Couldn't help but notice that Akira is not on IMDb's top 100. I dont know much about animation but isn't Akira(along with perhaps Fritz the cat) the movie which sparked adult animation?
Is it due to the inflated voting of more recent films?
After over ten years I still can't bring myself to care about ratings on IMDb. I am certain I am not in the minority, which is probably why the ratings seem a little off. At present 'Akira' may not be in the mainstream taste, terrible though that may seem; trying to force young audiences to like a film because of its historical significance has never been a sound plan either. Currently the live-action project is in deep development hell. If it manages to crawl out anytime this century, you will see an increased enthusiasm for the franchise.
'Fritz The Cat' was more an attempt to bring underground comics to the mainstream via an animated feature film; its success is problematic and debatable to this date. You must look much further back, to see truly adult issues and themes in animated film, such as racism, alcoholism, social outcasting and social acceptance ('Dumbo'); violence, evil, and murder ('Snow White'); death, orphaning, and coming-of-age ('Bambi'); you will realize that films of the present era, 'Akira' included, are the result of a long evolutionary process in animated film. Ironically enough, it may have all began with an apparently uninhibited, streetwise young girl, dressed in inappropriately-brief attire, dancing and moving in an obviously sexually-charged manner (Betty Boop); it probably predates even this.
I think animated features not directly aimed at kids is still too much of a sub-genre, and doesn't get the recognition it deserves pretty much anywhere. Which is a damn shame, cause there are some pretty great films in the genre.
Zagreus waits at the end of the world, For Zagreus is the end of the world.
There are a lot of films that are 8+ or higher that don't make the list, so don't feel too upset.
shareMy take on it: Most people (especially non-Japanese speakers) are really not going to "get it". I first saw the film on glorious VHS on my parents 19" TV one Xmas morning. I enjoyed it, but I did not fall in love with it for the right reasons. First of all, it was the Streamline dub (for the record, I think neither dub can hold a stick to the J-audio track), and second, the screen was too small. This was long before everyone had great sound in their home though.
Anywho, fast forward some 20+ years. I've lived in Japan a total of about 15 of those. I can now not only speak fluent Japanese, but I have a much, much more realistic grasp on Japanese culture, and more importantly, politics. The whole scene with old codgers smoking and throwing papers at each other is a clear jab at how Japanese politics works (even now, I'm sad to say).
Finally, as I age, this movie seems to get better and better. The perfect fusion of the soundtrack to the movie has never been replicated, and is almost never mentioned, even in reviews which laude it with praise. The unequaled vision of Tokyo 2019 wrapped up in the 80s: it clearly looks like bubble era Japan imploded. Artistic genius.
I'm hoping the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will open the film to a new audience.