Get to know the story of ‘Akira’, manga that may win a film with director Taika Waititi

Commonly referred to as one of the main works of pop culture, ‘Akira’ emerged as a manga originally published between 1982 and 1990, becoming one of the standout reads for lovers of dystopian stories. The plot that was written by Katsuhiro Otomo it was soon expanded from the pages to the screens when it became an anime in 1988, being considered a great classic of the genre until today.

The great titles awarded to anime and manga can be attributed entirely to the narrative that is immersed in a futuristic and dystopian aesthetic full of neon lights set 38 years after the 3rd World War that broke out in 1981, where the reader and the spectator are presented with a post-apocalyptic city called Neo-Tokyo in the year 2019.

In this place, there are several gangs that spread chaos throughout the city. Among them, there is a group of rebel bikers led by Shotaro Kaneda, who at a certain point suffer a strange accident, where Tetsuo Shima, Kaneda’s best friend, ends up having previously hidden powers, awakened, after interacting with a child who had just died. to escape from a hospital where she was kept as a guinea pig.

Tetsuo’s new abilities draw the attention of secret government agents, who capture him and subject him to tests for a project that aims to create humans with telekinetic powers to be used as weapons — the curious thing is that this description would easily fit Eleven’s narrative, from ‘Stranger Things’, wouldn’t it?

Even in the hands of the authorities, Kaneda does not give up on freeing his friend who is already on the brink of madness after so many attempts to have his supernatural powers controlled. Even so, the mission will not be easy, since in the midst of so many mysteries involving not only Tetsuo, but the history of the destruction of the Japanese city, Akira, a legendary entity, can be awakened, threatening to bring more destruction.

Although the story was launched more than 40 years ago, recently it has gained a new perspective. That’s because, on Saturday, 8, Justin Krolla reporter for Deadline, disclosed through his Twitter profile that the feature film that should adapt the manga and anime of Katsuhiro Otomo for the big cinema screens will be the new focus of Taika Waititifilmmaker whose most recent work is ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ (2022).

Second krollthe film’s scripts are already in development, justifying why the Star Wars film, which would be directed by Waititi, was not announced at SW Celebration, the fan convention to celebrate the franchise produced by Lucasfilm held last weekend:

Since everyone wonders where Taika Waititi’s Star Wars is, I’d bet his next project is Warner’s Akira, which he had already postponed to make Love and Thunder. He never let go of the film, and I hear the script is due soon.

Despite the news being hopeful, the journalist stressed that “nothing is defined”, explaining that the “film still needs to go through a whole process until it is approved, but it seems that this is Taika’s current focus.”