago I had no idea that it was a manga (japanese comic book) that consisted of 6 volumes. So I took the books out from the library and read them all in a week. 2200 pages of fantastical story telling. and untill last night i never really knew what people ment when they said " the picture jumps out at you" well in the last volume of Akira, Katsuhiro Omoto made sure every fricken page would be memorable. the art was just bone chilling, it was unlike anything I have ever seen in our north american comics today. Omoto was really into hollywood and so he translated that passion into some of the best drawn panels I have ever seen, the composition of each panel was methodicly thoughout and the characters were drawn in poses I wouldnt even imagine possible. The entire book is inked, thinking of adding colour would only ruin the brilliance of the book.

I remember watching the movie as a kid, my dad and I went to JUMBO VIDEO ( i loved the free popcorn there) and to my suprise he chose a cartoon movie. and it was the only movie he rented that day...if you know my dad then this would come as a shock to you. ( he use to rent 6-7 movies at a time) sitting on the couch, i could not believe what i was seeing... drug use, swearing, blood and nudity all in a cartoon. i was about 7 when i watched the film so i had no idea what was going on with the story and frankly i didnt care, there were cartoon boobies to be seen!. After reading the manga, I realize that the movie really has nothing to do with it. it has the same characters but some of thier rolls are different and the story is way off from the manga as well. 2 hours was not enough time to explain the depth that is Akira. Ever since Akira i got into japanime and started to appreciate what it was all about. I learned at a young age that not all cartoons were for kids, there was something special about acknowledging that, because not everyone does. people till this day refuse to think as cartoons as a form of entertainment that adults can enjoy without having to be embarrassed about. I have stopped explaining myself to people when they ask why i find cartoons so entertaining. If you dont get it by know, you never will, stick to soap operas. Not to mention tons and tons of films like the matrix, equalibrium, blade runner, starwars, aliens, predetor and many many more were all influenced in some way or another by japanime.

60% of tv in japan is made up of catoons and about 80% of movies are toons as well. and why not, you can pull off all the special effects without breaking the bank, the imagery is alot more notable most of the time and when you get a good cast of voice actors you forget that your watching drawn figures. you learn to enjoy the movie for what it is... a movie. i have yet to see a message as powerfull as the one in princess moninoke or spirited away in any live action north american film i have seen.

japanime can be powerful, beautiful and meaningful if you let it be. so let it be.