Talk:Akira (character)

Copy Editing
This is pathetic. I fixed up the grammar on the recent revision, but the language is still much too vague. --Closedmouth 12:18, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

I gave it another once over with the grammar and im happy that the spelling and grammar is ok... it still needs to be wikified however, and im sure that will lend to the overall performance of the article. Im about to begin wikification, but im on a short time frame so may not finish it before i have to leave. S3raph1m 16:49, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Nope i didnt think id have time to finish the wikification process. Well its a start, it could use one of the infobox templates and a photo of him, probably a still from the film. Would help to break up the text... ill have a look when i get home, see what i can find S3raph1m 17:00, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Spoiler Tag Reverted Back Into Article
I re-added the spoiler tag for the following reason. Even though spoiler tags are usually omitted in articles on fictional characters (per WP:SPOILER), that policy also notes that an exception to this rule is when an article contains "specific details that a reader might not expect to come across." This article contains spoilers from the very first paragraph -- before the plot descriptions. One expects to come across spoilers in a plot description (hence redundancy) but not in the introductory paragraph. As anyone who knows the story will agree, the nature of the narratives for both the manga, Akira (manga), and the film, Akira (film), necessitate that any explanation of the titular character will have to contain spoilers that will lie outside of more typical plot summaries. This is due to the fact that the character, Akira, is a complete mystery for much of the story -- we know nothing about him for some time and his narrative is essential to the ending.

I welcome other opinions though. ask123 18:11, 12 September 2007 (UTC)


 * This is an article on a fictional character. The only way to cover such a character is via plot information, which is why WP:SPOILER also says that spoiler tags are generally unneeded on biographies of fictional characters. &mdash; Carl (CBM · talk) 19:35, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, but plot information on the character, Akira, is necessarily going to be spoiler plot information. Not all plot information is runious to the story. It's like having a character page for "rosebud" in Citizen Kane. It gives away the whole movie. The exception I can see here is the manga, Akira. In the manga, the story continues for some time after we know a who Akira really is. In fact, the essential information on Akira is given quite early -- I think in the 2nd volume (out of 6 total volumes). In the movie, though, this is not the case. The movie is mostly comprised of the story in the 1st book with sprinklings from the other books (mostly the 2nd one) towards the last quarter of the film. So, as far as the movie goes, most information on the Akira character, including bits given in the very fist paragraph of this article, are runious to a new viewer of the story. ask123 19:48, 12 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes, the article will contain spoilers. Any good encyclopedia article on a fictional character will contain spoilers. That's why the reader should expect that there will be spoilers in an article about a fictional character. Anyone who doesn't want to know about a fictional character before watching the movie or reading the book shouldn't read an encyclopedia article on it, any more than they would read Cliff's notes. &mdash; Carl (CBM · talk) 20:01, 12 September 2007 (UTC)


 * It is impossible to write an encyclopedic article about a fictional character without spoilers. Therefore, spoilers can be expected in articles like this one. As a courtesy, we can think about using current fiction in case of spoiler information that has been subject to a media hype (this was done successfully at the most recent Harry Potter release), but for articles about fiction that is no longer current, it is not necessary to warn people that the article contains the information they seek. Kusma (talk) 11:05, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I understand all this. Obviously, the meat of any article on a fictional character will contain spoilers. But I am speaking here about the lede section of the article. Typically, a lede does not go into these kind of plot details. Here are two examples of exemplary ledes from articles on fictional characters: Shinji Ikari, Gandalf. Notice how basic the introductory sentences are in these articles. They don't go deeply into plot. Rather, they simply describe the most basic characteristics of the respective characters. The lede for this article, on the other hand, goes into plot details that are unnecessary for an introduction. Those details belong in another section or, otherwise, some notation is necessary. A spoiler tag isn't required; the lede can be rewritten and the info that's currently there moved to another section. Either way, a reader should have no problem with spoilers upon reading the lede for fictional character articles. ask123 15:53, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Inspirations
The article does not need spoilers to present the plot, only a more extensive look on where it drew inspiration from. The idea of people "transcending" existence, and creating new universes is not new to Buddhism although, it is not a very popular one. Actually I think it is more rooted in Shinto than Buddhist belief.

Sorry for soapboxing here but I always found it interesting how psychics in Japanese fiction tend to be more powerful than in American comics. I mean, Marvel's Psychic characters are by no means slouches, but, none of them can level a whole city with the exception perhaps of Xavier's illegitimate son "X Man."

Ultimately to help the article; just talk about the inspiration, what the character can't and can't do, and try to avoid their role in the story. I mean when you are dealing with a central character, its almost impossible to do an article about them without a spoiler, so perhaps the article could benefit from a spoiler warning maybe? I mean if it being a spoiler is an issue, why not just have a warning? Ultimately though it doesn't matter; I always found the anime to be dark and just plain disturbing, so in a lot of ways a spoiler would make it more digestible. I first saw it way back in 1995, and I have seen it several times since then, and no matter how many times I've watched it, my psyche always comes out shaken by it.

I think we can all agree that "Akira" is probably not just one of the most disturbing anime, but one of the most disturbing films ever made period. Am I the only person who thinks "Akira" is creepy? I mean, Akira is such a frightening force, you almost sympathize more with the "bad guys" of the story, namely the military who is trying to prevent the city from being leveled again. You feel sorry for those poor kids, but at the same time, you are torn up with conflicting emotion the whole time you watch. On the one hand you feel pitty for them, but on the other hand you know they are very dangerous.

In other words the film challenges social conventions and human instinct, protective instinct common to both genders. You hate the military for what they do to those kids, but you also don't want to see the city being leveled. Okay you do because its corrupt and all that, but, the way the movie explores the deterioration of the main anti hero Tetsuo, and the idea, that only a "disturbed" individual can see what is wrong with society just messes with your head. I mean Tetsuo isn't the nicest character, I personally thought he was evil. Tetsuo is Erick Harris and Dylan Clebold given the power to level a city.

Please don't feel bad about this being a "spoiler;" Having talked too much, getting to the point, I think we can all agree that Akira is an extremely disturbing anime. Even though it was aimed at alienated teens, I watched it when I was an alienated teen, and I couldn't stomach it back then. Even as an "alienated teen" I thought Tetsuo was evil. I always sympathized more with Kaneda. In "spoiling" the plot, you are actually doing newcomers to the story a favor. Again, regardless of differing opinion I think all of us anime fans and film buffs can agree, Akira is one of the most disturbing works ever put on film.

206.63.78.62 (talk) 04:12, 8 September 2008 (UTC)stardingo747