Akira Rebirth discussion

I love Japanese anime, ever since I watched Toonami as a little kid and stayed up past my bedtime when Adult Swim actually had watchable stuff instead of glorified stoner material. One franchise has always intrigued me: Akira, the brainchild (no pun intended) of Katsuhiro Otomo. It has practically ever thing you could ever want in an anime/manga. Great action? Check. Character development? Check. Gratuitous violence? Hell yes. I have a couple of action figures from the Todd McFarlane toys line, including a strange, intimidating-looking little boy resting on a throne. That boy is the titular character, Akira, and in my opinion, he's quite possibly the poster child for underused Badass potential. I just feel that Otomo could have done so much better things characterwise with him rather than use him as a combination Chekhov's child/dude in distress. What I'm about to propose is going to cause a lot, and I mean A LOT, of controversy. What if I wrote a reimagining, a Fix Fic where Akira booted Kaneda out of the protagonist chair? I'd have to drastically retool the plot, but hey, wishful thinking.

edited 29th Jan '12 4:24:47 PM by ConnorBible

May need some help though.

You don't need our approval. Just do it.

I'm just saying its a pretty ballsy undertaking. I don't want to sour anyone's childhood.

You don't need our approval. Just do it.

Wrote one. [1]

OK! Good job. Instead of asking for permission, I've learned that it's best to write something, and then edit it if it hasn't already been published in a non-modifiable form yet.

So, here's what I have to say so far:

I haven't read the entire manga (only two and a half volumes) or seen much of the movie (like 15 minutes, but I'm planning to watch the entire thing within the month), but Akira seems too far Out of Character. As you mentioned, he was always "the serious type, and seeing him talk like a regular TV Teen is weird. Is there an explanation for that besides him being the protagonist?

Also, a lot of the expressions and mannerisms he's using are very American. He kind of comes off sounding like a character in a mediocre dub of a Shonen anime. Also, I seriously doubt he would be able to quote Fight Club.

Finally, there are several typos that need fixing. I trust you can find them.

This story has the potential to be very good if you spend more time on it.

I more or less wrote it in a desperate funk; I wanted to write something. Hi There, Kiyoko was more or less the spawn of sobbing eyes and multiple listenings of "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer. Pure guy-girl-cry stuff. I'm probably going to take your advice for granted, and retool this fic. It has quite a different tone from Rebirth, which I'll start VERY SOON.

edited 1st Feb '12 9:39:44 AM by ConnorBible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITJUS9a_XKA This is pretty much the new Akira in a nutshell. Just listen to the lyrics.

edited 1st Feb '12 4:42:38 PM by ConnorBible

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7799538/1/Akira_Rebirth Here's what I've written so far. I'll add more tomorrow.

I haven't listened to the song yet, but that last update wasn't bad at all.

Is it okay if I ask for advice?

That's what this forum's for.

How am I going to retell this story while still keeping it faithful to the anime and manga? Already, my conception has diverged quite a bit from both.

I really want give the character of Akira some spark, if you know what I mean— a sense of him as a character, even if it is muted most of the time but I don't want to completely bugger up the whole thing and let it become a case of serious Adaptation Decay. Another thing: action scenes. And a possible... *ahem*... encounter between Kaori and Tetsuo in an alley at night. Want to maintain the awesomeness, but at the same time go Michael Mann on it.

"That boy is the titular character, Akira, and in my opinion, he's quite possibly the poster child for underused Badass potential."

That's kind of the whole point though. Akira was hardly even a person by the series timeline, and was pretty much consumed by his power. Hard to really call him a dude in distress though when in the manga he was pretty much worshiped for awhile. Akira and Tetsuo were really meant to be the sort of characters you feel sorry for the whole time though anyway. They were both pretty pitiable.

Yeah, but I feel that by making Akira a stronger character, while still keeping him in the Woobie zone, he'd be a far more interesting and complex character instead of "Oh, look at me, I'm a cute little boy in danger and I've got a cult behind my back that does the job for me while I sit back in my throne and watch with a constipated expression."

edited 4th Feb '12 1:32:24 PM by ConnorBible

I'm wondering, did he ever talk at all in the original?

edited 4th Feb '12 4:43:28 PM by Wheezy

Yes, but just a few words. The vast majority of his lines come in the manga's last volume.

Oh, OK. I've never read the manga's last volume, so I thought he was mute.

Maybe the Power didn't make him a blank slate at all. He is genuinely fucking irate when Takashi gets one through the head.

I love subtleties like that. You think you know a character, then you see a little thing about them that blows your mind...

Coming along nicely. Hope to start Chapter One soon, after the prologue.

Thread moved as requested.

Thanks.

Finished the first part of the prologue. Next, I'll write the resurrection scene...