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Introducing Lee to Body Horror - Akira - Anime Club · Anime Club Podcast

0:23
Hello and welcome to another episode of Anime Club.
0:27
Hey, and this week we have a very special guest.
0:32
We have Phoebe on our straw tip. Yeah, way.
0:37
Hang on, I've been bumped off my own.
0:41
Change the screen and Luffy. It's only a matter of time.
0:48
This can't be straw chat because we don't have the production
0:50
value that straw chat has, despite the fact that we are
0:54
have been going longer and should be better at no fancy
0:58
moving backgrounds. No, no.
1:02
But. Well I am got Phoebe as usual
1:06
which is great but we also have and Lee from Straw chat and a
1:12
little thingy by head of top grumps.
1:15
Hi. Pleasure to be here, Chris.
1:19
It's. American, Lee.
1:23
I'm going for something different than just the usual I
1:26
read. I imagine if that was how we
1:31
found out that that was your real voice and you'd just been
1:33
faking the whole Geordie thing the whole time.
1:36
Got to put on any accent to be fair and got away with it.
1:40
I've passed for loads of different things.
1:41
I haven't passed the Scottish. I have passed the Scottish
1:43
before I'm. Glad you went white accent.
1:50
We'll not get into that. This isn't Tom, Chris.
1:55
It isn't top clubs but I'm so. Disappointed.
2:01
Oh sorry, was that visibly disappointed?
2:03
I meant to keep that inside but. I'm excited to be here more than
2:13
Tom Grumps because this, this film was amazing.
2:16
Akima was fantastic, much better than whatever Chris decided to
2:21
pick for Tom Grumps that week. So Lee, the reason that we
2:25
picked this film this week is because when we were at
2:28
Sunnycon, I was standing next to Lee while we were taking a break
2:32
from walking around, and I saw an Akira poster.
2:35
And I was like, Lee, look, Akira thinking that Lee will have seen
2:38
this film, he'll love it, it's right up his St.
2:42
And he just looked at me blankly.
2:44
So I've been looking for an excuse to make him watch it ever
2:47
since. Yeah.
2:49
Never even heard of it. I probably would have thought it
2:51
was like a type of dog or something.
2:55
I think I was probably just thinking of an Akita.
2:57
Yeah, even Nikita. Are you genuine?
3:02
Isn't she a lady assassin Akita? With big eyes.
3:09
Never heard of it. Is this genuinely the first time
3:14
you've ever heard of it? Yeah, yeah, seriously.
3:18
So. I'm glad I've been introduced to
3:20
it. So since you've seen it, if you
3:23
like recognized any of the tropes because this was 1984 and
3:27
there's like there's the famous like Akira bike slide.
3:32
Yeah. Do you notice that?
3:34
Do you know when them? I think it's on the on the.
3:37
Highway Canada, Yeah, I probably.
3:42
Didn't pay much. I didn't.
3:43
I probably didn't pay much attention to the bike slides and
3:47
think like oh wow, like a bike slide because it is that common.
3:52
No, it appears in that many things.
3:55
True. Yeah, yeah.
3:57
Sideways. Sideways it's.
3:58
Different. It's sideways and I'm sure that
4:02
the Matrix ripped it off. I think it's in like the Matrix
4:05
Trip 2 where Trinity has that butt across the highway has a
4:10
bike race and I'm almost positive whoever did the
4:14
cinematography for that and the stunt driving for that had seen
4:17
Akira. It is.
4:19
Listen. There's a few moments, yeah.
4:25
In the do do, a lot of stuff do do and a lot of stuff where it
4:31
is like inhumanly possible and very Matrixy, especially in all
4:35
of the like highway stuff. Like there's one scene where
4:38
someone jumps off the back of a bike or jumps out of the car and
4:41
just starts running alongside to the car.
4:44
And I will tell you from first hand experience that that is not
4:47
possible. Good.
4:49
OK, I really, I really want to talk about this film, but also
4:53
now I even more want to talk about why have you got first
4:56
hand experience? Because I have tried to jump off
5:00
a car thinking about I was on the bonnets that was reversed
5:04
and really fast and I was like, oh I'm going to die if I don't
5:08
get off this car now. So I jumped off and thought if I
5:10
run fast enough I'll jump off and just run along the floor.
5:14
But no, I jumped off and just skipped along the floor.
5:18
I love how you start the story. So I was on a bonnet and the car
5:21
was reversing really far backwards.
5:24
There's no, like, explanation as to why.
5:26
That's just a given. Yeah.
5:30
Lee found himself there. It seems kind of normal.
5:33
Moving on. Amazing.
5:42
Yeah. So what were your first
5:45
impressions of Akira? I mean, I was going to talk to
5:48
Phoebes, but Phoebes has seen it before, so I want to know what
5:51
you're going into it not having. I mean, I know you had the
5:54
hiccup with the subtitles and the very legal platform you were
5:58
streaming it from, but yeah, but you finally got it.
6:02
How you could understand it and watch it.
6:04
What did you think? Well, just to explain what had
6:09
happened. So I've got this app but don't
6:15
tell anyone but I've got this app where you can watch movies
6:18
online. OK.
6:20
And I got the Japanese version was the first one I found and it
6:23
was like all right OK I'll watch it in Japanese because I'll
6:26
probably not find in English or find a copy as good as this in
6:28
English. But the subtitles were slightly
6:32
out so I couldn't really follow what was going on for the 1st 10
6:36
minutes and they thought this isn't making any sense at all.
6:40
And then I like, something happened and it was like, oh,
6:42
hang on. I saw some subtitles earlier on
6:45
that corresponded to the scene. So I looked in that sentence and
6:50
I could change the subtitles and it was like, right, it's 17
6:53
seconds out. So I shifted them and got it in
6:56
line, carried on watching it. About 10 minutes later, I was
7:01
like, this isn't making any sense still.
7:04
And then saw something happen and it was like, oh, right, it's
7:06
gone out again. So I checked and I was 58
7:08
seconds out and I was like, I can't keep doing this.
7:12
So I just clicking through found an English version and was like
7:17
there we go right this works. Yeah.
7:22
But first impressions, even without the subtitles making
7:25
sense, it was mesmerizing how good this animation style was.
7:33
A lot of animes that I try and watch where people go, oh, you
7:36
need to watch this, I'll put it on.
7:38
And I just can't get away with the style.
7:41
This kind of reminds me of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja
7:47
Turtles cartoon. It's like that kind of drawing,
7:52
but more like frames per second. So instead of just having like
7:58
just standstill character than like mouth moving a little bit
8:03
and then a jaggedy run away, it was just flawless like motion
8:08
throughout and it was like this is drawn by hand and I just so
8:15
even if the subtitle drawn correctly, I still think I would
8:18
have been watching this going. I'm not following what's going
8:22
on because I am just paying too much attention to how amazing
8:26
this looks. Oh, how good.
8:28
I. Liked it?
8:32
It's one of. Them this is a new This is a new
8:34
experience for Chris, subjecting you to a film that you've
8:37
actually enjoyed. And there's one belief that was
8:42
made in the 80s. Yeah, it's it's really, it's
8:46
really gorgeously animated and it held the record for quite a
8:50
while as being one of the most expensive films ever made purely
8:56
because the animation quality was so high.
8:59
It kind of reset the bar for animation and especially anime
9:05
in terms of film making quality after this.
9:09
And you do notice, I think if you watch films before 1984 when
9:13
this was made, you notice the films after this film, suddenly
9:18
the like, the quality kicks up a notch because it's like a care
9:22
is put. Yeah, kind of put out a
9:25
challenge to be like up your game animators.
9:28
This is the this is how you should do it.
9:32
And I still, and I think even today because of that, holds up
9:37
impeccably compared to at most like I would happily place this
9:41
beside any anime film made today and say I still think that the
9:46
quality of this anime would probably beat it.
9:50
It's one of my all time favourites.
9:52
I love it. This introduced anime in the
9:55
West. Well, didn't it?
9:56
So yeah, it wasn't for Akira. We wouldn't be here like do an
10:01
anime. We we could probably be sitting
10:04
here reviewing Man versus Shark Bot or whatever Chris's picked
10:09
that week. Second one's duo too.
10:17
Anyway, what it's about? Yeah, he likes to do the.
10:25
It was do the plot. Go on, Lee, take it away.
10:30
Have we got snacks this week, by the way?
10:33
No. I've oh.
10:37
To. Be fair.
10:37
Have you got a snack? You.
10:40
I've got I've got a nice little Adrian snack with us.
10:43
Oh what should. I've showed Chris last night I
10:46
have egg rolls. Oh yummy.
10:50
Well. They're very crunchy and
10:52
crumbly, but are. They crunchy.
10:55
Have they got like, they're not like egg inside them and you
10:58
haven't just been leaving them on your desk overnight, have
11:00
you? No, no, I think we are made of
11:02
egg. But the kind of look like, you
11:05
know, the dairy lead donkey tubes, they feel a bit like
11:08
them, but they taste like like sweet, not bread.
11:13
Oh. Hello, you don't have socks?
11:16
I just don't know where the voice is.
11:20
I I I treated myself because it's payday week to a fancy
11:25
bottle of pomegranate and elderflower sparkling juice.
11:28
That's my not so much a snack and some cheese strings, but I
11:32
already ate them so. Got to stick you guys on Eaton
11:38
and Plaid because before we came on I ate 17 chicken Nuggets, a
11:42
cheeseburger, 4 macaroni and cheese, fried bites, and a bag
11:48
of chips. So.
11:51
Have I ever said how impressive you are as a man?
11:56
In fact, I know I haven't, but that was impressive.
11:59
What have you got for your snacks, Chris?
12:02
Spicy crisps, I was going to eat them on the is it last week for
12:09
I want to Eat Your Pancreas, but that I think that much went
12:14
wrong during the recording that I just didn't eat your thing.
12:16
So it was it was a shove those spiky things in your mouth.
12:24
I'm lost again. What day is today like in real
12:28
time? We're on a Wednesday sometime at
12:31
the beginning of November. Ironically, Remember, Remember,
12:34
the 5th of November is the date that you've forgotten.
12:38
Well, then Chris is like, oh, when we did I want to eat your
12:41
pancreas and it's like I'm going that's not out yet.
12:43
That's this Friday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:46
We're time travelling now. Welcome.
12:47
To and I'm ruining I'm ruining anime comes behind the scenes
12:52
ruining the secrets. Hi, Paul, in the chest.
12:58
I'll just mess with him. He's not there.
13:00
He's not there, you know, he's he's said hello and then he's
13:03
went to watch something on the Terry.
13:09
But we did pick this as part of our diabetes month.
13:13
Why Chris? Because of weird organ stuff.
13:17
Yeah, there's jaws and organs. There's probably a pancreas in
13:20
there somewhere when the dissected Akira after his his
13:24
little blow up episode. What?
13:28
Yeah, it's the most tenuous link we have, but we have a link.
13:36
It works and Akira is actually Japanese for my punkies.
13:41
Hurts. It's Japanese for please,
13:46
where's my insulin? That's that's the link.
13:52
But it is diabetes awareness month.
13:54
If you know a diabetic, go hug them I guess.
13:57
Yeah, I mean, oh. Better yet, make sure that
14:00
you're getting your blood sugar tested if you've noticing any
14:03
symptoms that you can find on helpful NHS websites.
14:07
So Akira is about. What am I doing?
14:12
Just the plot, yeah. You don't have to do it exactly,
14:16
just how you remembered it. Now you interpret because I know
14:19
the endings of to interpretation.
14:21
So any highlights you can think of, just just go through it
14:25
roughly what it meant to you. There's some kids out playing on
14:30
the motorbikes as you do in between school breaks and then
14:36
the final you saw clowns in the street.
14:39
Who that decide, oh let's hit these clowns with some bats
14:41
while we're drive past them. There's some army people show up
14:47
and Katsuo is driving his bike and crashes into a little old
14:51
man zombie child and this gives him special powers as I didn't
14:57
know what this zombie child was until I read the plot
14:59
afterwards. It's an ESPA.
15:02
Yeah. I don't forget to say that or my
15:06
subtitles just weren't In Sync at that point.
15:10
The army show up because there's a corrupt politician that wants
15:16
the power of Makira or something apps to rule the world or
15:18
whatever. He takes Tetsuo away with the
15:23
army, puts him in a lab, tests on him.
15:26
I think Tetsuo escapes at one point his girlfriend gets
15:31
attacked by those clown people. He oh he gets beat up as well.
15:37
Then his mates Canadian and then show up beat up the clowns.
15:40
The army show back up, take Katsuo away.
15:43
Then there's a they also got arrested earlier on and they
15:48
helped some girl get out of prison who is part of like a
15:52
revolutionary army kind of thing.
15:55
They team up together to go and get Titsuo out of this jail.
15:59
They go in, get chased by people on hover bikes, and then they
16:04
meet the little old zombie children because there's more of
16:07
them. One of them's in a little glass
16:09
bubble who's like this little old girl zombie do.
16:13
You know who that reminds me of? The one in the egg chair thing.
16:17
Do you know what on South Park? You know Timmy's mate, not
16:21
Jimmy, but the other one who's like Hello, ladies.
16:24
Yes, I can't thank him. Yes, yeah.
16:29
And. Spit caps.
16:33
But yeah, so the try and get that two out, but he's turned
16:38
into a massive dickhead at that point.
16:40
And he's like, oh, I'm super powerful.
16:43
I'm going to just do whatever I want.
16:46
And one of the aspects of like, oh, there's only one person more
16:49
powerful than you, Akira. And Tattoo wants to go and meet
16:53
him or find him. And I think it's so that he can
16:57
better understand his own powers, because he's just like a
17:01
confused teenager at that point who's just being given the power
17:05
of a God, just instantly without knowing what's going on.
17:08
And he's kind of losing control as well, isn't he?
17:11
So. Yes, We head to the Olympic
17:14
Stadium where Akira is meant to be buried underneath and and the
17:21
Colonel shows up and shoots him. He turns into a giant meat baby,
17:27
crushes his girlfriend and Akira comes back from the dead.
17:32
Like he comes out of all of these little jars and comes back
17:35
into a child and Akira pauses a like big explosion thing ball of
17:42
light, which causes it makes a pocket dimension and creates a
17:47
new universe and they all disappear into a new universe
17:51
with all of the espers that pretty.
17:56
Much it hopefully. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I reckon.
18:01
I would say 2 weeks ago when I watched it.
18:04
Got to go for two weeks ago. I mean, I watched it today, so
18:08
it's still pretty fresh in your mind, but so explain the Espas
18:13
were kids who have been experiment done by the
18:17
government for I think it's something it's psychic powers
18:22
like telekinesis and telepathy, all that sort of stuff.
18:27
There's also like omnipresence, isn't it?
18:29
Because one of the little girl zombie in the bubble can dream
18:34
the future so she has like visions.
18:37
Yeah, pre cog, isn't she? Yeah, she's a pre cog.
18:40
That's the word. Like there are children, but
18:46
they've the bodies are that haggard from using all these
18:50
powers and stuff that the deteriorating sort of like they
18:53
look like children, but they're like Grey and Wrigley.
18:57
But also that that that little girl is wearing so much makeup
19:02
for a child she hate. I did not call that little girl
19:14
a slut, just to be clear. That is all on you.
19:18
I didn't say that. But.
19:23
I'm going to edit out anyway. Oh yeah.
19:30
So that I think and tattoo has like a he does have a latent
19:40
power inside of them, but him coming in contact with an Espa
19:45
unlocks it kind of like is the triggering moment where it's to
19:48
say, oh, it's starting to come out and it's.
19:50
Yeah, because say, you hear this, you hear the scientists
19:55
talking about him when he comes into the hospital.
19:58
So they've obviously been picking up kids, sick kids.
20:02
And then experimenting on them as they come into the hospital
20:05
and they say that he's like got potential is I think how they
20:09
refer to it. So then they start doing stuff
20:12
to like increase his power like it trigger it more.
20:17
Well, he's pumped full of drugs as well, isn't he?
20:21
Yeah, and he. Crashes.
20:24
He's got a giant forehead. He's just my partner, isn't he?
20:29
Yeah, pretty much. And the you know, you know the
20:34
big explosion at the start. Yeah.
20:39
So when I first watched this, I thought that was a nuke.
20:44
Well, that was actually Akira him having a similar episodes to
20:47
what Tattoo Tattoo had at the end.
20:50
So he went kaboom and and that's triggered World War three
20:55
because it was the Japanese government covered it up and
20:59
people thought it was a nuke. So it was like, you know how
21:02
when one person person presses launch, all of them do.
21:05
That's how we'll end up in Neo Tokyo instead of just.
21:10
Yeah, it's like dystopia. Dystopian.
21:14
That really annoys his mind. So Tokyo basically gets naked
21:20
essentially, and this film set what like 2 years later and
21:24
they've got a whole new Tokyo in only like a couple of years.
21:28
The Exploding Up was 1988 and the film was set in 2019.
21:35
Which is wild because when we watched this, when I first
21:38
watched this, I was probably about 16.
21:40
So that would have been in 2006. And this was like the future.
21:43
And now 2019 seems so long ago. It was before COVID.
21:50
What if Akira predicted the crisis of COVID?
21:55
Even still, this whole city, it's a giant city.
21:59
Tokyo, it gets rebuilt it. That's not a huge amount of time
22:03
for a whole city to be. Have you not seen, have you not
22:07
seen what? Have you not seen how people
22:09
rebuild roads after earthquakes in Japan?
22:12
I mean. Our country can't even fill a
22:16
pothole in. Like, yeah, I don't think we
22:19
should be judged. I don't think we should judge
22:20
any other country's capability based on our.
22:25
I mean, look at them. Nagasaki from the 40s to the
22:31
80s, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
22:37
Did a kind of job. You know what?
22:41
Yeah. So.
22:46
Favorite characters? Atomic Atomic bombs in favorite
22:50
characters. Actually, what did you what did
22:57
you just think of Neo Tokyo? Because it is like a post
23:02
apocalyptic kind of world, but it's.
23:05
I'd say this, yeah. I'd say dystopian rather than
23:09
post apocalyptic because civilization hasn't collapsed,
23:13
but it is clearly on its way, which I think is like a hallmark
23:18
of dystopian sci-fi. And I love it.
23:22
I love, I love a real life place that's termed sci-fi.
23:26
It's like in Children of Men where you see like bits of
23:30
London and Brighton, but it's just everything's grubbier and
23:33
made to look like it's kind of even more falling apart.
23:38
Yet that movie so much. You don't like it?
23:44
It would be good if it didn't have Clive Warren in, but that I
23:46
can see that or any Clive Warren movie.
23:52
I think Clive Owen's great. But.
23:56
In that film in particular. Is this like one of the earliest
24:00
things that or any kind of like cyberpunk kind of place?
24:04
Because it is very cyberpunk. I think this might be possibly
24:08
the start of a cyberpunk movement.
24:11
Yeah, and I think it's kind of influenced by the kind of neon.
24:15
So cyberpunk is very much influenced by the kind of neon
24:18
culture of the 80s and Tokyo was going through.
24:23
It's kind of like big. Like they had like a big, I
24:27
think they had a big capitalist boom and bust in the 80s.
24:32
So you definitely have that feel.
24:34
But I also felt like especially with all the jackets, it's very
24:38
80s styling. And I also had flashbacks of
24:41
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles because April in Teenage Mutant
24:44
Ninja Turtles has that yellow like iconic yellow jacket, which
24:48
is basically just Canada's jacket in yellow.
24:54
But I think it is probably one of the first cyberpunky.
24:58
I mean, it's got also got kind of elements of Metropolis.
25:01
I don't know if you've seen the anime Metropolis as well, but I
25:05
don't think that I don't know if that came before or after this.
25:12
Yeah. But like for me, that's what the
25:19
that's what the anime reminded me of.
25:22
Was that the the German film Metropolis which I think is like
25:26
made in the like 30s or something?
25:32
Well, I thought you meant that the animated one, which is like.
25:35
Oh no, but the animate one is based on on the German animated
25:41
film I think. It's right like it, you know.
25:44
I'm not anything that came out in Germany in the 30s, mind.
25:50
Fair. Absolutely fair.
25:57
So what do you think of the What do you think of the music?
26:01
Because I think I was a part. Of it, I love how all breathy
26:06
and like and how drummy it gets and like you've just it's
26:10
exciting it every all the music feels like they could be a car
26:13
chase any minute, which for a film which is essentially about
26:17
biker gangs, you really want a few car chases.
26:21
That was like different sections because I mean, even the the
26:25
biker stuff, even the bike is the most iconic part of it.
26:31
It's only a small, tiny bit of it.
26:33
Yeah. I kind of want to see more of
26:36
the the bike a gang stuff like the plain chicken in the middle
26:39
of the road and each other were pipes and they just kill each
26:43
other for the crack as well. These are like these are school
26:46
kids as well. They're literally taking
26:49
people's heads off with pipes. I also think it's safe to say no
26:55
one's going to school in this film.
26:59
I think they kind of do because they talk about getting a
27:03
failing grade and stuff like that and they're like, oh, you
27:05
pass this class and I don't. Know today I missed that I love
27:11
the idea that they're like. They're in a classroom and this
27:16
is a big engine in the middle of the table and they're off Oxy.
27:19
I'm going to fail this class. Well, which it's a bunch of
27:24
bikers who do work on their own bike.
27:26
Failing Shop class I think it is.
27:31
Just like in Greece. How do these kids have these
27:35
like vehicles and stuff like Canadian bike looks super
27:39
expensive. It's, it's a really nice bike,
27:43
but isn't he's like a 16 year old kid or something, isn't he?
27:46
Similar. Yeah, I'm guessing he nicked it.
27:48
I think that anyway, people are like crosses and stuff.
27:52
I'm like, how do you thought that?
27:56
Probably nicked. And I don't see his parents
28:00
buying it because we don't see his parents.
28:01
Like is he an orphan or? It's a very perilous film, this.
28:09
Yeah, I don't think we're supposed to examine the
28:11
parentage too much. Maybe they died in the
28:14
explosion. Maybe there's a whole generation
28:16
of orphan bikers. Yeah.
28:20
Or. Buy a.
28:23
Bike. Yeah, I don't need to worry
28:26
about eating because we're probably all going to die soon.
28:29
Motorbike. Yeah, yeah.
28:33
Not and also very few helmets. Need more helmets in this film
28:37
for how many bikes there are got goggles.
28:42
Some of them have goggles. We have.
28:47
A helmet joke. And then it's like Chris has
28:49
been given on this, on this. Yeah, Thomas, Thomas.
28:55
This one goes on Spotify. Yeah.
29:04
Oh. I'm just, I'm very ill.
29:10
Oh, buddy. It's OK.
29:12
Should we take you to hospital where you can be experimented on
29:15
and turned into a psychic? And if so, what power would you
29:18
like to have? I'll open the question to the.
29:21
Floor I would want that whatsoever you grab things your
29:26
mind and make them floor about not your telekinesis
29:28
telekinesis. Yeah, the.
29:30
First one I thought of as well, but would you not just get like
29:35
ridiculously fat because would you ever get up off the couch?
29:40
I'd never get out. I'd never get out of bed again.
29:47
This is a weird. I'd just be a happy lump.
29:50
Do you think he could wipe your own bum with it?
29:55
Yeah, well, on telekinesis, yeah.
29:59
Here's the question. Could you?
30:02
Would you need tissue or could you mentally separate the poop
30:05
from your ass and float it into the toilet?
30:11
Oh, kind of like backing it out with the with the Italian asses.
30:20
I was like, have you ever seen shooting stars that dove from
30:23
above? OK.
30:33
There's so much going through my mind now and I'm thinking, oh,
30:35
would this work with other things?
30:37
Obviously I'm, you know, I'm a big Dragon Ball fan.
30:39
Now I'm thinking Goku instant transmission.
30:43
Can he be like oh I'll instant transmission to like a meter
30:45
over there but leave his poo behind so that.
30:50
Do do all super powers? Is there a poop utility?
30:53
Is what we're asking here the important questions?
30:57
Yeah. Yeah, teleportation.
31:01
Every time. Every time it's you think it's
31:04
going to be other superpowers. And then the minute you have to
31:06
get home and there's a long journey between you and your
31:09
front door, teleportation is the one superpower that you would be
31:12
willing to kill a man for. Yeah, every time.
31:18
But would you on the as a side effect to that, would you put up
31:22
with being a little grey zombie child?
31:28
I do like being able to reach the top shelves.
31:34
You could have one of them egg chips like the Doctor Robotnik.
31:39
I have, I have always wanted an egg chair and I'm always too
31:43
scared to sit in them in case they break or in case I can't.
31:48
Out again. Sidney's got one in there.
31:51
The whole heart to get out of. Yeah, yeah.
31:57
But. So did anything.
32:01
Like that, nobody chose turning into a meat baby as their
32:04
special power. Would you want meat?
32:07
Baby meat, baby girlfriend? Squishing it is my superpower.
32:13
It's a bit of a downside, I mean if you could turn back from
32:17
being a meat baby into your normal self after a while then
32:21
it's still worth the PF to have all of Tetsuo's powers.
32:25
Here's a question. If you couldn't and you could
32:28
only ever get exponentially larger, you would just be really
32:33
careful about when. Like eventually you would, but
32:36
when are you going to use those powers to turn to meet baby?
32:43
If I ever got to fight Timothy Chalamet, it'd be like, right?
32:47
Meet baby power time Prosham. But then a meat baby would kill
32:54
Timothy Chalamet, not you. He would get all the credit.
32:58
It's worth it. It's.
33:01
Worth it to rid the world of Timothy Chalamet?
33:05
Finally, the evil has gone. Wow.
33:11
Timothy Chalamet. Risk question, I'll open up,
33:18
which I've said before, do you think the film reflects any real
33:22
world world issues? Because it's like themes of
33:25
governor, government conspiracies, secret
33:27
experiments, cults and like spooky kids.
33:32
Think I could. Yeah, I also, I think underneath
33:36
that it also has a very strong theme of power corrupts and the
33:43
corruptible seek out power. That's the the theme underneath
33:47
it. Yeah.
33:53
So I mean, yeah, I do next. Give examples.
33:58
Normally, don't normally look for stuff like that when I'm
34:02
watching a film. My brains just going wow, cool
34:06
flashing lights, explosions, superpowers, oh I'm flying and I
34:11
don't go oh these corrupt politicians.
34:13
Literally subliminal messages. That is when me and Chris went
34:16
to see Pee Pee Poo Poo Man. And that's only because it was
34:19
like this film just had no plot and it was just weird about
34:23
there has to be some kind of a message that they are trying to
34:26
portray. And it's like what?
34:27
Look at this art form here. And I couldn't understand it.
34:32
But normal films, I don't usually look for that kind of
34:35
thing. I can.
34:38
See it when somebody else mentions it.
34:40
Like when you just said about the corrupt power kind of thing
34:44
and it's like, yeah, that's that's very accurate.
34:47
It was the little rat. Governor, you know who has a
34:50
briefcase full of bonds or whatever?
34:54
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. He.
34:58
Originally spurs the the rebels that that organization to break
35:04
out the ESPA children. You know the child at the stop
35:07
when he runs out. I think he spared him out to do
35:10
that, to spur on the the cult guys to bring it into like
35:15
common knowledge. But I don't know what's in the
35:19
film. Or if I just read that was in
35:21
the manga. I don't think it is in the film
35:26
because. I think you only really see you.
35:28
You hear him talking a little bit about how he's orchestrating
35:32
everything, but it doesn't like when he's like like walking with
35:36
the the huge guy. And I'm always a sucker for a
35:40
cartoon where you've got like tiny little suited mafia boss
35:44
and then giant henchman behind him.
35:47
It's classic dynamic, the Zootopia.
35:51
Yeah, the. Zootopia of it all.
35:55
Yeah. You're welcome, Zootopia.
35:58
I hope you thank Akira. Yeah, it's all new crawls that.
36:04
You could. Fly.
36:11
Do you guys have like a favorite?
36:13
Character of this or any that you related to on a.
36:18
Pistol level old lady child in bed.
36:25
I didn't like her, but I related to her.
36:31
I think that a lot of the characters are kind of
36:33
unlikeable in this. They're not.
36:34
They're not massively redeemable.
36:36
There's no like real hero people do.
36:40
Good things because. They do care for each other, so
36:44
Canada does try to track down Tetsuo and save him, but he's
36:50
also only helping the rebels because he wants to get his end
36:54
in. Yeah, yeah.
36:57
You know it's not. Like selfless?
37:01
Yes. I did.
37:03
I did message you just before just saying no one cares about
37:06
killing people except the Espas. Yeah, like people.
37:12
They're like the only like morally.
37:14
OK, characters. Yeah.
37:16
And the barely. Human, I don't think.
37:19
Not Human. Yeah, children are human.
37:22
They they are. I'm the only one who isn't a.
37:27
Parent, So I'm not going to answer that.
37:29
Oh, well, you have Eddie. He's definitely human and I will
37:39
thank you to treat him accordingly.
37:45
How about you, Lee? Did you have a favorite?
37:47
Character I loved. Kaneda.
37:52
Obviously his bike was cool, he had his really cool track, but.
37:56
I loved. That even though he was up
37:59
against this like super powered freak of nature, he still took
38:03
him on like you saw him like kill people just easily just
38:06
using these powers and like just exploding people, stuff like
38:09
that. And he just went, ah, just pick
38:11
up this girl and just have a gunfight with this demigods
38:16
basically. And even while there's like a
38:19
satellite shooting down laser beams from the sky is still just
38:22
like gotta fight me friends. And he's just going for it.
38:26
I had forgotten. All about.
38:28
The laser beams from the sky and when that happened, I actually
38:31
was like, I forgot how cool this film was because.
38:35
Sky lasers. Just when you think like, it's
38:40
not. Bad.
38:41
It's not bad enough that they're like, there's a giant meat, meat
38:44
man. But now also sky.
38:48
Lasers. Tokyo's fucked.
38:51
Sorry, Neo. Tokyo.
38:54
You're right. That's the one.
38:57
Thing that's the. One thing I do think is weird
38:59
because if you think about it, cities, cities that always have
39:03
existed, don't name themselves New York you'd like, you don't
39:08
have. Like new.
39:09
London, New York is a different place to York.
39:15
But it's a different place, so isn't is.
39:17
Neo Tokyo? A different Tokyo?
39:20
Or is it the same Tokyo but it's just been destroyed and rebuilt?
39:24
In which case it's just Tokyo Newcastle.
39:30
It might be like, do you know Futurama?
39:31
How they've got New New York and New York's just like under the
39:35
sewers. Yeah, yeah.
39:40
Although Futurama is not a great real.
39:41
Life example of how that doesn't work.
39:48
Have you not seen the the mutants?
39:50
That live under New York. In real life.
39:55
Yeah, in real life. Yeah.
39:58
I think one of them is in the. White House right now, right?
40:07
I. Do kind of like.
40:12
What was the words? Like resonate with what he
40:17
called again Canada because it is very stubborn where he's he's
40:24
not backing down even though he's got no chance against this
40:28
kid and. I am stubborn.
40:31
Myself, where even if a laser beam was like coming down from
40:36
the sky, I'd still be like, but I'm still going to shoot this
40:38
guy just because fuck it, yeah. Yeah.
40:49
If if Chris. Was turning into a giant meat
40:52
baby. Would you try and shoot him with
40:54
a gun to save? The world from.
40:57
Your best friend? I'd have to.
41:01
Although it depends what kind of mood he was in.
41:03
If he was like, oh, I'm a friendly meat baby, he'll be
41:05
like, great, you're going to get us loads of views on on pop
41:09
crumbs this week because people will be like this freak.
41:14
But if he was like, yeah, if he was an angry meat baby, then I'd
41:20
have to get him with a laser gun.
41:23
To be fair, I would love to have.
41:24
With that little laser gun thing I'm saying little but it is a
41:28
massive gun even with the batteries and then he uses his
41:32
mates bike to charge it quickly and relax his bike.
41:39
So good. And how is?
41:41
He failing shop class. He can.
41:43
He can literally like. Hijack.
41:47
A bike engine and quickly make it compatible with a laser gun
41:51
that he's probably never seen before.
41:55
And yet he can't. He can't pass what I'm assuming
41:58
is GCSE. I mean.
42:01
GCSE. DT It doesn't take a lot to jump
42:06
a. Car they know how to jump a car
42:08
rather yeah, just because you're feeling a.
42:12
Just because you're feeling a class doesn't mean that you
42:14
don't know how to do some of these things.
42:16
It's like Jesse Pinkman and Breaking Bad.
42:19
He can cook meth, but he's not getting any in chemistry.
42:34
But yeah, I think that's, I think that's all the questions
42:38
that I have for Akira. Do you do you guys have anything
42:41
else to add? Would you recommend it to?
42:45
A friend, would you recommend this film?
42:47
Yeah. Course I would.
42:52
It's it's the. Quintessential film, when you
42:56
think of Adam is the Akira. It's a classic.
43:00
It's a benchmark. What about yeah with you?
43:03
Because you mentioned that you were going to read the manga at
43:06
some point. I guess it's long as well, yeah.
43:10
I'm definitely going to give the.
43:11
Manga a go because I do enjoy reading mangas.
43:14
I'll probably read more manga than I watch anime to be fair.
43:17
Like I'll just just scroll through them on a night like
43:20
lying in bed. Just just find something new and
43:24
give it a read. A man of wealth and taste.
43:30
And we've discussed the end. In a bit, what do you think
43:35
happens at the end? Because there is like
43:38
explanations online. I don't think the movie actually
43:40
gives you a proper explanation itself as to what happens, so I
43:45
never took it that. They were taken to an alternate
43:48
universe. I took it that they were their
43:52
existence was their existence was was predestined because they
43:56
take themselves outside of time and space to go back to the
44:00
beginning of our universe and create.
44:05
And they are the big. Bang essentially.
44:07
So that's what I've always taken it, that Akira takes Tetzuo back
44:12
to the beginning of the OR to the moment of The Big Bang and
44:18
it's and it's Tetzuos or they're like death, Tetzuo and the ESP
44:23
as death that then causes the creation of the universe in a
44:28
kind of cyclical way. Because it kind of because it
44:31
also then calls back to the idea of like the opening scene is
44:35
that explosion. And it's this idea of like
44:37
history repeating and working in circles backwards.
44:42
So yeah, that's. How I always?
44:44
Interpreted it, but it's it's great, you know what I mean?
44:48
It could be anything before I looked.
44:51
Up the answer and when I was watching this as a teenager I
44:55
just thought big baby go boom. New Tokyo in Akira 2.
45:04
That's when I got from it like. When I see when I first watched
45:07
it say oh mint. So that's that's the end of that
45:11
chapter. There's going to be an Akira 2
45:14
with another baby. It's going to be a bit.
45:20
Not adding the new You taught your beer.
45:25
What about you before you looked it up?
45:30
I thought it was just an explosion.
45:32
And I was really confused by the whole like seeing the like
45:37
memories of stuff. And then I at the end I was
45:41
like, and then it finished and the credits came.
45:43
I was like. But well.
45:48
After like reading a ton of like Reddit posts and watching
45:52
YouTube videos trying to explain it.
45:56
What I think? It is is that Akira tried to
46:01
save the world from this like second explosion by creating a
46:05
pocket dimension around meat baby explosion.
46:10
And that space and time is what make a universe up.
46:15
So he's borrowed space from our universe, which is why all the
46:18
buildings like start disappearing.
46:20
He creates a Big Bang to create a new universe, which is where
46:24
they go to. And then he brings back the
46:27
borrowed space to our universe, which is why all the buildings
46:30
are falling from the sky. And there's that professor guy
46:35
watching the bulb thing where he'd like put a keyword in
46:40
tattoos energies, like over each other and stuff.
46:43
And he's like, well, is this a new universe or whatever?
46:46
Like, because it's like, it's a little Big Bang that he's
46:50
seeing, isn't it? So yeah, yeah, yeah.
46:53
Seems like Akira's. Called created a new universe to
46:56
take his friends to so that they're safe.
47:00
Yeah. Hopefully.
47:04
And not just. Big baby bug.
47:07
Yeah. Big baby go boom.
47:11
That's why we should be in the. Watch that, read the manga and
47:15
said so I would have got that. We haven't itself.
47:21
We haven't. Talked about the.
47:22
Proper horrific scene of Tetsuo Indian's little cell when all
47:27
the espers show up and like you don't realize that the it's the
47:30
espers at 1st and they've got the monsters like coming through
47:33
the dawn like the wall crumbling away.
47:36
That's quite horror anime at that part.
47:40
It's not like you're terrifying but it's a mind fuck.
47:44
But also he's. Like I don't know if this is
47:46
that. Like I read that he's sharing
47:49
their memories and visions and nightmares at that point.
47:53
So all of those horrific things are coming from the children
47:57
themselves that have been experimented on.
47:59
So he's like sharing in their trauma that they've gone through
48:03
to become Espers, which is wild. And but then they see.
48:09
Blood and they're like, oh, blood and I didn't understand
48:13
that. Like I I didn't take it that
48:17
they were. Scared.
48:18
I took it that they were upset that they'd hurt him.
48:23
I thought they were trying to kill him.
48:25
No, I. Didn't think they were trying to
48:26
kill. Him.
48:27
I thought it was more like childish, you know, like that
48:29
terrifying childish curiosity where you don't understand the
48:32
impact of your actions. I'd say because that little one.
48:37
One of them is like in a little wheelchair or something.
48:39
Isn't he like kind of wheeled back out of the room looking
48:41
like I'll be back, kind of? Yeah.
48:52
Give a proper evil vibe. I just thought he'd.
48:56
They were screaming at the say of blood because it was
48:58
reminding you. Yeah, they're just kids still.
49:01
Yeah. Glitz.
49:04
Awesome. Well, I think it's like that
49:06
thing of like. Like you've got siblings, right?
49:09
And you you fight and tease and pick at them and then suddenly
49:13
you realise that they've been genuinely hurt and and there's
49:16
actual panic, like all of the play disappears and you're like
49:21
shit, shit, need to get mum. Don't tell mum.
49:27
Yeah, yeah. This stays between us.
49:31
I'll let you hit this if you don't tell us.
49:33
Tell on us. Yeah, definitely.
49:40
Yeah. I have one more question before
49:44
we. Wrap up, which is that you are
49:46
both fathers of children. If you were going to condone
49:51
your children getting superpowers, what superpower
49:55
would you be most terrified of them receiving?
50:04
It when you think it. Would have to be something.
50:06
He would want something to do with diarrhea or poo or thoughts
50:12
and I would not give a 5. Year old Finley.
50:17
Any any control over any of that, especially on someone
50:21
else? Point at people and they
50:25
thought. Yeah, yeah, I just.
50:29
Aggressively diarrhea themselves.
50:35
I'd love to see for me that. I would be driving up to yours
50:41
every single week, Chris, just to be like, can we take friendly
50:44
somewhere in public with a lot of people please?
50:49
Do you know that? John, you get the universal
50:52
telly report. The what?
50:58
Sorry. Universal telly remotes, Yeah.
51:01
Universal Telly. Remotes and they're like.
51:04
And they change the channel of people's front rooms in the walk
51:06
past in the street. Yeah, be that.
51:10
Like the shit and equivalent with Finley, it'll be like, oh,
51:13
that, that man's just just took me into Eastern.
51:16
I make him shit himself. You wouldn't be able to be in
51:23
charge. Anymore though, I think right,
51:25
Finley, time for beds. This, yeah.
51:29
Is it or is it time? That you shit yourself, Father,
51:34
you can, you can wear. Timbers I would be terrified of
51:40
Lara. Having any power, no matter.
51:44
What what it is? I don't know if I watched this
51:49
in a YouTube video or if it was in the actual film but there's
51:54
something mentioned about humans getting God like powers and
52:00
basically just carrying on with their own desires.
52:03
And it's like imagine an amoeba getting superpowers and or
52:08
getting not not getting superpowers but getting the
52:10
power of a human. And that amoeba is going to be
52:14
considered a God to the other amoebas, but it's just going to
52:18
continue doing amoeba like things where it's just absorbing
52:22
things around itself and like devouring other molecules and
52:27
things. But it's just going to be an
52:28
absolute OverDrive. So humans getting any kind of
52:33
power, they're going to still do human like things, but just
52:37
fulfilling their desires. So any power that you get is
52:42
just going to make you a horrible person, I don't think.
52:46
You would be able to use powers. To be good.
52:48
Yeah, even Mother Teresa getting telekinesis.
52:51
I think she'd turn evil. Actually, I think she was evil.
52:57
Actually. Well, like fit famously.
52:59
She was like the poor people she famously.
53:04
Mother Teresa was famously evil. I think that's where we end the
53:08
podcast. I was going to elaborate.
53:12
More after that, but it was like, oh sure.
53:14
Not this one. Not this time, lady, no, But I
53:18
do think that. Is the deepest thing you've ever
53:20
said, Lee. And I think you're right.
53:21
I think there is like a human nature doesn't change according
53:26
to its ability, but its ability does affect the impact that that
53:31
nature can have. Yeah.
53:36
Well, there we go. What are we doing next week?
53:40
Chris, you. You don't know I.
53:45
Don't know. I don't know what we're doing
53:48
this week. Akira.
53:52
Yeah, Akira, we've just done it. So next week.
53:58
So I think the order that we're doing, we're pre recording some
54:02
of this because we're lazy and want some time off and I think
54:07
that's fine. We've earned that, but we are
54:11
coming back with either it'll be either cells at work, Black Ops,
54:17
unless we do that next week and then this goes out the week
54:19
after, or it'll be Ghost in the Shell because a machine keeps
54:25
Chris alive and we're thankful for that every day.
54:28
Yeah. Yeah.
54:32
So it's good. Yeah, great.
54:35
So give us a like, give us a subscribe.
54:37
Thank you so much, Lee, for coming back on Anime Club.
54:40
Always a pleasure to have you and I'm so glad that.
54:44
You enjoyed the Kira? And next time we go to Sunny Con
54:46
and I point out a poster, we can both nerd out.
54:54
Bye.