Akira Creator Originally Hated Its Anime Adaptation

This year is the 35th anniversary of one of the most beloved anime/manga franchises of all time, [...]

This year is the 35th anniversary of one of the most beloved anime/manga franchises of all time, Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira. The infamous post apocalyptic story has been back in the news and public eye recently, as there is a Hollywood adaptation in development and the 35th anniversary of the anime film. But not everyone is excited about the resurgence of popularity, as the creator behind the franchise, Otomo, has grown distant and cold towards his own franchise. Otomo is still an active creator and artist, at 63 years old he commented on his feeling and thoughts on Akira to Forbes magazine.

When he was asked about the first time he saw the hit film, he thought that the movie was a failure. The movie seemed to not be what the director had in mind, and thought that the film took away from his original story. When asked about the first time he saw the movie, he said the following:

"Actually, when I saw the first rush of the movie version of Akira I thought it would be a failure. I left the theater very quickly and came back home to tell my wife that the movie was a failure. This was because I thought the first half was good but because the time and budget was limited, with so many cuts, the quality dropped as the story developed. In general, I thought the picture quality and cut quality went down when the movie went into the latter half. So when I saw the movie's quality decline as I watched it made me feel miserable.

With a possible live-action adaptation in the near future, it is going to be interesting to see what the creators thinks about what is to come.

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You can read the synopsis of the original Akira anime film below:

"Neo-Tokyo is about to E X P L O D E!

Akira isn't just a movie – it's the genesis of a genre. Katsuhiro Otomo's landmark cyberpunk classic obliterated the boundaries of Japanese animation and forced the world to look into the future. Akira's arrival shattered traditional thinking, creating space for movies like the The Matrix to be dreamed into brutal reality. Without Kaneda and Tetsuo, without espers and psionic assassins, without that badass motorcycle – our world would be a far less exciting place to exist. But the manga became the movie and the movie became a phenomenon and the world took notice. Now, Akira is everywhere. If you can't see it in the streets – if you can't feel it crawling around inside your brain – then you have yet to be initiated. What. Are. You. Waiting. For? "

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