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Why Akira SHOULD be remade
I am fully aware how many people, particularly old-guard anime fans, are going to want to chuck spears at my face for this statement, but Akira should be remade. While I acknowledge how important the original film was in terms of popularizing anime in America as well as revolutionizing Japanese animation, I have several issues with the story of the film. The challenge that faced the filmmakers was that they were trying to translate a 2000-page cyberpunk manga epic into a 2 hour film. While the first two acts were incredibly memorable and tension-building, the film fell apart in its final act. I'm now going to go into a detailed level of plot discussion for the film, so if you're that bothered skip to the bottom of END SPOILERS
SPOILER WARNING
Okay, the manga of Akira is split in six volumes of material. If you had read all of them, you would notice that the first two acts of the film cover wonderfully Volumes 1 and 2. Problems occurred with the last act of the film where plot elements from Volumes 3, 4, 5 and 6 are crammed together for the final half hour of the film. This leads to several plot holes that are never explained in the film:
-Why did the Espers (the geriatric-psychic children) need Kei's help specifically?
-Why was Kaneda able to harm Tetsuo whereas everyone else could not?
-Why was Tetsuo transforming into the blob-like creature he became at the end of the film?
-How did Akira die and get chopped up into several pieces, only for him to reconstruct himself at the end?
-What the hell does happen to Tetsuo at the end of the film? Is he alive? Is he in a heightened plane of being?
The list goes on and on. The ironic part is that all these questions are (mostly) answered in the manga. Now before some of you claim, "Oh they only had 2 hours to make a film, you can't expect them to have all these answers in there", you're missing the point of vital and seminal science-fiction. While there's a fantastical story being told, it is supposed to progress quite logically. You can't simply suspend logic for a few moments, or worse yet, expect the audience to come up with the answer themselves. This works well very rarely, and even then with only one or two unresolved plot points.
The end of Akira leaves you with more questions than answers. For me, I found the answers by reading the manga. But doing so lessens the punch the film is supposed to have. I should not have to consult an outside
source to explain shit.
SPOILER END
Now a remake could solve the problem of fixing the maligned third act of the original film. This is reason enough for a film to be remade, since you want to tell the story the "right" way. What has me excited though, is that the producers want to make 2 films. One for the first three volumes, and the second for the rest. This takes care of the problem I mentioned in the spoilers of being able to explain shit. Better yet, in terms of the actual story of Akira, there is a good few month time gap between Volume 3 and 4 as opposed to the mere minutes-gap in all the other volumes. This would be a perfect place to split a huge movie in a way that would make more sense than even Kill Bill. Add in the bonus that Volume 3 has a conclusive ending that COULD stand alone as a climax for a single film, and you have an interesting prospect indeed.
Now, I am aware that American adaptations of anime films haven't been doing so well, And maybe the Hughes Brothers are not the right people for this material, nor would a live-action adaptation be able to capture the bizarreness of the world of Akira. However, to remake Akira as a 2 part anime film may work wonders. For one the hardcore fanbase will not be alienated from this rendition done animated. And best yet, we won't have to leave the film in the hands of some idiotic American producers who have no idea how to translate this story into film.
So am I insane for believing a remake could be a good thing? Or is there a glimmer, however small, of hope?
Comment
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Comment by Jojotogi on February 28, 2010 at 11:12am -
Seriously, I think people give the Akira film too much of a free ride at times.
Think about it. If you pick it apart, it kind of has the same problems as a film like Knowing or one of M. Night Shyamalan's recent films: a plot that's too convoluted for it's own good, incorporating too many disparate elements without much explanation for their presence in the film, and pretentious to the point where it tends to alienate most audiences.
If American studios are determined to get behind a good anime adpatation, it ought to be one of the simpler, more genre-centric franchises like Outlaw Star or Cowboy Bebop. That, or focus on something that's accessible to everyone other than just sci-fi and anime fans.
I hear Disney is producing a live action Kiki's Delivery Service. And while I was a bit annoyed when I first heard that, it does sound like they are taking the proper baby steps towards cracking the anime formula.
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Comment by AACRO on February 27, 2010 at 8:44pm -
For all those reasons you should'nt do an adaptation. anime just does'nt translate well into an film for a american audience. if your insistent about it though you might want to start small with something like Outlaw Star(its a simple story with a more diverse cast) or some other b-grade series. you want to first crack the formula/recipe to making a good anime film before you take such a BIG risk on Akira.
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Comment by Shanell Naylor on February 26, 2010 at 1:49am -
Do you really want to give them any more ideas after the last god-awful year of Dragonball Evolution, Street Fighter: Chun Li's bullshit story and Speed Racer?(how do you mess up Speed Racer?!) I mean come on. If the only thing American film makers can get remotely right, is the raping of Kimba: the White Lion(into the Lion King), then we should just let Japan do Japan man. We need to stay farrr away from their godly reations. It was a nice idea though.
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Comment by elliot diez on February 25, 2010 at 12:39pm -
IF I were a PETER JACKSON...I'd just adapt the comic in ALL OF IT'S EPIC SCALE and DIVIDE IT IN 3 ACTS (FILMS)...The Biker fights,Tetsuo disappears/comes back,all the way up to THE SOL SATELLITE as the FIRST ACT...The HUNT FOR AKIRA all the way to the death of one of the ESPERS/FOLLOWED BY SECOND DETONATION/KANEDA DISAPPEARS as THE SECOND ACT......And NEOTOKYO EMPIRE/THE MOONSLICED/TIDALWAVES all the way to the end as the THIRD ACT....that's it...
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Comment by Syllendale on February 23, 2010 at 11:48pm -
I'm very much up for a redo of sorts for Akira, whether it be live action or anime. I"ll agree too with needing more explaining with actions / scenes within the anime. I love the idea and I'd sign a petition for it. Right director and cast, possibly unknowns (hey, worked for Star Wars) it could be a smash. And on a side note... loved the streamline voice acting far FAR more than any of the others. :)
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Comment by Lee Walker on February 23, 2010 at 8:26pm -
Qbanknight I totally agree with you. It took me 6 years to find Akira from the time it came out. And even when I came across it, it was by coincident. I loved the movie but it did loose me at the end and I didn’t know at that time there was volumes. And after watching the movie I had those same questions you had posted in your Spoiler Warning section. Plus I know there are some clips that were cut from the film that didn’t make here to America. But yes, they should re-do Akira in its entirety, but only if it is untouched by American hands. What America did to the Street Fighters storyline was awful enough.
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Comment by hellsing3000 on February 18, 2010 at 10:07pm -
noo noo. Popular = profit but it doesn't always mean a good movie. Everyone wants to pack this into one thing but I have a feeling they are going to fuck it up.
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Comment by SuperJoe on February 17, 2010 at 5:18pm -
stop remaking shit that is already near perfect.
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Comment by Michael on February 17, 2010 at 2:35pm -
I think they should remake just for the fact that I have not seen the original and it is really hard to find it where I live. I mean they could do what they with Ghost in the Shell 2.0 and just sort of enhance it.
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Comment by SkaOreo on February 17, 2010 at 1:47pm -
"there remaking it for money."
Welcome to the world of the film industry, everything is done for money. That being said, I do agree with a remake. While a visual achievement, the Akira anime fails to capture the epicness of the entire manga by completely getting rid of the third act. If a remake is to be done (live-action or animated) it has to be a multi-part film.
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