Akira Blu-ray

Akira

 (1988)

Action | Anime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller



On July 16, 1988, Tokyo was destroyed by what was believed to be a new type of bomb, triggering World War III. Thirty-one years later, in 2019, Neo-Tokyo has arisen from ashes under Japan's new political system; but the glittering city is built on foundations of poverty, ignorance and despair. Kaneda and his friends, a bunch of juvenile delinquents, rumble with a rival group of bikers. While the police attempt to disperse a riot with tear gas, the rumble continues. Tetsuo takes the lead and, after disposing of his opponents, nearly runs down what looks to be a 100-year-old baby. Tetsuo's bike suddenly explodes and he is taken prisoner by the top-secret Akira Project where he is subjected to a series of tests which unleash his latent psycho-kinetic powers. But he is really more powerful than anyone imagined and breaks out, creating a swathe of destruction across the city as he mutates into another life form.

For more details about Akira on Blu-ray, see the Akira Blu-ray Review

Starring: Cameron Clarke, Mitsuo Iwara, Jan Rabson, Nozomu Sasaki, Lara Cody
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo

Akira Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Akira is presented in 1080P using the AVC codec, with an average bit-rate of 20 MBPS. I’ve seen Akira on cable (long ago), VHS, DVD, UMD, high-definition cable (720P), and now Blu-ray. I’m pleased to report it holds up extremely well with the increased resolution. Lines are nice and crisp, with no wavering or stair-stepping. Colors don’t cover a wide spectrum, but they appear to accurately reproduce the original print. For instance, the reds on Kaneda’s suit and bike show some level of differentiation, but not the amount we would come to expect if Akira was made using today’s film standards. In addition, there are thankfully no instances of color variance from scene to scene (an example would be if a character’s jacket looked red in one scene, and orange in another, which tends to happen when scenes are animated by different groups of people).

Black levels and contrast are mostly excellent with the exception of one scene (see screen capture number 17), which came across a bieing slightly muddy in appearance. The consistency in detail from scene to scene could have been better; some scenes look slightly out of focus in comparison to other scenes, but this is likely more of a source issue and something that was not noticeable prior to the increased resolution that Blu-ray offers. Lastly, I had one complaint with the transfer that I tried to accurately capture in the final 3 screenshots. On 3 occasions, there appeared to be a hazy outline around the body or face of a character. This did not appear to be a halo resulting from edge enhancement, but was not something I would imagine was present in the source material. It is most apparent in the final screenshot between the shoe and leg of Kaneda.

One other item worth mentioning is the odd move to frame the picture on all four sides. On a 16:9 display, thin black bars on the top and bottom of the screen are appropriate (for a 1.85:1 native aspect ratio), but it is frustrating to view a transfer that doesn't fully utilize the width of my display. I’m guessing this was done to prevent overscan on older television sets (since the 1.85:1 native aspect ratio of the film is still accurately reproduced without cropping), but it should have been corrected when the film was transferred to high- definition.

Akira Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


If I could pick one area where this Blu-ray truly shines, it would be the audio. The default Japanese language track is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound. There are also Japanese tracks in Linear PCM 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1, but I only spent a brief time with these inferior tracks. Getting back to the TrueHD track, this is easily the most noticeable improvement I’ve heard in the transition to lossless sound. It was as if a blanket was lifted from each of my speakers, and clarity took an instant jump. Spatial separation is dynamic, dialogue is appropriately balanced, and there was an unbelievable level of clarity throughout the film. This is one of those tracks that uses every speaker to envelope you in the on-screen action. A helicopter pan across the soundstage is appropriately loud, but never noisy, and the rumble of the film’s many explosions resonates with an oomph you’ll feel in your chest.

In the booklet included with the disc, there is a lengthy discussion of a theory known as the hypersonic effect, and how it was utilized in remastering the audio track for this Blu-ray release. I can’t say I understood everything included in the 10-page explanation, but I did find it interesting that the film's original composer, Shoji Yamashiro, is also a professor at the National Institute of Multimedia Education, and has published books on “Sound Ecology”. His studies have led to the theory of the hypersonic effect, and he was instrumental in remastering the high bit-rate TrueHD track for this Blu-ray release.

Rounding out the sound options is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track dubbed in English, which was on par with the quality of the Japanese TrueHD track.

Akira Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Today on Blu-ray - February 24th - February 24, 2009


• Akira Coming to Japan and the U.S. (Updated) - September 26, 2008

Akira Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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