Akira
Recognize the bike? Akira’s iconic red motorcycle was the inspiration for Cyberpunk 2077’s sexy Yaiba Kusanagi that we’ve seen so much of during the game’s promotion.
But Akira is a classic anime worth watching for more reasons than its futuristic motorcycle.
Quite apart from its utterly brilliant animation, Akira is highly regarded as a seminal Japanese anime production whose popularity and acclaim essentially paved the way for the country’s film industry to gain international recognition.
Its story has also proved hugely influential to many modern films, television series, and video games.
The story is set in a futuristic Neo Tokyo and follows the leader of a bike gang, Shōtarō Kaneda, whose friend, Tetsuo Shima, mysteriously gains telekinetic powers after he’s involved in a crash with an Esper called Akira.
Those powers end up threatening an entire military base as they struggle to contain the threat, the same which destroyed the original Tokyo years earlier.
It’s a gripping plot with a pacing that moves at warp speed, making for an edge-of-your-seat type of experience. But Akira also serves as great homework for anybody interested in learning about the origins of the cyberpunk genre, exploring many of its key themes and generally oozing that dark ambiance and tone that makes cyberpunk so intoxicating.
