Akira . At its mere evocation, the images come back to memory as they imprinted the retina at the time: the megalopolis of Neo-Tokyo, the night trips on motorcycles in Kaneda, the transformation of Tetsuo… Images, memories, for that matter more often from the animated adaptation - and a worn VHS - than the manga itself, both signed by Katsuhiro Otomo. If Akira is today one of the most famous manga in the world, a masterpiece of anticipation and science fiction, as well as an undeniable influence for many authors, designers, directors, it is is also and above all thanks to the 1988 film, which hits theaters this week in a 4K remastering and in a context of crisis.
Katsuhiro Otomo Akira's masterpiece can be (re) discovered in theaters today in 4K, for an unforgettable experience 💊
In the cinema with @DYBEX throughout France 🎬 @ AmelEUROZOOM pic.twitter.com/g28jtGFyd6
A technical tour de force
A post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk tale, Akira takes place in 2019, thirty-eight years after World War III, and sees a gang of idle young people find themselves embroiled in scientific experiments, a political plot, a revolutionary movement ... the end of the world , of a world?
At the time, Otomo wanted to tell about a Japan resembling that of the post-WWII era, a Japan, which from Hiroshima to Fukushima, of a government contested with external political influences, of an uncertain future at the idea of resilience, looks a lot like our world. Akira has therefore lost none of his power, a power which can also be explained by the fact that the film is a technical tour de force, the biggest budget for an animated film at the time, with more than 150,000 celluloids and the use of computer graphics.
An update from the boss of @DYBEX on the release of the film Akira in the cinema with @AmelEUROZOOM pic.twitter.com/u05FlkoaNq
- Anime HD (@_AnimeHD_) August 19, 2020Remastering to match
The 4K version offered in theaters does justice to this colossal work, a remastering of which the distributor Amel Lacombe, at the head of the company Eurozoom, heard about in December 2018: “Otomo wanted to offer Akira a real remaster for 2019/2020, either on the date of the events in the film. He had been disappointed with the version released for 25 years, from a video master. Flattened, grain free, not up to par. "
If this 4K remastering was released on UHD Blu-ray in Japan, Amel Lacombe wants to offer it in theaters in France, during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, “a blink of an eye since it is about the Olympics in the film. It is also and above all a question of their cancellation. Akira , more visionary than ever.
Yesterday, for 1h30, I was 10 years old again. And I saw myself again with my dad in front of a somewhat pirate VHS of a film that would mark my little life as a g33k.
Yes, I saw #Akira at the movies. pic.twitter.com/mPsTn8NDIm
Cinemas need movies
“With the postponed Olympics and the health crisis, the only possible release date was August 19,” explains the distributor. Would she have preferred another date, another exhibition, when the cinemas have reopened but seem to be waiting for the Messiah Tenet ? “In fact, it's the other way around. Akira is neither a blockbuster nor a festival film. It's a re-released, and it's only a few copies usual. I had bet on 50/100 copies, and it will ultimately be 200 across France. Paradoxically, the covid element worked in our favor. Theaters that would not necessarily have taken it usually have positioned themselves on it, because they need films with postponed releases. "
Amel Lacome adds that the exhibitors are still cautious with animation cinema in general, and japanime in particular: "They will give it to you on a Wednesday at 2 pm in French, because animation, it is well known, c is for children. The misunderstanding is still there. "
AVP Friday + D1 = more than 8000 to have come to theaters for the shock of the new version # AKIRA4k
🙏
What an honor to offer this masterpiece, almost 30 years after its appearance on screens in Japan, a release worthy of his greatness!
The rooms here ⬇️https: //t.co/qX8UHPCElt
A self-fulfilling prophecy
The context is difficult and sad for all players in the profession, distributors, exhibitors and even spectators. But the profession also has a self-fulfilling dimension, comments Amel Lacombe: "We are often told that such and such a film is not going to work, and it is certain that if it passes at a bad time, without highlighting, without anything. , it will not work. "
She thus criticizes the current discourse which wants that there are no films in theaters, no locomotives, because there are no blockbusters, no films of festivals. “People are going to believe it eventually. However, independent distributors are doing their job and showing that they can make entries. So, not four million out of one film, but for example 400,000 out of ten films, or 200,000 out of 20 films. What if Akira made 200,000 admissions?
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- Coronavirus
- Manga
- Animation
- Cinema
- Japan