How the iconic 1988 Akira cartoon was created

The Akira anime is considered by many critics to be one of the greatest animated and science fiction works of all time, as well as a milestone in the history of Japanese animation. Director Katsuhiro Otomo and the team did a great job. They hand-drawn every scene, paying attention to every little detail. This is what "handmade" really means.

The cartoon has become a true classic, making a giant contribution to pop culture. Perhaps today there are no projects in the genre of "gloomy futurism" and "cyberpunk" that would not be inspired by "Akira". For 1988, the anime was really impressive in scale: cool special effects, a deep plot, smooth animation at 24 frames per second (which is very cool for those years) and, most importantly, an impressive budget. In the late 80s, 5.5 million dollars to create an anime was considered just a huge sum. But the effort was well worth it as Akira grossed $80 million at the worldwide box office.

By the way, have you watched Akira?