05. Akira (Katsuhiro Ohtomo, 1988)
Akira is the Holy Grail of Manga/Anime. It is a cyberpunk masterpiece that has been the standard all animated movies in a similar vein aspire to. It is adult animation like youve never seen before, and likely will never see again. Set in the futuristic city of Neo-Tokyo, Akira recounts the tale of a young biker named Tetsuo who possesses a rare psychic ability that if harnessed could be used to bring about the end of civilisation as we know it. Societies only hope is his leather bound biker buddy Kaneda, the only person strong enough to confront the walking time bomb named Tetsuo. Visually arresting and mentally taxing, Akira is the very definition of the word classic. There is simply nothing but positives to describe it, and the only reason it does not rank higher than number 5 is the fact that it lacks mass appeal. Certain types of audience will be put off by the fact it is animated, contains subtitles and has a complex plot. These are not flaws of course, but simply will not be to everyones taste. A live action remake is in development, which has caused fans to erupt more violently than the Tokyo levelling ESP blast. Some films just werent meant to be remade.