Deadjournal

My main subjective criterion for a good anime is simple: it should be easy to watch, making time fly by unnoticed. Ultimately, anime's primary function, at least for me, is to kill time, and in that regard, Akira is one of those gems that keeps you hooked from start to finish. However, it’s not without its flaws, which keep it from getting a perfect 10.

The movie delivers a gripping story and absolutely stunning visuals, but it also feels somewhat incomplete, with a few rough edges and unanswered questions. For example, how the hell did Kaneda and the Colonel survive everything that happened to them, without so much as a scratch? What exactly became of Tetsuo in the end? Why did only those kids develop psychic abilities? And so on… Akira leaves a lot of things unexplained, which can be frustrating.

That said, I believe anime should be rated subjectively, so my personal score is a 9/10. Objectively, I’d drop it a point to 8/10. If MAL allowed decimal ratings, I’d go with 8.5/10.