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Akira : Manga Classic to be translated to Live Action?

It may have been in the cinematic doldrums for some time, but Warner Brothers have been negotiating with Allen and Albert Hughes to recreate the iconic late 80′s Manga classic, Akira. This adaption will span two films following the original Manga novel with the first three volumes making up the first film with the first release towards the end of this year.

The story follows two orphaned friends, Kaneda (owner of the awesome bike in the picture above) and Tetsuo, who are part of the same biker gang and are happy frittering their adolescence on girls and hi-speed gang fights on superbikes. During one skirmish Tetsuo is kidnapped by a shadowy government organisation that subsequently awaken Tetsuo’s physic powers that tests much more than the friendship of the two friends. Throw-in anti-government terrorist groups, corrupt city officials, gang violence all set against the post apocalyptic and resonant setting of Neo-Tokyo and you have one of the most memorable films of the genre.

Of course fanboy criticism has been rife that a live action remake of the highly regarded masterpiece would sully the original work and that many of the cultural references (direct and indirect) would simply not be translated sufficiently to a westernised retelling. Something that is only gaining strength with Will Smith’s son, Jaden (famous for being the son of Will Smith), already rumoured to take the role of iconic role of Kaneda.

Personally I’m very interested to see such a re-imagining would be like. As a fan of the original anime film, part of the enjoyment was absorbing the intricate and exhausting animation that makes this film so awe-inspiring. However, it is inevitable that the storytelling takes a hit when attempting to cram 2,200 pages into two hours; and while the original film certainly rewards repeat viewing, the opportunity to expand on some of the other characters over two films would surely only enhance this bracing tale of friendship and maturity…