As albertyezer’s comment noted, this was definitely a very influential project for film and art in general.

On the other hand, to understand the significance of the story, you have to notice the subtle “identity” of Tokyo. The city is described as “Neo-” Tokyo, and we hear the characters discuss that the transformation from Tokyo -> Neo-Tokyo occurred after a big explosion. And the film itself ends on a big explosion destroying the city.

In some ways, all these events are subtle references to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the firebombings of Tokyo. At the end, we see the city’s natural state restore itself (with floods of water and sunlight) in an oddly meditative moment. I think for the Japanese population in particular, Akira portrayed an underlying message of hope, trust and humanity, something very important for a recovering nation.

The message is probably much harder for us to relate to, given our time dilation from such historical events.

It’s hard to overestimate the gigantic /smack in the face/ that Akira was when it came out on screen. Much of us had only seen Disneyish / childish stuff so far, and even adult-themed animation was cartoonish in nature. And here walks in the room bikers hitting themselves in the face with steel bars, incredibly detailed sets, flawless animation (Akira was 24 fps on one), exotic graphism and insane music. I skipped class once in my life. It was to take the train and go to the big city to see Akira.

This. In my country of origin it was shown at prime time in the mid-nineties, and even then it was kind of controversial. I was a kid and didn't understand much, but I still remember the experience of watching it. Akira was definitely a watershed moment in anime.

> The story made little sense and appeared to have little, if any, depth.

I felt similarly the first time I watched it, but I walked out feeling confused rather than feeling like the film lacks depth. IMO a large portion of the film is spent exploring the notion of power than one can't control. In fact, we can split the different characters of the film into those who are corrupted by this path (the scientist who clearly wants to see Akira's power blossom, the military lead who wants it controlled for public safety/the military, Tetsuo who is always trying to take on more responsibility and leadership then he can. Only character's like Kaneda, who don't submit themselves to their own desires for power, seem to faire well in the world around them .. but that's just my two cents.

> The graphics looked dated and not very inspiring.

I can't disagree with this more. This film came out in 1988, and nothing else even came close in terms of its visual effects for an animated film. I'm sure at the time people couldn't believe what they were watching, it must have seemed really alien.

I'm honestly surprised that you think it looks dated. Even today, animes I've seen (although granted that isn't many) don't achieve the same level of beauty in their animation of light. You can see examples throughout this link to jog your memory if it's been a while: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf0WjeE6eyM

It is a matter of taste of course, but, say, Makoto Shinkai's 'Garden of Words' I found a lot more visually pleasing. I know you cannot compare works from different eras, but that just highlights that today, one would watch Akira more for its history than for how it stands on its own today. In comparison, the original Blade Runner stands very well in its own right today and I would not hesitate to recommend it to someone who hasn't watched it.

Akira just didn't captivate me, and I watched it for the first time in a packed out cinema.

Fair enough, I'm just surprised

Interestingly, when I search for Akira on Google, Google remarks that people also search for "Why is Akira so popular?", and links to this site:

https://filmschoolrejects.com/akira-influence-12cb6d84c0bc/

Yes it was made in a time when there was few big budget animated movies with adult themes.

The art direction is still great. Gorgeous backgrounds and animated gems such as tetsuo transformations are still impressive today.

The story suffers from the fact that it is a much more condensed version of the comic book series.

It's kind of impossible to condense a 6 volume dense manga into a feature... I read somewhere that even Jodorowsky chipped in some advice for the ending.

For me the anime shines as a companion to the manga. It's the same age old problem: an ultra rich story dumbed down for the screen.

As to the graphics: 1988 Akira looks anything but dated. I used to watch a lot of anime and it ages amazingly well. They just dont make them like that anymore. Cell animation at it's best with very little CGI.

If you want to enjoy Akira as the creators intended, read the manga first. Then listen to the soundtrack a couple of times. Then sit down and watch it with on a good screen and a loud sound system. Anything less is a felony.

One thing to note is that it's a film version of a much longer story; the manga is a lot longer (and disturbing) and is (arguably) less vague because it has more room to tell a story.