Derganz Baker, Raquel - AKIRA

The Japanese military and government played a large role in the movie Akira. These two major powers controlled the media in Japan.  One example of this occurs when Tetsuo was destroying the city. There was a wall of broken televisions but there was one in the middle that worked. The only working television picked up a news podcast. The news reporter was reporting the story from a helicopter with other helicopters lingering in the background. The man made an effort to tell the people of the city about what was going on but then said that the government was making them shut down. Shutting down the news cast shows that at the time Japanese people had little or no rights and were not aware of what their government was doing.

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The Japanese government in the movie was harsh and secretive. The government was preforming genetic experiments on children.  The children, which were small green and shriveled, had natural telekinetic powers. Scientists were trying to control the children’s supernatural powers buy using drugs. One of the children, a little girl named Kiyoko, explains that everyone has a certain power inside and that it depends on how you use it. This means that Tetsuo, the focus of the movie, already had the supernatural power and that running into the little boy just brought the powers to the surface. The scientist kept Tetsuo in a small room alone and never fully explained what was going on with his body. I feel that if the scientist would have sat down and talked to him Tetsuo might not have gone on a rampage of mass destruction leaving rubble and bodies in his wake.  

Another important focus of the movie, and an important part of Japanese history, was the rebellion of the youth against the war. Throughout the movie people participated in riots that normally ended in tragedy. Citizens were being beaten and attacked with tear gas by their military. At one part the audience is shown a peaceful protest. People are standing around, listening to a man chant. One man panted in red the word Akira, in Japanese of course, on the ground. Even thought it was peaceful the military still came in and broke up the protest by beating innocent people. This shows the true brutality of the time.

The big question of the movie is, “Who is Akira?”  I interpreted Akira as a mysterious force of immense power. The word to me symbolizes hope and fear. The people in the movie believed that Akira could save them from impending doom. Then on the other side the military is afraid of Akira’s great power.  I believe that Akira is a power that cannot be controlled or fully understood.