Akira: The Motorcycle Movie With Sound Number One

Akira:TheMotor cycleMovieW ithSoundNumberOneKadinMcElwainDr .Snyder ,W orldMusicKentStateUniversity10/31/23Akira:TheMotor cycleMovieW ithSoundNumberOneMyall-timefavoriteanimeisamotorcycleactioncinematicexperiencecalledAkira.Madein1988onthetopoftheyear ,thiswasoneofthefirstanimemoviestohelpcontributetothepopularizationofthisgenreofcartoon.Infact,itisacultclassicamongsthardcoreanimefans,includingmyself.Inthispaper ,IwillsummarizetheplotoftheAkiramovie,talkabouthowelementsofsoundareused,themajorthemes,andhowit sdif ferentfromAmericancultureandwhatW esterncultureelementsIsee.IwillalsocomparethismasterpiecetoJPopandkabuki.Then,youwillknowwhythismovieresonateswithmewhenIthinkabouttheanimeclassics.IntheAkiramovie,weseethestoryofT etsuo,ayoungbikerwholovestodisturbthepeace,ridebikeswithhisfriends,flirtwithgirls,andgetintostreetfights.Onenight,afterabikefightwitharivalgoesawry ,T etsuoisknockedunconsciousinabikecrashandiscapturedbyamilitaryagencytoconducttestsonhim.Duringoneofthesetests,hebeginstogainsuperpowers,suchassuperstrength,telekinesis,andmore.Throughoutthemovie,whichtakesplacein2019T okyo,31yearsafterabombisdropped,hisbestfriend,Kaneda,fightsof fenemiestotryandsavehimfromthegovernmentexperiments.Afterthefinalbattle,Akira,anine-year -oldboywithsuperpowersjustlikeT etsuo,fadesawayintothelightandthegangliveshappilyeverafter .Inthismovie,weseeseveralelementsofAmericanandW esternculture.Mostnotably ,weseemotorcyclesbeingusedthroughoutthemovie.MotorcyclesareapopularvehicleinAmerica,withHarleyDavidsonbeingawell-knownbikerbrandofmotorcycle.W ealsoseemanypoliticalproteststhroughoutthisfilm,whichareanotherelementofAmericanculturethesedays,aspeopledon tlikecertainthings,suchasLGBTQbooks,drag,certainmoviescenes,andcriticalracetheory ,althoughtheseprotestshavehistoricallybeenprevalentinAmericancultureforcenturies,goingasfarbackasTheBostonMassacre.Finally ,weseealcoholbeingconsumedattheverybeginningofthemovie.AlcoholisapopularsubstanceanddrugthatisusedbybothW esternpeopleandJapanesepeople.WhiletherearesomesimilaritiestoW esternCultureinAkira,therearealsosomedif ferencesthatweseeinthismovie.Forexample,anobviousone,thelanguagethatthecharactersspeakisdif ferent,astheyarespeakingJapaneseandnotEnglish.ButthereisadarkerelementofJapanesecultureinthebeginningofthemovie:See,inthebeginning,anatomicbombisexplodingontothecityofT okyoin1989,whichrepresentshowHiroshimaandNagasakiwerebombedin1945,whichwouldbedif ferentfromtheW esterncultureaswewerethebombersduringthetimeperiodofNagasakiandHiroshima.Lastly ,weseeelementsgoingbeyondJapanthatrepresentthedif ferentAsiancultures:Anabuseofpowerbythegovernmentandseveralprotestorstryingtochangeit,includingthepoliticalgroupinthemovie,calledTheResistance.Ironically ,governmentalcorruptioninJapanislittletonone,apartfromwhenShinzoT abewasassassinatedandthetimeperiodofW orldW arIIandW orldW arI,whichwasahorribletimeofcorruptionforJapan.ThethemesinAkiraaremainlycenteredaroundthecorruptgovernment.Thismovierepresentsagovernmentwherethepolicecanshootandkillyoufornoreasonandwherepolicebrutalityisprevalent.W ecanalsousethismovieasametaphorfortoday ssociety ,wheregovernmentsarecorrupt,peoplearewhiningandcryingaboutpettythings,andweareslowlygoingintoadarktime,seenthroughthecurrentwarsthatIsrael,Russia,Ukraine,andHamasarein.W ealsoseeathemeoffriendshipandnevergivinguponyourfriendswhenKanedagoestosaveT etsuofromthegovernmentexperiments.Finally ,wecanuseKaneda sdeterminationtosaveT etsuoasathemeoffamily ,asKanedathinksofT etsuoandhisbikergangasafamily .Now ,wegettohowAkiracanbecomparedtokabukiandJPop,twoofJapan sbiggestculturalelements.TheelementsofkabukicanbeseenwhenT etsuosavesKaorifromgettingbeatenandabusedbyTheClownBikerGang,whenhewasreallyonlytryingtosavehismotorcycle.Thisshowsalackofethicsinthisscene,asT etsuothinkshismotorcycleismoreimportantthanKaori swell-being,whichresultsinthetragedyofKaori spassing,whichcanberelatedtokabukiasthisistragedywhenmoralsareignoredandpassionsaretakenover .AsforJPop,weseethattheopeningthemeforthismoviehaselementsofitand,funfact,thereisalsoaJPopdancernamedAkira,whoisamemberoftheJPopboyband,Exile.Throughoutthemovie,wealsohearanupbeatscore,mainlyinthefirsttenminutesofthefilmwhenT etsuoandKanedaareridingbikeswiththeirgang.IgivepropstothecreatorsofthismovieforaddingtheirculturalelementsandrespectingJapaneseculture.Throughoutthemovie,severalelementsofsoundcanbeheard,manyofwhichincorporatewhatIpreviouslymentioned.MyfavoriteuseofsoundcomesinthescenewhereKanedaandhisfriendsaresenttomilitaryschoolandareabusedbytheguard,whobeatsthemandyells,KADA!,meaningDiscipline!Throughoutthisscene,weseemultiplesoundsbeingused:Someoneplayingaguitarhorriblyinonescene,astudentbeatingupanotherstudentinanotherpart,thepunchesanduncontrollablescreamingfromtheJapaneseteacherinanother .Thisscenealonesetsthemoodfortherestofthemovie:Dark,violent,anddramatic.Then,inthescenewhereT etsuoisinthehospitalatnightandisattackedbyseveralgianttoys,wehearanintensescore,thesoundsofthehospitalbuildingfallingapart,andT etsuo semotionalpleastothestuf fedanimals.W ealsohearonesoundinparticularatcertainpoints:AyoungboysayingA-Kir -Awithominoussilencefollowingit,addinganelementofforeshadowingtotheclimaxofthemovie,wherewefinallymeetAkira,ayoungboywhoisbeingexperimentedonbythegovernmentbecauseofhispowers.IntheAkiramovie,severalelementsofsoundcanbeheard.W ealsoseecomparisonstoJPopandkabuki,andelementsofW esternandJapanesecultureinthisfilm.W eseeathemeoffamilyandametaphorforpoliticalcorruptioninthismovieaswell.Overall,IwouldrateAkiraaperfectten-out-of-tenmasterpiece,havingseenittentimes.Thisfilmisresponsibleformakinganimewhatitistoday .