Predicting the Future in Film is Hard, But Akira (1988) Did a Pretty Good Job

One of my favorite things is when artists try to predict the future.

It’s always so fascinating, even when it’s wildly inaccurate (or perhaps especially when it’s wildly inaccurate). Take Soylent Green, for example, which I wrote about back in May. Soylent Green is supposed to happen next year, for the record, and while we still have a few months to go, I think that the chances that [spoiler] will happen are pretty slim. But does that matter? Of course not. It’s still great.

If you’re as interested in this stuff as I am, political reporter and Sparks enthusiast Dave Weigel made a really great Letterboxd list that chronicles films in the future tense over the course of a half century. This year happens to be Johnny Mnemonic, which I have not seen. Last year was Reign of Fire, which I have also not seen, but I like that someone thought there would be dragons in 2020. Why not?

Go back one more year and you get Akira, a film that is absolutely bonkers*, particularly in its attempt to look 31 years into the future (or 37 years, if you go by the written version). And to its credit, it did a pretty good job.

I should say, the most obvious things that Akira got wrong are entirely beside the point. Without giving too much away, the plot (which I did not fully comprehend on this first viewing, though maybe that’s the idea) revolves around a teenager who is given X-Men style powers as a result of government testing and the like. As far as I know, people cannot fly or manipulate matter (yet), but again, who cares.

And then there’s the name of the city: Neo Tokyo. I don’t buy it! I mean, listen, sometimes cities and countries change names for various reasons (in this case, it’s World War III), but they don’t just recycle the previous name with an adjective slapped in front. Get creative, Japan! If Tokyo really got laid to waste, build something different! (“Neo New Orleans” would be hilarious, though.)

Okay, last thing in the “wrong” column: This movie is focused on a teenage biker gang. How did these teens get these bikes? They’re all high school students, and they all appear to be orphans. Who bought these bikes? Are they cruising the city streets in stolen motorcycles? Sometimes, I think about things like this.

Although, again, it’s beside the point. And there’s some accuracy here too.

Some things in Akira are simply the same as they ever were, which is smart—you can’t change too much in a futuristic tale. There are ongoing labor union strikes and student protests against police brutality and constant acts of “terrorism,” plus an ongoing tug-of-war between the military and government scientists. Sounds familiar, right?

There’s also the visual presentation of the city itself. This setting looks a lot like the way New York City was portrayed cinematically in the 80s and 90s—dirty, stinky, lawless, and downright ugly. It’s more The Warriors than Blade Runner, and that’s a choice that I really appreciate.

Then there are some predictions that just stretched the present a little bit further. For example, in Neo Tokyo, you can buy pills at bars! They’re referred to as “capsules,” and while it’s unclear of the legality of this exchange, the bartender is selling these capsules to a teenager, so I choose to believe he’s not a lawless moron. Also, this implies that the legal drinking age in Japan (which is 20, for the record) has been lowered at least a few years, which is another nice detail.

But there’s one thing that’s gonna haunt me: Akira predicted the 2020 (Neo) Tokyo Olympics. What an incredible bullseye that is! And as it turns out, despite the fact that the Tokyo Olympics were delayed a year, there are some even eerier similarities when you look closely. (I am not the first one to notice this, obviously, but SlashFilm published a really great piece about it last month.)

What’s even weirder is that Tokyo almost embraced the Akira-ness of it all in their opening ceremony. Which is both an incredible idea and also solid proof that the people in charge of things like this really don’t pay attention to the films. A real “Who wants to tell them?” moment.

Anyway, enjoy the Olympic Games, everybody!

*Akira is listed on Wikipedia as a “Japanese animated post-apocalyptic cyberpunk action film.” Find me a wackier amalgamation of genres, I dare you. 

Akira is now streaming on Hulu, Tubi, and Funimation, and it’s available to rent elsewhere.