The Pitt Anime Club will hold a screening of the 1988 classic anime film Akira (アキラ) on March 25. A 1987 Variety review provides a summary:
The action takes place 30 years from now, in Neo-Tokyo, the reconstructed version of the Japanese capital, previously destroyed in a 1988 nuclear war. The shape of the city has changed but not its problems, as the social fabric is falling to pieces, students organize demonstrations, unemployment generates constant unrest and terrorists conspire to overthrow the government.
The military is developing a new and more powerful source of energy, ESP. The problem is that they don’t quite know how to control it, and when a young biker with natural talents refuses to co-operate, the entire world is in a lot of trouble.
A remarkable technical achievement in every respect, from the imaginative and detailed design of tomorrow to the booming Dolby effects on the soundtrack, pic’s only drawback is the slight stiffness in the drawing of human movement.
It starts at 6:00 pm in 358 Cathedral of Learning (map) and is free and open to the public.