Dr Placebo

Akira is a legend when it comes to the anime scene

It's about a group of rebels who roam the streets on their cool motor bikes.
One day one of them develops psychic abilities and is captured by the military. The story is about the boys mission to get him back.

The effects incorporated bring the characters to life as the story unfolds. The ending wasn't great but I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

The story was not actually too gripping, but impresses none the less due to the combination of action and dialogue and the sheer level of brilliant animation.

The animation was superb for its time, it's smooth and has good lighting effects in it. The sound is good although nothing too special. Akira is so famous due to it being the first high-quality, high budget anime feature to really take off internationally.

The DVD is a good 2-disc set but has nothing great on it. The "make your own trailer" feature was novel, but the novelty soon wore off. The trailers are made by Manga and therefore are crap and the menus were nothing to shout about, but with a reputation like like Akira's, it's worth 20 quid just to find out what all the fuss is about.

If you go out and buy this DVD, remember, by today's standards, Akira may not be revolutionary but this old-skool dog don't need no new tricks to put a smie on many an otaku's face.