Anime's answer to Blade Runner?

It's debatable. Much of the look of Blade Runner was derived from the Tokyo Ginza, which obviously factors into most manga set in the modern era. Given the then-current topics of acid rain and other pollution, a definite conservative shift politically in Japan and America (and the UK), and armed conflicts of the time, the extrapolations in both are following a pretty logical conclusion. Japan was an economic powerhouse at the time, which suggests that Asian influence in America would grow, as depicted in Blade Runner. Meanwhile, the Japanese have long had a fascination with American pop culture, at least since the Occupation. As Japan rebuilt, it became a bit schizophrenic, with odd mixes of Eastern and Western influences. Ridley Scott mixed that into American pop culture, stirring it with the film noir and detective novel atmosphere. Akira takes more of the modern Japanese society (at that time) and just ramped it up to the Nth degree. Both reflect environmental concerns, the dehumanization of society, fear of technology run amok, nuclear apocalypse, repressive governments, corporate power and general lawlessness. Blade Runner was certainly an influence on the animators and directors who worked on this and subsequent anime, especially Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, and Bubblegum Crisis (right down to character names, on that one). Both became strong visual influences on artists and filmmakers who would work in sci-fi subjects, along with cyberpunk literature.

"Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!"