Akira returns to cinemas and IMAX in April

©1988 MASH・ROOM / AKIRA COMMITTEE All Rights Reserved.

Relive one of the most influential Sci-Fi stories ever told, 35 years after it introduced UK audiences to the cinematic spectacle and powerful stories of anime. Anime Limited have announced that Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark cyberpunk epic AKIRA is exploding back onto cinema screens, including IMAX, from Friday 17th April.

Rebuilt from the ashes of World War III, Neo-Tokyo is a breathtaking, neon-lit metropolis where lawlessness and corruption run rampant. Racing through its streets are Kaneda and Tetsuo, two delinquents and members of a biker gang. When they crash into a secret government plot and Tetsuo is experimented on, the result is an explosive, mesmerising masterpiece of animation that would change cinema forever.

Iconic and game-changing, AKIRA is the definitive anime masterpiece! 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 future generations of ground-breaking movies.

July, 1988— World War III breaks loose. Then, in 2019, in megalopolis Tokyo…

As the leader of a group of young robust delinquents, Kaneda spent his nights tearing through the urban wastes, racing his motorbike against rival groups. One night while riding with his gang, his friend Tetsuo suddenly encounters a strange boy― the product of human experimentation— and is injured in the ensuing crash. Shortly thereafter, a military squadron appears on the scene to take the boy and Tetsuo away to an army research facility. Determined to free Tetsuo from capture, Kaneda sneaks into the army research lab. However, a regimen of extreme experimental procedures has awakened a new power in his friend, and now he is consumed by madness…

Premiering in Japan in 1988, AKIRA was released to global audiences in the years that followed, arriving in the UK & Ireland in 1991. The film was a cultural moment that introduced audiences around the world to anime, with The Washington Post declaring AKIRA “a visceral example of the future of animation” – an assessment proven true by anime’s rise as a global box office force that rivals even Hollywood blockbusters. AKIRA has endured as one of the most influential films ever made, from homages recreating iconic scenes and imagery across pop culture, to the film’s celebrated place as “a vital cornerstone of the cyberpunk genre” (British Film Institute), with renowned film critic Robbie Collin acknowledging “plenty of superb recent blockbusters, including The Matrix, The Dark Knight, Minority Report, Dark City and Inception, are all in its debt”.

Founded in Glasgow in 2012, Anime Limited are honoured to continue their mission of celebrating unique and original cinema by bringing the film that started it all back to the big screen – including the explosive spectacle of IMAX. Whether you’ve enjoyed AKIRA over the years or are discovering this classic for the very first time, there’s no better way to experience it than on the biggest screen possible, as originally intended. Sign up for updates at AkiraFilm.co.uk to find a screening near you.

AKIRA releases in IMAX and cinemas in both Japanese with English subtitles, and English dubbed versions, from 17th Friday April.