Artists Ash Thorp and Zaoeyo, big fans of Akira, have made this minute-long trailer that’s basically a tribute to the animated classic. Though you could also say it’s an impressive pitch for a modern remake as well.
In a 2017 interview with Forbes, Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo said:
While I haven’t seen the new live-action Ghost in the Shell, when it comes to Akira I have already finished the original manga and my own anime version too. So in that sense, I am basically done with Akira. If someone wants to do something new with Akira then I am mostly OK with that.
And so here we are. Unlike the nightmarish prospect of a live-action movie, though, this clip – called Akira Awaken – is strictly traditional, mostly opting to take shots and images from the 1988 anime film and redo them with a modern touch.
You can watch the clip below, but you should also head over to the project’s site, which contains technical breakdowns, as well as comparisons between the new shots and their inspiration.
Comments
2 responses to “Akira Fans Create Incredible Animated Tribute”
As great as this looks, the true awe-inspiring nature of Akira stems from its hand-drawn scenes.
Should have just placed a Youtube link because their website is weirdly laid out with no navigation buttons for the video and their overlay sits on top of the video player.
I still don’t get the love for Akira. Don’t get me wrong, visually and aurally it’s incredible, but the characters are weak, the motivations awkwardly handled and the pacing patchy.
I guess I think of it the same way I think of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Incredible to look at, but rather empty underneath the gloss.
There’s a great film in 2001 and Akira, but I think in both cases the film as a whole doesn’t measure up to the potential it had, bar visually and aurally of course. I of course understand that people might not want to engage with a film emotionally to the same extent that I do, but there are plenty of films that are both beautiful and emotionally fulfilling, so I never understood the devout admiration offered to films that only excel in the one area.