Akira is probably the best anime ever made. Taken from Katsuhiro Otomo's already awesome manga epic, the scale and detail of the film undertaking at the time it was released was unprecedented. Otomo's story of god like powers and biker gangs in NeoTokyo's post apocolyptic world was too vast to correctly fit into a single film, and the amount missing in the film is what keeps it from perfection. There are numerous versions of the anime, visually whatever the most recently remastered or blurayed version is would look best, but the versions of subbed and dubbed have varied over the years. The original American releases had dubbing that botched dialogue throughout the film and muddled the plot, and while new translations are much improved, this is one for subtitles. The music score is one of the best out there and the amount of visual detail is often unmatched today. The live action remake is increasingly getting attention but Akira remains THE seminal anime, a must see for any anime or film fan. (.98)

- J Paige