Was a gamechanger at the time. . .

I have read where people watch this movie now and don't care for it, or don't get it, or think it is overrated. But you need to look at it from the affect it had back then. Below is my story and there were many others that did the same or similar thing.

Think back to 1989. I had walked into the video room at an A-Kon in Fort Worth and it was packed. The movie was being shown in the original Japanese with no subtitles, but the audience was captivated. I remember hearing such loud exclamations from the crowd when different scenes occurred.

When the guy leading Takashi was shot.

When Tetsuo had his episode after Kaneda saved him from the Clowns.
Tetsuo and the tank.

About every five seconds once Tetsuo started opening the freezer to get at Akira’s remains.

The whole audience was immersed in the visual storytelling and it was having an effect on them. When something leaped out at them, there was an audible “Whoah” that would roll over the crowd. Everyone felt it. Something wonderful had just happened.

If you watched much animation prior to this, there wasn’t much that compared to it at the time, with the exception of the high end Disney efforts and a few others. And not a whole lot since computers became so involved in animation.
Batman, The Animated Series borrowed a few tricks from the methods used and there were others that looked to Akira to serve as an example.

I know for me this one movie had me doing whatever I could to get a good copy of it. First, I got a VHS copy of the original Japanese version. No subtitles, and I watched it and showed it to my friends until the tape wore out completely. I then got the English Dub and couldn’t stand it. I wanted to hear ”Hoooooooy! Kaaaaanedaaaaa?” among other things. The original voices for the “Kids” were so perfect. The English dub was sooo wrong for me.

Then a friend of mine bought a laserdisc player. I paid over a hundred bucks to buy Akira on laserdisc, letterbox with English subtitles, just so my friend could make me copies on VHS. Having the subtitles was a mistake, though, as reading them distracted from the viewing. So I had him make me a copy without subtitles and until I finally got my DVD copy, I had Akira as it was meant to be seen.

Now, if your first viewings were from the English dub, and you were able to get past the horrible translation from the first effort (Later efforts were much better) that may be the version you prefer. Regardless, when you are able to watch it unfettered by language barriers or subtitles, you can immerse yourself in a stunning visual treat.

The Soundtrack is also an important piece though, can forget that.