In July 2012, with hype for the live action Akira reaching breaking point, an Indiegogo project sprung up. That project wasn’t asking for cash to make an alternate Akira live action movie. It was looking for cash to make a live action Akira trailer. A trailer that would represent a pitch perfect Akira movie that would never exist. A strange goal I thought, at the time. But now that trailer exists and I’m extremely glad it was made.
Because it is actually pretty spectacular.
I mean, I don’t think I’d like an Akira movie to look like this. Even though it’s completely the point of this exercise, it follows the events of the movie/manga a little too tightly for my tastes. But still, as an exercise in reproducing something animated/drawn into live action, it’s a grand success as far as I’m concerned.
As for the actual movie itself? We haven’t heard anything in a while, which is worrying. I wonder if a live action Akira movie will ever get made.
My feeling is that it’s close to unfilmable. So much of the appeal of Akira the anime is in the animation style, which is still dazzling to this day. Its adaptation of the manga is a little flimsy in my opinion, and leaves out important details. If I were making the movie? I’d work straight from the original manga and do a complete restructuring of the story. It would upset some of the purists, but I think you’d get a much better movie at the other end.
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