INTRODUCTION
Since
its release in 1988, Katsuhiro Otomo’s film Akira changed
the cultural landscape for animation. A film that showed the possibilities of
hand drawn animation at a time when animation itself was not validated,
especially in the west. Because of this, many people consider Akira to
not only be a seminal work in the genre, but also one of the greatest films ever
created[1]. In this essay, I will be taking
a more Sociological approach to Otomo’s Magnum Opus, focusing on the historical
and cultural impact of the film while trying to wrestle with the complex and
sociologically relevant themes the film presents.
PLOT
Set 31 years after WWIII
that was sparked by the “Akira Event” in 1988. The 2019 city of Neo Tokyo is
beset by biker gangs, civil unrest, and a society that is under military
control. We are introduced to Kaneda, the teenage leader of the biker gang
known as “The Pills” and his best friend and fellow gang member Tetsuo. During
an ensuing battle with their rivals “The Clowns”, Tetsuo is injured when he
comes in contact with a fleeing child that is part of a government/military
experiment into psychic weapons (called ESPERS). Upon retrieval of the subject,
Tetsuo is also taken and experimented on by the Government. As a result of this
experimentation, Tetsuo begins to unlock unimaginable power. As that power
grows, Tetsuo begins to wreak havoc across the city looking for the answer to the
question “Who is Akira”? In the end, it will take Kaneda, a resistance fighter
named Kei and the ESPERS to stop him.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The creation of Akira can be traced back
to the cultural and generational responses to WWII, and Japan’s obsession with
atomic imagery afterward. After its release, the film takes on a life of its
own becoming a source of inspiration as a cultural product.
Military
and fear of Youth
After
WWII, the Japanese signed a treaty that forced their army to be disbanded. This
lead to the Article 9 Amendment to the Japanese constitution during US
occupation.
It states:
- . Aspiring
sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese
people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or
use of force as a means of settling international disputes
- . In order to accomplish the aim of the proceeding paragraph, land sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained
The
interpretation of this article defined japan as a pacifist nation for several
years. However, in 1954 there was an establishment of a regulatory agency and
police force that would eventually become The Japanese Ministry of defense and
the Japan Self Defense Forces. Slowly, over the second half of the 20th
century and the beginning of the 21st, the existence and expansion
of the military and the police force was rationalized. This came to a head in
2014, when it was ruled that the Japanese Police Force could defend allies and
themselves in times of war; effectively ending the idea of a pacifist nation through
these broad changes.
Created
in 1988, Akira is barely one generation removed from WWII. Thus, the
depiction of the military is a cautionary tale. Since there were those that
still vividly remembered the horrors of war, it makes since that their
depiction of a Military totalitarianism in the pop culture future of Akira
would be equally bleak. This is illustrated in the film’s first major sequence.
As Takashi, #26 is fleeing with his liberator, we learn about protests against
military control and the existence of an anti-government resistance movement. Additionally, we see images and hear passing references
to a military curfew through martial law, roadblock checkpoints, and a military
style coup ( more on this later). While a lot of this is atmospheric to the
overall plot of the film, the viewer understands the palpable fear and an air
of mistrust the people have for the military institution and military officers Otomo
had, which was shared by other creators at the time (look at the other work by
famed animators Takahata
and Miyazaki).
This
fear of government authoritarianism was so strong in the generation born in the
shadow of WWII (1946-1970) that there was an engrained cultural norm of
governmental distrust especially in the youth culture which was strongly
anti-nationalistic. Therefore, creators of this generation feature young and or
teenage protagonists while the government or some other institution (usually a
corporation) is depicted as the antagonist[2]. There is a sense here
that within the cultural product, the governmental distrust is refracted,
depicting a fear of the youth culture by the government. Thus, a lot of stories
from creators of this time show the government suppression of the youth or a
lack of understanding of the youth by the government (again through the work of
Takahata and Miyazaki) In Akira, this
is clearly visible through the interactions the government and the military
have with the teenage bikers. The soldiers are ready to use deadly force when
they first encounter them Then, the government interrogates them twice: first
through the police, then again through corporal punishment by their vocational
school Principal.
Atomic Imagery
A lot of the imagery and state of society
(specifically Tokyo) in the opening of AKIRA has its roots in the cultural and
social impact of the violence of World War II, specifically the bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the Japanese involvement in the war. Since
Aug 6th, and August 9th 1945 the Japanese, in their
fiction and popular culture, have been fascinated with the imagery of the
atomic bomb as a form of collective coping strategy.
Frank Fuller,
political Science professor at Villanova University investigates this in his
article “
The Deep influence of the A-Bomb on Anime and Manga.” In it he mentions that Akira
is not the only film to reflect the imagery of the atomic bomb and its fall
out, but many creators living through and in the shadow of WWII also were
fascinated with the same image. In fact,
the image has permeated the consciousness of Japan so completely that 75 years
later creators are still coming back to it. From Direct allegories like Godzilla
and Barefoot Gen, to the litany of more subtle imagery that encompasses
a lot of more current anime from Naruto
and My Hero Academia to One Punch Man and Demon Slayer
all incorporate the same or similar imagery of the atomic bomb.
However, the importance of the A-bomb in
Japanese popular culture extends beyond just the visuals of the explosion.
Often Japanese works of fiction deal with the social, economic, and political
fallout of the bomb in addition to its radioactive tendencies. The subjects of orphans,
radiation mutation of plants, animals, and people, a lack of trust of
technology and hope being born out of tragedy.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki transformed popular culture
of Japan and through global distribution has allowed other cultures to
understand the enormity of such an event, and the strength one needs to have to
survive it.
Cultural
Relativity
Any piece of media that is created carries
with it the cultural, social, and historical context in which it was created. These
products then become a measurement for several social, political and social
issues at the time of creation, regardless of the themes each work has, or the
meaning they are trying to convey. Therefore, the standards by which we judge
these cultural products should take this into account. In Sociology, we call
this process cultural relativity. This is the process by which individuals
evaluate a piece of media (or other cultural products) by the standards at the
time it was created without judging it by the standards of the current or different
(international) culture.
While the process
of cultural relativity is important there is a strong criticism that needs
mentioning. If one fully adopts cultural relativity completely, without
exception, then an individual could explain away any behavior, regardless of
the type of behavior, or what it represents. We see this type of
rationalization in all parts of society especially around people’s behaviors.
Someone will say “Oh, it was a different time, back then.” Or “They are just a
product of their times.” Usually these rationalizations are not being
culturally relative, but instead are using it as a shield against
criticism. A specific example of this is
when the public attempt to use this to rationalize individual behavior. Unlike
media, individuals are not trapped in amber, sealed as a relic of history. As
humans we have the ability to grow and change as we learn and accept new
realities and truths that we did not before Thus, trying to use this to explain
away behavior (that is usually racist and sexist) of people is at the very
least problematic, and at most, tacitly accepting bigotry. Additionally, even
while there is a separation between behavior and product when invoking cultural
relativity that does not mean that the product is free from historical scrutiny.
While cultural
relativity is important to understand a product’s cultural place in history, the
cultural product can be scrutinized by “not aging well” or to be downright
canceled[3] as social and political
values have shifted and even progressed. This is a debate that has continued
into our contemporary culture. The line of acceptable and offensiveness seems
to be one of personal taste. However, there is some merit to our ability to resistance
cultural norms, and depending how present they are, judging a cultural product
on the possibility of inclusiveness at the time. For example, a film made in the 1970’s that
does not have a lot of female representation can be “canceled” because there
are several examples of multiple types of female characters in film at that
same time.[4] This criticism is
warranted as it shows that regardless of the norm(s) of the time period in
which it is created, there are always outliers that can be used to identify
what was possible regardless of the historical context.
Akira
as a cultural product
.Akira began
as a manga (Japanese comic book) first published in 1982-1990 within the pages
of Young Magazine. The manga was then collected into a six-volume series. The series
went on to critical and commercial success becoming the first Manga to be
completely translated into English. It was this work that complete broke the
boundaries of what a Manga could be, especially the audience it could reach.
Thus, Akira (The manga and the film) a cultural product of Japan, validated
anime as a legitimate genre, sparked an artistic movement, and initiated the
global profitability and western obsession with Japanese animation.
As stated, Akira both the manga and the
film from which it is adapted are specific cultural products. Yet, due to a
difference in media distribution, the manga and the film end up diverging in
terms of plot, motivation, and scope. Because the manga is a serialized format:
the length, depth and detail of the story can be explored in minute detail.
This is the result of market pressure to have to sell the next issue. This is
the same reason why there are little stakes in western superhero comic books.
You know Batman is not going to die, or if he does, he will come back. Why? Because
capitalism deems it so. Whereas, if this same process is this
was attempted in a theatrical format, the production would not only be
impossibly laborious, but it would be a length that would be ostensibly
unwatchable and/or completely unsatisfying. Thus, in its adaptation, the film
version of Akira condenses the plot of the manga, removes ancillary
characters and changes narrative focus to make sense in the theatrical format.[5] However, I believe both
the manga and the film benefit from being created and overseen by Otomo
himself. Allowing the aspects of the story that were truncated, being approved
by their creator.
The overall impact
the film adaptation has on the culture of anime in general can not be
overstated. Costing a whopping 10 million (in US dollars) this was the largest
budget for an animated film in Japanese history at the time (until it was
overtaken by Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke in 1999). You can see the difference,
care and craft in the film compared to other animated films at the time. Many
of the sequences, character motivations and even individual shots are
referenced, presented as homages, and adored by many
in the industry even outside animation. It is because of
this care and attention to detail that the film is constantly being cited as an
influence
on directors and various genres
many of which the typical viewer would not expect.
These two Video
Essays on the Influence and Impact of the film really illustrate just how
monumental the film was and the film’s continuing permeance in entertainment.
In the 30+ years
since its release, Akira continues to be a focal point for both
inspiration and duplication.
Even becoming a seminal work in the style called Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk is a
branch of the science fiction genre that is differentiated by a lawless or
institutionally oppressive society that is dominated by advanced computer
technology. This extends into the
creation of cyborgs and other biotech science fiction. The mood of cyberpunk is
both style and substance. It has the neon of the 1980’s punk, dance aesthetic
with the grimier world of Noir.
This makes the usually pristine imagery of advanced societies/ technology seem
more tactile and lived in. A lot of futuristic Neo-Noir
films and stories have a cyberpunk edge to them.
This documentary
should shed some light on the genre:
SOCIAL ANALYSIS
The
analysis of such a thematically rich and dense film as Akira, is complex
and multifaceted. There are several ways
in which to dissect this film which would be valid
interpretations. In
this section I will breakdown the themes and plot of the film from a sociological
perspective. To that end, we need to look at the work of C. Wright Mills, Mishel
Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, , Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Peter Berger.
Mills and The Military Industrial Complex.
C. Wright Mills (2000) points to a social
structural organization of powerful social institutions that sees the collusion
and corruption between three structures politics, the economy and the military.
According to Mills (2000), individuals that make up these intersecting
structures are deemed “The Power Elite” and it is their positions in these institutions
of power that give them influence and control.
This eventually develops into what Mills describes, and a term coined by
Eisenhower as The Military
Industrial Complex.
This is a social organization and process that
reinforces these institutions and expands them. In this system, the government
expands military budget and the scope of military actions, while the biggest sectors
of pour economy is in the defense industry. Thereby leading to many elected officials
having ties to both the military and private industry; making them the prime
recipients of the global presence of the military, shaping the global economy
and international relations.
In the beginning
of Akira, “The Akira Event” causes World War III and out of the ashes of
this conflict is Neo-Tokyo controlled by a corrupt group of politicians who fund
the mechanization and weaponization of space (SOL) and the Human mind (Tetsuo
and The ESPERS). Throughout the course of the film we not only hear references
to military checkpoints, but we witness the violent suppression of student
protests and the annihilation of revolutionary leaders. In the film’s climax, this structure implodes
into a military style coup resulting in a complete military dictatorship.
Foucault Madness and Drugs
The
work of Michel Foucault began with a study of The
History Madness as his doctoral dissertation, then continued on in one of
his first books about the genealogy of the subject titled Madness
and Civilization. These texts, along with the lecture series published
later (specifically Abnormal
and Psychiatric
Power) frame madness as an altered state of consciousness that needs to be understood.
Unfortunately, these altered states were not conducive to the organizational
structure of society that is built around typical consciousness. Thus, through various
interpersonal and institutional mechanisms of social control the “othering” of
madness took place; forsaking individuals in the name of systemic order which
reigns supreme.
Foucault (1999) (2003) states that:
1) The
Human is a monster, and what makes a monster a monster is that it introduces disorder
into the legal system.
2) Organizational
emphasis on Science allows for the defining and vilifying of “madness” as “illness”
allowing for intervention.
3) The
individual needs to be corrected through the training of bodies, behaviors and
abilities of those who have escaped a system of norms
4) This
correction is usually achieved through confinement to get individuals to see
the error of their ways and restore their “better feelings” [meaning those more
conducive to the structure in place].
5) “Recovery”
is not about truth, self-actualization or health, it is about achieving Normalcy
as dictated by the system.
Additionally, Foucault believed that
you could also glean knowledge from “madness” through the use of (usually psychotropic)
drugs. That, through the experience of drug
use (specifically, LSD), one’s consciousness could open reaching a difference
plane/perspective which was only afforded to those deemed “mad”. Thus, by
illustrating the connection of psychosis and knowledge results in a popular
correlation between drug use, madness and genius; many citing that they often
exist in tandem.
According to Simeon
Wade (2019) it was a drug induced epiphany that eventually lead to some of Foucault’s
greatest work, and was, by Foucault’s admission the greatest experience of his
life. This then begs the question the role drugs play in reaching a higher
plane of existence or an aspect of consciousness that one could not reach on
their own.
In Akira,
these Foucauldian ideas around madness and drug use is embodied in the experiences
and fate of Tetsuo. The Japanese
Government/Military, to grasp at untapped potential of the human mind, attempt
to weaponize people for their own purposes through experimentation on those
with psychic potential and Pharmacology. Realizing that the encounter with Takashi
(Esper # 26) unlocked Tetsuo’s psychic potential, The Cornel and The Doctor in
charge of the program decide to start him on “level seven capsules” to develop
his abilities. The trauma of the
accident with Takashi, and the pharmaceutical drugs used to unlock his latent
power, causes Tetsuo to “go mad” and shift into another state of conscious
where his power can be fully realized. Towards the end of the film, when Tetsuo
loses access to the drugs he has been administered, he turns to illegal
narcotics which not only increase his psychosis but expands his psionic
capabilities beyond the capacity of his human body. While he was able to achieve these feats
through these means, in the film, it acts as a cautionary tale of Man’s “ability
to reach beyond their grasp.”
Symbolic Power within Religion
Modern French
Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), the founder of “The European Center of
Sociology had a broad subject area in which he wrote. From culture and social
class to language, gender dynamics, and social analysis, Bourdieu was a Sociologist
with eclectic “taste” 😉. However, in regards to the subject of Akira,
it is through Bourdieu’s work on Symbolic Power that we can understand the abilities of Tetsuo
and Akira and their impact on the social order.
According to
Bourdieu (1991) Symbolic power [soft power] is a transformed and misrecognizable,
transfigured and legitimate form of other forms of power. It is an almost
magical power which enables one to obtain the equivalent of what is obtained through
force. The dominant has this power over the subordinate within a social system.
This is a power that is given and maintained not by direct violence but can be
achieved through the threat of violence (which that in itself is symbolic). One
of the areas in which this soft power is used is through the institution of Religion
and the deification of the prophet.
It needs to at
least be acknowledged that for generations, Religions (especially western
religions) used hard power to maintain control over the social order. As
structure of societies have shifted becoming more outwardly secular religions
have had to rely on the soft power mechanisms in order to maintain influence. These soft power influences are usually
orchestrated through social and cultural norms established by religion through
the power of socialization. Religions therefore create objects and behaviors that
are identified as special, which become ritualized to develop soft power (Durkheim
2008). That soft power is then used to develop
the importance of certain institutions, (or a radicalization of those institutions)
into achieving hard power in the form of economic and or military control
(Weber, 2002).
Through the various displays of hard power (in
the form of massive psionic blasts that destroy Neo Tokyo) both Akira, and Tetsuo
after him, become deified and achieve soft power. Akira through his actions
prior to the plot of the film, and Tetsuo during his escape from the hospital
when a mob forms being driven by the “Cult of Akira” believing Tetsuo to be the
literal second coming. Here, the public has relinquished their power and acquiesces
in the face of Tetsuo’s abilities; thereby giving him soft power. Interestingly enough, in this same process,
as Tetsuo wreaks havoc across the city, we witness the religiosity of science.
Peter
Berger and the Relationship Between Religion and Science
The religiosity
and deification of science, or more clearly the use of science to reach
a state of deification in Akira, is paralleled in various places in our
modern society. First, those that are devoted to science often display behavior
that is like religion. This is partly due to science and religion expressing
themselves socially and existing within society. Religion and society are not
the same thing, but they behave in society similarly; meaning to some, they serve
the same social function.
Sociologist
Peter Berger (1996) discusses this in the way he sees religion and science
working off each other. He states that yes,
science has replaced religion in explaining the world. However, when science
fails to explain reality (when you should have died in a car accident for
example) we often fall back on religious explanations (such as guardian angels)
as an explanation. Currently, there are other real-world examples of this in
society:
1. The God Particle explaining
why something that should not have mass in the Universe but does.
2. The 21 gram experiment
which was an attempt to measure the weight of the human souls
3. The
fact that we are all made
up of space dust
This relationship is again merged at the
climax of the film Akira when Tetsuo’s power is growing out of control and
Akira comes back to take him away. The Doctor mentions that Akira’s energy enveloping
Tetsuo is that like the birth of the Universe as both Tetsuo and Akira vanish to
another plane of existence. Then, the final image on screen is one of supernova
with the final line in a serine voice over: “I am, Tetsuo” now a god. Science
and religion, together.
CONCLUSION
Akira
is
one of my favorite films of all time. I first saw this film in the basement of
my best friend’s house when I was 15.[6] I was overtaken by all the
implications of philosophy sociology, psychology and religion that I could not
articulate until now. The film has become so important that it has been
attempted to be remade and converted into a live action film
for decades. The most current of which is a
new series based on the Manga.
In the end, Akira
is one of those seminal classic works that everyone should see it at least
once. Additionally, if you like it, and you decide to own it, you should have
it in the best quality possible. Luckily, it was announced that the film is
getting a 4k
Blu-ray release based upon the original 35mm print. The film is worth it,
and worth multiple viewings to get all of the deep cultural and social nuances
of a film which gets better with every presentation.
References:
Berger, Peter L 1996. “Secularism in Retreat”
in The National Interests 46 (3) Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 27 Sep. 2011.
Document URL
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http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.library.nd.edu/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA19130142&v=2.1&u=nd_ref&it=r&p=EAIM&sw=w
Bourdieu,
Pierre 1991. Language and Symbolic Power Massachusetts: Harvard University
Press
Durkheim,
Emile 2008. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life New York: Oxford
University Press
Foucault,
Michel 1999. Abnormal: Lectures in the College de France 1974-1975 New
York: Picador Publishing
Foucault, Michel 2003. Psychiatric Power: Lectures
in the College de France 1973-1975 New York: Picador Publishing
Mills, C. Wright 2000. The Power Elite New
York: Oxford University Press
Wade,
Simeon 2019. Foucault in California: A True story- Wherein the Great French Philosopher
Drops Acid in the Valley of Death California: Heyday Publishing
Weber, Max 2002. The Protestant Ethic and the
Spirit of Capitalism and other Writings New York: Penguin Publishing
[2] A perfect example of this is in the
brilliant Novel Battle Royale by Koshun Takami The Government fear the
next generation so much that they force them to kill each other in order to
thin out their ranks, create subservience, and maintain resource levels.
[4]
For example, if anyone says There weren’t any female assassin movies in the
1970’s and 80’s turn them on to Gloria directed by John Cassavetes starring
Gena Rowlands
[5]
Like with any adaptation, there are some detractors and many that say that what was
left out of the film is important and minimizes the themes the film is
trying to present.
[6] To
this day my best friend and I have a pact that if one of us goes crazy with
psychokinetic powers it is the job of the other to stop him. Testuso and Kanada’s relationship became my
friendship goals.
