
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Format DVD double-disc set Length 124 minutes for movie, 117 minutes for bonus disc Released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment New English dubbed version reviewed
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Akira: The Special Edition (2001)

Score: 9.8/10

When I first saw the news that there would be an update of the classic anime Akira released, I was both jubilant and worried. Although excited about the possibility of enhancements to the film, I wondered why they would they want to fool with perfection. After all, what could be improved in an already classic flick? But with today's movie technology and the advent of movies on DVD, one of the newest home release crazes nowadays is "director's cut" or "special release" DVDs.

The desired effect is to give the movie's fans a film more in line with the director's aspired vision of his celluloid creation which for whatever reason (usually budget,

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time, or technological constraints) he couldn't create originally. Almost all of the special releases usually contain some kind of bonus material, too.

But the risk is that a classic work will be altered negatively by the changes or modifications the director makes or that the bonus material adds nothing to the film's enjoyment. Take for example, the new

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"director's cut" theatrical (and soon-to-be home) release of the landmark Apocalypse Now, which received unenthusiastic reviews and some cries of ruination for the added material incorporated into the film.

Thankfully, Akira: The Special Edition (2001) successfully amends the classic film by noticeably improving the original anime's picture quality and completely re-vamping the voice acting while also adding some nice bonus touches.

Akira: The Special Edition is a re-issuing of the 1988 classic anime (see Akira review). It was re-released this year in a very limited theatrical run on March 30 in New York, running through April 5 to positive press. The restricted scope of the release was somewhat surprising, because the film enjoyed modest commercial success when it first hit U.S. theaters in 1989-90 after its 1988 inception in Japanese movie houses.

With its cel animation techniques and vibrant color palette, the violent and highly-politically unstable world of Neo-Tokyo as envisioned in Katsuhiro Otomo's magna world came to colorful life. Akira was all the more impressive because of the high level of animated detail that would make even some of today's computer graphics-assisted anime jealous. Quite simply, it became the movie that helped push the genre to a new level of quality. Now 13 years later, Pioneer Entertainment has released a high-definition digital re-mastering of the anime masterpiece.

Otomo's strong story remains intact. It is 2019: 30 years since the destruction of Tokyo led to the start of World War III. The Japanese government and military has re-involved themselves in the AKIRA project, which was the original cause of Tokyo's annihilation. It was an ill-fated attempt to try and harness the power of psychic energy of young gifted children, which the Japanese government and military hoped to someday use as living weapons.

But they learned too late that that psychic energy was an uncontainable destructive force, better left alone. Elements of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein story are interwoven into the movie's plot line with a clearly stinging message from Otomo for the governments of the world in 1988 that continued to build up a nuclear arsenal even after witnessing the destruction his homeland suffered from such weaponry in World War II.

Akira's two main characters are the teenage delinquent bikers Kaneda and Tetsuo, one-time friends who become enemies by the time the film's conclusion unfolds. Early in the anime, Tetsuo becomes exposed to the AKIRA power.

His psychic abilities exponentially increase over the course of the flick, slowly forcing him into a pit of madness. Unable to harness or control the psychic power built up in him, Tetsuo (yep, you guessed it) destroys Neo-Tokyo again.

Kei, the General, the infamous Akira himself, and other characters stitch the complex story together into one of anime's significant movies.

In my review of the original release of Akira, I said that the Achilles' heel of the movie was the voice acting. Pioneer decided to scrap the original voice-over acting with completely new actors.

Ironically, the one voice that stood out for me above the others in the original release, the General, was changed too. Where he once was the strongest presence in the film as portrayed by the original voice actor, he now just doesn't hold the same impact of military authority. Oh, well I guess you gotta take the changes you don't really want with the ones you do for the sake of overall quality advancement.

Even though the General's revision was disappointing, Kaneda, Tetsuo and Kei's voice acting changes are a definite step up. And the most notable gain is the AKIRA project children's voices. In the original, you could tell that adult actors were portraying the children. In the update, the voices sound like real kids are used for the voices.

One strange little variation of note is the pronunciation of the character Kaneda's name. The original film had the character's calling him KAN-KNEE-DA. Now it sounds like he should be an elk-loving Mountie or something, because he is referred to as CANADA. I really honestly can't discern which is the correct way of saying it, but knowing that there are two distinct utterances in two versions of the same film is bizarre to say the least.

The musical score pervading throughout the film was also redone to give a more Japanese moodiness to the futuristic world of Akira's Neo-Tokyo. While the original score was good in its own right, the updated composition works well hitting its target of intention.

The other major overhaul of the film is to the already impressive visual aspect of the film. The use of cel animation is what gave Akira its special high-quality look.

Pioneer went back to the original proof and completely cleaned up and painstakingly retouched every frame of animation. An explanation of how Pioneer scrubbed the "dirt" on each film cel using a new technique and re-coloring the film is included on the bonus disc. The visual difference between the old and new version of Akira is completely noticeable.

Now, the blood looks bloodier; Akira's gory expansive crimson flow never looked so gloriously gruesome. Another noticeable upgrade is to the film's many light sources. The illumination from the biker's cycles in an early scene radiates brighter. All light sources now take on a higher definition of luminosity. This helps give a realistic look to an animated film, making you sometimes forget this world only exists on the screen. Everything visual comes to more vibrant life to what I thought was an already pulsating eye-pleasing presentation.

Visual and voice enhancements combine with what's included on the bonus disc to create an Akira fan's dream. It starts from the packaging. The limited edition casing is a metal collectable tin, very nice indeed.

The weakest bonus has got to be the closed-captioning. The text on the screen simply doesn't match up with the spoken dialogue 100%. I counted at least five miscues in the closed-captioning during the first half-hour of the film.

There are more bonuses that more than make up for this, though. There is a 30-minute interview with none other than Otomo himself. The original Japanese movie trailers are included and also a translation of the graffiti appearing in the film. But the best addition is the glossary of all things Akira. If you had any questions on characters or events related to the film, you can find the answer here.

Despite some minor flaws in the included bonuses, Pioneer's new release uses today's superior technology combined with an already magnificent film to reaffirm the status of Akira as THE defining anime. If you don't have the original Akira release (or even if you do), get out to the nearest store and pick up Akira: The Special Edition; It's money well spent for the consummate Akira and anime fan.

For more details on Akira: The Special Edition, go to www.akira2001.com

Reviewed by Lee Cieniawa
lcieniawa@armchairempire.com