Japanese Cyberpunk and Akira

Japanese Cyberpunk is a genre of underground film produced in Japan starting in the 1980s.

It bears some resemblance to the high-tech and scientific Cyberpunk as understood in the West, however differs in its representation of industrial and metallic imagery and an incomprehensible narrative. The genre is primarily defined by the movie Tetsuo: The Iron Man.^[1]

Japanese Cyberpunk generally involves the characters, especially the protagonist, going through monstrous, incomprehensible metamorphoses in an industrial setting.

Akira (アキラ^?, romanized as AKIRA) is a Japanese manga series, written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo. Set in a post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo, the work uses conventions of the cyberpunk genre to detail a saga of turmoil.^[1]

An eponymous animated film adaptation was released in 1988, shortening the plot, but with its structure and scenes heavily informed by the manga and its serial origins.^[4] The manga takes place in a vastly larger timeframe than the film and involves a far wider array of characters and subplots.

Akira, like Otomo's other works (such as Domu), revolves around the basic idea of individuals with superhuman powers, especially psychokinetic abilities. 

The series has won a great deal of recognition in the industry, including the 1984 Kodansha Manga Award for best general manga.^[12]

The anime has been regarded as one of the greatest animated movies of all time and prompted an increase in popularity of anime movies in the US and , generally, outside of Japan. It is still admired for its exceptional visuals.