#side note: this is about movie tetsuo it will always be about movie tetsuo

[christianlep]

Blog 21- 3/4

Despite being a staple film in the world of anime, I have not watched Akira before, and I have to say that it took a crazy turn that I did not expect. I thought Akira was as an interesting film, showcasing a dystopian future in which the counter-culture becomes mainstream culture, and the government acts out of selfishness, personal gain, and ignorance, controlling society with a heavy hand and operating with a distinct “us vs. them” mentality (In this case it would be government vs. its citizens). The story line was interesting, following a group of orphans who have clearly been raised by their environment, as signified by their rough personalities and devoted loyalty to one another, indicating that the group has been through thick in thin. Despite this closeness, there are underlying tensions, resulting from the perceived social hierarchy of the group, being that Mitsuru at the top, and Tetsuo and at the bottom; a dynamic that serves as a catalyst for the shift in Tetsuo’s demeanor after acquiring his powers.

I thought that this piece does well to expose truths about the government, such as the fact there are many secrets that the government keeps from its citizens, for better or worse, and that there is a definite division of power between those in the government and out, with the elites deciding the fate for everyone within society. As mentioned, this power differential in Akira lends itself to a unique relationship between the government and greater society in that two sides are almost alienated from one another, and as such there is a dehumanization aspect that enables the government to almost always assert dominance in the face of resistance, and utilize individuals as collateral in their expendititures, such as the government’s experimentation on Tetsuo, Akira, and the other three kids. It was interesting to see that the government had grown so comfortable with this power that they believed they had a firm grasp on everything, to the point of believing they could harness literal god-level powers for their own benefit. I may be drawing extreme connections, but these aspects seem to reflect aspects of WW2, in that the axis governments existed as its own entity for their societies, utilizing their own as cannon fodder, and the responsibility and power America had to bear when developing a weapon of mass destruction that they didn’t even know if they could control. 

On a deeper note, I wrote my essay on how cyberpunk: edge runners (and cyberpunk as a genre) plays into the male fantasy by exploring systems of power, sexuality, and heroism, and I don't believe this film was any different. We see throughout the entire film that men are the main influence within this society, from within Mitsuru's gang to the government, which literally only has men, it seems that the women present exist to be guided by men. Furthermore, we observe that the women present are treated mostly as objects of desire, which can be seen by Mitsuru "claiming" Kei after being arrested and asking her out right after, and claiming to be dating her later on. Perhaps more evident of this aspect is Kaori, who literally avoids any acknowledgement except through Tetsuo, who is her love interest, and even then isn't treated right, like when the pair get jumped and her shirt is ripped off and Tetsuo is more concerned with Mitsuro's bike, and the crew doesn't say or do anything to help her when they show up. She ends up dying by being squashed for trying to help Tetsuo, and no one is concerned for her all afterwards. Finally, we see that Mitsuro, being the hero, is naturally the bravest, most capable, and showered with respect by his peers, and even wins the affection of Kei at the end of the movie.

[kakusboyfriend]

Me meeting a new evil kid: cool! Hope this doesn't affect my personality or anything

[haruki-ya]

Hot Take on Akira playin God

Been thinkin bout this ever since I rewatched Akira. how much of what happens is fate vs. coincidence? or say the influence of some greater hand at work? namely, Akira’s influence himself. 

Takashi is essentially the catalyst for the story, both in film and in manga, as he sets off the chain of events that leads to the second destruction of Neo Tokyo by inadvertently helping to awaken Tetsuo’s powers, but is the fact that he happened to be on the same highway ramp as Tetsuo pure coincidence? What made him run to the old part of town? Surely safety from the army and protests, but why did he run away from the city and ultimately any chance of finding Ryu, the person who his guide said for him to find? Is Takashi the only catalyst here?

When Tetsuo first ran into Takashi during the chase with the Clowns and was injured leading him to being taken away by the army and Col. Shikishima, Dr. Onishi was quick to notice the unique energy pattern Tetsuo’s brainwaves displayed as they were examining his injuries in the hospital. saying it was unlike any other he had seen. Shikishima speculated Tetsuo’s run in with Takashi awakened any latent psychic powers within him and that is the most likely scenario because Tetsuo did exhibit signs of some inexplicable foresight right after the incident by repeating Akira’s name despite being in a completely separate room from Shikishima and Onishi as they discussed him. I think tho that was the initial time Akira reached out to Tetsuo’s unconscious mind.

Shikishima asked to see the overlay of Akira’s energy pattern with Tetsuo’s, which looked like a giant dome, or “black shadow” dubbed so by Kiyoko in her precognitive dream, which totally encompassed and swallowed Tetsuo’s power signature, a delicious piece of foreshadowing for the end of the film as well as a look at the sheer magnitude of Akira’s power! 

One theory I have (which really ain’t theory so much as speculation based on cannon events) is that just like how the government can track the use of psychic energy through technology, other espers can track psychic energy through something similar to a sixth sense. Akira sensed the compatibility of Tetsuo’s energy with his from the beyond as nothing but energy himself and I imagine he was initially drawn to the similar energy signature knowing that Tetsuo’s rapidly growing powers, once finally matured, would awaken his own. This is also how Kiyoko was able to kinda possess Kei (and become what I love to dub Keiyoko) because she recognized the dormant power of Akira in her that every person has, but her power in particular was stronger/more compatible with Kiyoko’s energy pattern than any one else around. (side note, but something I like to see in post-canon stories is Kei having a low level psychic inclination having had her psychic potential awakened by Kiyoko) 

Akira, who was cryogenically frozen whole in the manga, has nothing to him after the fact but a sixth sense as an unconscious omnipresence that kind of lingers both in memories and in an intangible presence, sort of like air or atoms making up all matter. I think that in the cryochamber, whether in jars or as a whole body, Akira’s conscious mind was asleep but his unconscious mind awake. That is where the supernatural powers of all espers lie, within the unconscious until it is awakened, either by stress, pain, or experimental measures that the government took with the Subjects.

Akira is often likened to “pure energy” which is part of all things in the world and this statement makes sense as to how Akira is later able to subdue Tetsuo once he’s unable to control his powers (fight fire with fire, energy with energy.) Like, technically he was never dead in the manga but his powers were sealed away and his active consciousness suppressed or more literally frozen. In the movie, he was dead af and in several glass jars yet still managed to “communicate” with Tetsuo, Kiyoko, Takashi, and Masaru as well as manifest himself in the end thanks to Tetsuo losing control. 

This scene is how I imagine Akira communicating to Tetsuo, both as a warning and a premonition. Nonsensical images and impressions that to Tetsuo make no damn sense but to Akira have probably already been cemented into history (because all he’s essentially doing is bringing about a repeat of his prior mistake, but this time he gonna do it right with the help of unstable Tets.)

Akira guided Takashi to Tetsuo, because he foresaw the chain of events that would happen were the two to meet (”The future is not a straight line. It is filled with many crossroads. There must be a future that we can choose for ourselves” what better person to choose than the all powerful Akira??) and knew were it so Tetsuo’s awakened powers would bring him back to life. Kiyoko said so herself in the showdown Tetsuo had with the esper kids that Akira will be reawakened by Tetsuo’s power when it reaches his peak, and nothing will be able to stop him then. Here I always mistakenly thought Kiyoko was talking about Tetsuo, but Akira is who can’t be stopped in the end which is why his revival is both detrimental to the end and the start of a civilization. 

Akira’s powers are said to have grown out of control, similar to Tetsuo, but I can’t help but think he purposefully let himself wreak havoc on Tokyo. In the manga, Akira is said to have gone on a rampage and killed several scientists and other subjects where in the film he is described as loosing control of his powers. I think he was fed up with the life he lived as a test subject and turned his anger and resentment outwards towards the world and ended up grinding a whole city into the ground with his wrath, but before attempting to create from the destruction. (Kiyoko, with her exceptional psychic precognition, possibly knew what Akira was up to the first time he caused Tokyo’s fallout, as did Masaru and Takashi, but they had concern for others and were willing to stay in the facility as test subjects where as Akira, and similarly Tetsuo, were not.)

Akira wanted to live again, but not in a world where he would be monopolized and treated like a guinea pig to the white coats. Unlike Masaru, Kiyoko, and maybe hesitantly Takashi, he never got used to the idea of being experimented on for his powers and ultimately caused the first fallout ofTokyo and World War III due to his resistance of the life he was forced to live. Tetsuo, following closely in his footsteps of reluctance to take orders from authority, played a pawn for his desires of creating a new world where himself and his friends would be free to grow up as they pleased and not listen to orders from those who only had their own interests in mind. that is a goal I feel the two of them shared, but I theorize Akira’s goal was to literally create this new world whereas Tetsuo just wanted to change the world he already lived in. Tetsuo’s well matched energy and hatred towards the white coats though was as good a sign as any for Akira to finish what he started. 

The new world can honestly either be the devastated, leveled Neo Tokyo free of a corrupt, capitalist government after the second fallout or the new dimension (not sure whether to call it a universe or world? i’m still unclear on it tbh) that is created during the blast in which Tetsuo, Akira, Masaru, Kiyoko, and Takashi are enveloped within. The world in which they will be able to choose their futures for themselves. The world in which Akira tried once before but failed to create until he had the final key to the equation.

So basically to sum up my cluster fuck of thoughts, I theorize Akira playing a very important but seemingly nonexistent role in the progression of the films plot by sleight of hand. He is the driving force behind all coincidences within the film despite literally having screen time for .2 seconds because to him the events that took place were predestined to happen, one way or another, in order for his resurrection and subsequent awakening to happen. Having the power to manipulate matter, time, and life itself pretty much makes Akira a God, hence the prevalence of Lord Akira fanatics in film and manga. The whole film tho is a domino effect of incidents from the future that Akira chose, one free from the shackles of an unawakened world, in more ways than one .

[scatterbrainjournal]

Entry #17: Wait! 2019 Isn’t Over Yet

Time has been incredibly quick that I missed the movie Lighthouse last month! That was a movie I wanted to see on the big screen, but maybe it didn’t make it all the way here. If it did, how did I not get any notifications?!

Anyway, to remind myself, I’ve listed down things that are happening or about to happen. Hopefully, I get to try all of them! 

1. Bigg’s Diner

All the way from Bicol! My close friend tells me great stories about this place, so here’s to hoping they have the same quality of food when they open at SM Fairview in a few days.

On a side note, I’ve yet to try Popeye’s. Listing that down as well.

2. Doctor Sleep 

No Film School’s Phil Pirrello says Doctor Sleep is "one of 2019’s best films.” Man, really? Stop with the hype. 

Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) is director though, so I’m putting this on a pedestal and watching it on my birthday. As Aziz Ansari would put it, “Treat yo self!”

3. The 'Van Gogh Alive' exhibit in Mind Museum

I always tell myself to visit places here in Manila, but they remain to be just words. 

Note to self: Treat the city like New York or Tokyo and desire exploration. Start with this exhibit. 

Then, maybe hit up % Arabica or Elephant Grounds, visit the Billionaire Boys Club Satellite store (They’re only here until the end of November) and walk the streets of BGC. That’s something you wouldn’t do everyday. Go for it.

4. Saan Saan BGC Pop-Up Store

Saan Saan is an online store that sells handmade scented soy candles locally. Since I’ve been in a candle mood lately, it was nice to hear that they’re physically in One Bonifacio High Street for the holidays. 

They’ve launched Christmas Cafe and Pumpkin & Juniper as their limited edition scents for December. I’m excited. Time for some gift shopping.

5. German Film Week 

Freya Mavor (Skins) stars in one of the featured movies here titled The Keeper. This year’s selection is stellar. I wish I could watch at least 2 or 3 flicks! If only time permits... 

6. Waves

Think Nicholas Sparks, but make it A24. Half kidding. 

When you put Frank Ocean’s Seigfried on the trailer, you must mean serious emotional business. Please, please make this one a hit.

7. Tetsuo Anniversary Month

This photo doesn’t do the combo justice, but I’m definitely ordering Tetsuo’s spicy birthday noodles with their famous boneless chicken karaage via Grab. I avoid going to the restaurant, because the owner can be very self-serving and fake.  

Only good vibrations until December please. Peace out!