History NightmareFuel / AKIRA

[[caption-width-right:350:[[FromBadToWorse And it]] [[TransformationHorror gets]] [[SuperpowerMeltdown even]] [[EldritchTransformation worse.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[FromBadToWorse And]] [[EldritchAbomination it]] [[BodyHorror gets]] [[SuperpowerMeltdown even]] [[EldritchTransformation worse.]]]]

* After Tetsuo first escapes from the lab and is rescued from the Clowns by Kaneda and crew, he gets assaulted by horrific flashes of the future, including a nightmarish hallucination where he falls and hits the ground and spills his guts onto the ground and tries to scoop them back up.

* The Espers themselves had been [[BodyHorror horrifically scarred]] by the government’s experiments, leaving them with the bodies of 12-year-olds despite being chronologically around their early 40's and with features of someone much older. Not to mention them having skin too. And it is drawn in [[GrossUpCloseUp horrific detail]] in both the film and the manga.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NpbLMvtEsU Shomyoh]]. Especially if you’re not used to listening to Buddhist chanting. Especially the first two minutes of the song where it's basically non-rhythmic chanting with creepy ancient percussions in the background (NightmareRetardant will save you when you realize it’s the equivalent of an orchestra warming up). Let's not even get started on the second half of the song. Even people who are used to that kind of chanting can definitely feel terrified as the tone of the song starts to get more and more desperate.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Help, [[FromBadToWorse Kaneda!]] [[EldritchAbomination Help]] [[BodyHorror mEeEeE!!!"]]]]

* '''THE MUTATION SCENE.''' The ''infamously'' disturbing scene where Tetsuo [[SuperpowerMeltdown loses control of his powers]] and [[BodyHorror transforms into]] a [[EldritchAbomination giant human-cyborg-fetus-amoeba]] that consumes everything it touches, including Kaori - who is tragically crushed to a bloody pulp inside of him while he ''feels her pain.''

* Right after Tetsuo begins mutating in full force, there's a split-second shot of Kaneda losing the grip on his rifle with a look on his face like he just [[BringMyBrownPants shat himself in horror.]]

* The Espers themselves had been [[BodyHorror horrifically scarred]] by the government’s experiments, leaving them with the bodies of 12-year-olds and the features of 80-year-olds. With blue skin. And it is drawn in [[GrossUpCloseUp horrific detail]] in both the film and the manga.

* Hell, the ''pills'' used by the Japanese government to keep the Espers' psychic powers under control is nightmare fuel in and of itself. A single ''grain'' of one of the capsules is five times more potent than an entire bag of amphetamines. The first thing Tetsuo does after becoming the Clowns' new leader is gulp down enough drugs to kill a rhinoceros just to get rid of his ''withdrawal symptoms.'' Plus a vial of methamphetamine that is ''75% pure.''

-->'''Clown:''' $3,500.00 worth of dope. Gone like that.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Kaneda, [[FromBadToWorse help me!]] [[EldritchAbomination HELP,]] [[BodyHorror PLEASE!!!"]]]]

** The conditions in which they live are nightmarish in their own special way. They are forced to live in a giant playroom owned and operated by the Japanese government. Their very existence is a secret among secrets, they are forbidden from leaving (even if they escape, they simply cannot survive on their own without supervision or medication) and they are [[CrapsaccharineWorld forbidden from enjoying any kind of exciting or thrilling entertainment]] out of fear that their emotions will [[PowerIncontinence trigger their powers.]]

* Tetsuo's way of dealing with the hospital personnel in his way is one of the most spine-chilling examples of PowersDoTheFighting -- telekinetically squashing the poor bastards against the corridor walls with such force that they're reduced to '''red paste''', all the while Tetsuo simply walks past them in a half-dazed rage without raising a single finger.

* '''THE MUTATION SCENE.''' The ''infamously'' disturbing scene where Tetsuo [[SuperpowerMeltdown loses control of his powers]] and [[BodyHorror transforms into]] a [[EldritchAbomination giant human-cyborg-fetus-amoeba]] that consumes everything it touches, including Kaori - who is tragically crushed to death inside of him while he ''feels her pain.''

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KvseLO2apA Battle against Clown]] is full of it. There's perhaps no other song in the ost that sounds more post apocalyptic. The beginning basically consists of rhythmic, asthmatic heaving with some terrifying clashing noises in the background. Not helping is that it plays during some of the most violent scenes in the film like the resistance member's death.
** Exodus from the Underground Fortress is perhaps the most upbeat track on the movie but even it can be overwhelming. There's a rather unsettling part in the song when it sounds like the instruments are all just pilling up on each other. it only lasts a few seconds but its still pretty unnerving.

* The death of the spy escorting Takashi in the film is equally scary and [[TearJerker sad]] to watch, especially how ruthless the military are in gunning him down. Granted, he pulled his gun on them, arguably to get them to shoot him dead so they wouldn't be able to interrogate him and make him spill the beans, but still...

* The fact that the Espers, including Akira, were once ordinary children who were taken in by the government and subjected to horrible experiments so they can become psychic weapons to be used for military and political purposes. In the manga, it was said that some children ended up physically handicapped (like Masaru and Kiyoko), or were so damaged that they ended up brain-dead. The anime doesn't help as in a flashback we see Takashi strapped to an operating table, while Kiyoko struggles against her bindings with a terrified expression as the doctors operating on her force a breathing mask full of anaesthetic gas (used to calm patients during surgeries) onto her face.

* While the anime is pretty famous for its NightmareFuel, the original manga which the anime was adapted from was pretty nightmarish, too. For one, the characters live in a CrapsackWorld where there's lots of people dying left and right in brutal ways, unruly and savage teenagers who run vicious ''bōsōzoku'' gangs, brutal policemen, a shady and corrupt government whose members engage in all sorts of clandestine activities, powerful psychics, and of course an autistic child whose psychic awakening was responsible for the destruction of not one city, but two! And the world they live in is still reeling from World War III and is thrust into the brink of another World War by the events in the manga.
* Shortly after Akira is revived, Nezu attempts to shoot him...and he misses, killing Takashi. Akira, seeing one of his only friends killed in front of him, has an emotional meltdown that turns into a ''psychic meltdown.'' Cut to millions of Neo-Tokyo's residents living their lives like they would on any other day, only to have it ''annihilated'' by Akira's dome of destruction.

-->'''Clown:''' $3500.00 worth of dope. Gone like that.

* '''The mutation scene.''' The ''infamously'' disturbing scene where Tetsuo [[SuperpowerMeltdown loses control of his powers]] and [[BodyHorror transforms into]] a [[EldritchAbomination giant human-cyborg-fetus-amoeba]] that consumes everything it touches, including Kaori - who is tragically crushed to death inside of him while he ''feels her pain.''

* While the anime is pretty famous for its NightmareFuel, the original manga which the anime was adapted from was pretty nightmarish, too. For one, the characters live in a CrapsackWorld where there's lots of people dying left and right in brutal ways, unruly and savage teenagers who run vicious ''bōsōzoku'' gangs, brutal policemen, a shady and corrupt government whose members engage in all sorts of clandestine activities, powerful psychics, and of course an autistic child whose psychic awakening was responsible for the destruction of not one city, but two! And the world they live in is still reeling from World War III, and is thrust into the brink of another World War by the events in the manga.

* In the manga, the conflict between the Allied forces and the Great Tokyo Empire deteriorates to such an insane degree that the admiral of the American fleet gives the order to [[TheOnlyWayToBeSure bomb what is left of Neo-Tokyo into oblivion.]] The Empire’s starving “citizens” excitedly hail the incoming planes as a sign of relief, only to quickly realize that the “care packages” are actually bombs.
* In the manga, shortly after Akira is revived, Nezu attempts to shoot him...and he misses, killing Takashi. Akira, seeing one of his only friends killed in front of him, has an emotional meltdown that turns into a ''psychic meltdown.''

* In the manga, Tetsuo escapes from the aircraft carrier by ''absorbing himself'' into one of the fighter jets. Cue the pilot practically shitting himself as he sees Tetsuo ''grow'' out of the fuselage.

** In the Manga, when Tetsuo reveals that he has the government-issued pill in his possession, Colonel Shikishima is understandably freaked out and ''demands'' him to spit it out. [[TooDumbToLive Tetsuo swallows it]] and goes into violent convulsions almost immediately before becoming unresponsive several seconds later. While the army scrambles to recover the dead and wounded while waiting on Doctor Onishi to arrive, Tetsuo ''jolts back to life'' like a board on a spring. Had the Colonel not offered Tetsuo greater power in exchange for being brought back to military custody willingly, he would have been annihilated where he stood.

* Tetsuo's utter lack of human decency is placed front and center stage in the manga, where he has a harem of sex slaves taken from Neo-Tokyo's refugee population and a coterie of psychic bodyguards who [[TheSpartanWay earned their place]] beside him simply by ''surviving'' the pills used to awaken their latent abilities. And that's not including his natural incompetence as the Great Tokyo Empire's "Prime Minister", allowing famine and anarchy to run rampant through the ruined city. As the situation deteriorates, he goes so far as to serve his starving subjects soup laced with handfuls of pills just so their addiction will ensure their obedience. Who would have thought a 15-year-old gangster with an inferiority complex would be so bad at leading a rogue nation?

[[caption-width-right:350:It gets [[FromBadToWorse worse]]. [[EldritchAbomination MUCH]] [[BodyHorror worse.]]]]

* The Espers themselves had been [[BodyHorror horrifically scarred]] by the government’s experiments, leaving them with [[UncannyValley the bodies of 12-year-olds and the features of 80-year-olds. With blue skin.]] And it is drawn in [[GrossUpCloseUp horrific detail]] in both the film and the manga.

** To elaborate nearly every song in the ost has some form of nightmare fuel in it.
*** Some versions of Kaneda's theme like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB6Ch_VAfIk this one]] start out with the sound of motorbikes screeching in the background. To someone at home not expecting it and listening to it on headphones, it can be quite startling.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KvseLO2apA Battle against Clown]] is full of it. There's perhaps no other song in the ost that sounds more post apocalyptic. The beginning basically consists of rhythmic, asthmatic heaving with some terrifying clashing noises in the background. Not helping is that it plays during some of the most violent scenes in the film like the resistance member's death.
*** Exodus from the Underground Fortress is perhaps the most upbeat track on the movie but even it can be overwhelming. There's a rather unsettling part in the song when it sounds like the instruments are all just pilling up on each other. it only lasts a few seconds but its still pretty unnerving.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NpbLMvtEsU Shomyoh]]. Just Shohmyoh. Especially if you’re not used to listening to Buddhist chanting. Especially the first two minutes of the song where it's basically non-rhythmic chanting with creepy ancient percussions in the background (NightmareRetardant will save you when you realize it’s the equivalent of an orchestra warming up). Let's not even get started on the second half of the song. Even people who are used to that kind of chanting can definitely feel terrified as the tone of the song starts to get more and more desperate.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcoYg2uUg84 “Illusion,”]] while peaceful, has chanting and music from a Noh play in its second half that gets increasingly frantic, punctuated with [[JumpScare startlingly loud]] gong crashes.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZYKOll6G7M Doll's Polyphony]] is in a league of its own. Even outside of its [[SurrealHorror signature scene]], it can be very unsettling. The song ''really'' starts getting creepy when the older, louder, ''booming'' voices start chanting.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fshgWIpcPeE “Mutation”]] takes the cake, runs away with the fork and stabs the baker when it comes to pure terror. Booming, ominous Buddhist chanting and distorted, binaural screaming makes Tetsuo’s already horrifying transformation all the more traumatic.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKvtbH8qUWU “Requiem”]] sounds less like a funeral procession and more like the '''end of the fucking world.'''

* '''The mutation scene.''' The ''infamously'' disturbing scene where Tetsuo [[SuperpowerMeltdown loses control of his powers]] and [[BodyHorror transforms into a]] [[EldritchAbomination giant human-cyborg-fetus-amoeba]] that consumes everything it touches, including Kaori - who is tragically crushed to death inside of him while he ''feels her pain.''
** And that's just the tip of the iceberg, because in the manga, this sequence is longer and therefore depicted in ''[[NauseaFuel even greater detail]]'' than what we see here. And all that is depicted in theme is just ''a mere fraction'' of what the manga depicts.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Help me, Kaneda! HELP ME, PLEASE!!!!!!"]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"Help me, Kaneda! HELP ME, PLEASE!!!!!!"]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:It gets [[FromBadToWorse worse]]. [[EldritchAbomination MUCH]] [[BodyHorror worse.]]]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_1qRVdIBs There's the nightmare scene.]] After undergoing the experiment, Tetsuo is left to recuperate in what looks like a child's bedroom. At first, he sees miniature versions of a teddy bear, stuffed bunny, and anthropomorphic car toy crawl onto his bed in an eerily human manner. After they vanish the second Tetsuo grabs them in his hand, he reels in horror as he watches all toys scattered across the floor assemble to form a gigantic teddy bear with a ravenous, fanged, green reptile for a right hand, a plush rabbit with fangs, and a toy car. All of which come straight out of the walls trying to drown him with ''milk.''

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_1qRVdIBs There's the nightmare scene.]] After undergoing the experiment, Tetsuo is left to recuperate in what looks like a child's bedroom. At first, he sees miniature versions of a teddy bear, stuffed bunny and an anthropomorphic car tool crawl onto his bed in an eerily human manner. After they vanish, Tetsuo reels in horror as he watches all toys scattered across the floor assemble to form a gigantic teddy bear with a ravenous, fanged, green reptile for a right hand, a plush rabbit with fangs, and a toy car. All of which come straight out of the walls trying to drown him with ''milk.''

* The scene where Tetsuo and Kaori get cornered by a group of [[JapaneseDelinquents Clowns]] can be pretty hard to watch. Especially the part where one of them rips open her shirt, [[WouldHitAGirl then punches her square in the face]], knocking her out. Which causes her to {{faceplant}} on the ground. Keep in mind, this is a frail-looking, terrified, 15-year-old girl being both physically and sexually assaulted by guys twice her size. And all of it is played disturbingly straight.

* Hell, the ''pills'' used by the Japanese government to keep the Espers' psychic powers under control is nightmare fuel in and of itself. A single ''grain'' of one of the capsules is more potent than an entire bag of amphetamines. The first thing Tetsuo does after becoming the Clowns' new leader is gulping down enough drugs to kill a rhinoceros just to get rid of his ''withdrawal symptoms.''
-->'''Clown:''' Twenty grand worth of dope - gone like that.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_1qRVdIBs There's the nightmare scene.]] After undergoing the experiment, Tetsuo is left to recuperate in what looks like a child's bedroom. At first, he sees miniature versions of a teddy bear, stuffed bunny and an anthropomorphic car tool crawl onto his bed in an eerily human manner. After they vanish, Tetsuo then sees see all the toys scattered all over the room come together to form some kind of gigantic teddy bear with a ravenous, fanged, green reptile for a right hand, a plush rabbit with fangs, and a toy car- who comes out of one of the walls that [[MindScrew breaks apart like lego blocks]], '''all spewing milk''', that try and kill him, [[MindRape while mentally traumatizing him with very surreal imagery.]] The designs of the bear and bunny, specifically, invoke the same creepy feeling of [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys a certain group of equally dangerous animal mascot animatronics that would come years later.]]

** If you look closely at the scene where he obliterates the doctor and his security detail, you can see ''fingers'' falling down from the ceiling.
* '''The mutation scene.''' The ''infamously'' disturbing scene where Tetsuo [[SuperpowerMeltdown loses control of his powers]] and [[BodyHorror transforms into a]] [[EldritchAbomination giant human-cyborg-fetus-amoeba]] that consumes everything it touches, including Kaori - who is tragically crushed to death inside of him while he ''feels her pain.'' The anguished cries of Tetsuo and Kaneda accentuate to the terror. And the [[https://archive.org/details/AKIRAOriginalSoundtrack/Mutation.mp3 music]] does not help...

* And then there's the mutation scene, where Tetsuo [[SuperpowerMeltdown loses control of his powers]] and [[BodyHorror transforms into a]] [[EldritchAbomination giant human amoeba]] that consumes everything it touches, and we also get to see Kaori get slowly crushed to death in a bloody pulp inside of Tetsuo. The anguished cries of Tetsuo and Kaneda accentuate to the terror. And the [[https://archive.org/details/AKIRAOriginalSoundtrack/Mutation.mp3 music]] does not help...

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KvseLO2apA Battle against Clown]] is full of it. There's perhaps no other song in the ost that sounds more post apocalyptic. The beginning basically consists of what sounds like an asthmatic older man breathing with some terrifying clashing noises in the background. Not helping is that it plays during some of the most violent scenes in the film like the resistance member's death.
*** Exodus from the Underground Fortress is perhaps the most upbeat track on the movie but even it has some. There's a rather unsettling part in the song when it sounds like the instruments are all just pilling up on each other. it only lasts a few seconds but its still pretty unnerving.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NpbLMvtEsU Shomyoh]]. Just Shohmyoh. Especially if you’re not used to listening to Buddhist chanting. Especially the first two minutes of the song where it's basically non-rhythmic chanting with creepy ancient percussions in the background (Though NightmareRetardant kicks in when you realize it’s the equivalent of an orchestra warming up). Let's not even get started on the second half of the song. Even people who are used to that kind of chanting can definitely feel terrified as the tone of the song starts to get more and more desperate.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZYKOll6G7M Doll's Polyphony]] is in a league of its own. It sounds a lot creepier in the scene that it's played in but the whole unnerving tone of the song makes it also creepy outside of context. The song really starts getting creepier when the older voices join in.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKvtbH8qUWU “Requiem”]] sounds less like a funeral procession and more like the ''end of the fucking world.''

* While the anime is pretty famous for its NightmareFuel, the original manga which the anime was adapted from was pretty nightmarish, too. For one, the characters live in a CrapsackWorld where there's lots of people dying left and right in brutal ways, unruly and savage teenagers who run vicious ''bōsōzoku'' gangs, brutal policemen, a shady and corrupt government whose members engage in all sorts of clandestine activities, powerful psychics, and of course an autistic child who was responsible for the destruction of not one city, but two! And the world they live in is still reeling from World War III, and is thrust into the brink of another World War by the events in the manga.

* In the manga, the conflict between the Allied forces and the Great Tokyo Empire deteriorates to such an insane degree that the admiral of the American fleet gives the order to [[KillEmAll bomb what is left of Neo-Tokyo into oblivion.]] The Empire’s starving “citizens” excitedly hail the incoming planes as a sign of relief, only to quickly realize that the “care packages” are actually bombs.

* The opening of the movie. It's a long shot of Tokyo that pans out, showing the city on July 16th, 1988. Then, the [[SphereOfDestruction black dome]] appears and vaporizes everything. Millions of people, just going on with their lives like normal, all gone in an instant. And the only sound during all of this is an eerie gust of a wind. It doesn't help that this scene is very reminiscent of a [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo nuclear explosion]], something many Japanese are quite familiar with.

* Tetsuo's utter lack of human decency is placed front and center stage in the manga, where he has a harem of sex slaves taken from Neo-Tokyo's refugee population and a coterie of psychic bodyguards who [[TheSpartanWay earned their place]] beside him simply by being ''alive'' after consuming pills designed to awaken their latent abilities. And that's not including his natural incompetence as the Great Tokyo Empire's "Prime Minister", allowing famine and anarchy to run rampant through the ruined city. As the situation deteriorates, he goes so far as to serve his starving subjects soup laced with handfuls of pills just so their addiction will ensure their obedience. Who would have thought a 15-year-old gangster with an inferiority complex would be so bad at leading a rogue nation?

* Tetsuo's utter lack of human decency is placed front and center stage in the manga, where he has a harem of sex slaves taken from Neo-Tokyo's refugee population and a coterie of psychic bodyguards who [[KlingonPromotion earned their place]] beside him simply by being ''alive'' after consuming pills designed to awaken their latent abilities. And that's not including his natural incompetence as the Great Tokyo Empire's "Prime Minister", allowing famine and anarchy to run rampant through the ruined city. As the situation deteriorates, he goes so far as to serve his starving subjects soup laced with handfuls of pills just so their addiction will ensure their obedience. Who would have thought a 15-year-old gangster with an inferiority complex would be so bad at leading a rogue nation?