I'm slow; I just now discovered Akira.

[J.R.]

Wow. Wowee-wow-wow-wow-wow. I've never seen such a beautiful movie. I thought, "Well, I'll see what all the cult hype is about,". I didn't know I'd be watching one of (if not the) most visually powerful films ever. It's one of the best sci-fi movies ever, as well. Why, why is this an underground thing? Why is it not one of the most successful movies ever? I guess I can't make fun of my friend for loving those "violent Japanese porn cartoons,".

[Neville]

I guess part of the fault the movie is considered not-that-great is that the ending is a bit confusing for western audiences. Heard it deals with some japanese mythology, as some other animes, but haven't investigated it. If you liked the movie, consider reading the comic. Just think it consists of 6 volumes or more, and the movie just covers events in the first one.

About myself, I really liked it, it was completely different than anything I had ever seen before, but the ending left me a bit confused, and in recent viewings I noticed animation doesn't look that smooth today. But still keeping all this in mind it remains one of my favourite animes ever. It has a great visuals, an incredible soundtrack and some really dark sense of humour (take the scenes at the police precint, for instance).

[Pete B6K]

I saw part of Akira a while back and have been meaning to buy it for ages. Yesterday I noticed its down from £20 to £10 on play.com, so it should be with me in 3-5 days.  Also bought special edition Stand by Me, the soon-to-be-released special Ed Wood, and for Halloween movie night; Session 9, which I havent seen, just heard good things about it.

Pete