of course, people are scared of Becoming anything that they haven't already Been. or, sometimes they aren't scared of that, because of an IGNORANCE that leads to neurosis and wrongful obsession. they are not scared of what they are blind-to this is the driving force of Akira

the force that moves the plot of Akira is really quite simple. it could be as dry and straightforward as ancient myths. (note: I am skeptical that ancient myths are as dry as they seem. ALL of them were probably expanded by bards, verbally and ad hoc, into Iliads and Odyssies)

"son" finds himself more powerful than "father" (cf. puberty!) son and father fight. despite descending from father, son has power that father does not (i.e., the power could not have come from the father. mysterious! mystifying to father, certainly) AND, father can't stop son.

that's it. that skeleton will guide you through the end of the Akira movie, and through all six volumes of the Akira comic. (grueling!) many other things are hung upon that skeleton. but the skeleton is a "puberty + dethroning" drama. the ending, however, is interesting

the end of Akira would be like if Zeus, after castrating his father Kronus and destroying his testicles, went out into the stars, disappeared, and began his own "logos" creation myth of the Genesis 1 sort all that agony, and for what? for Zeus to leave. he proved himself too big

AFAIK, son exceeding father is an utter violation of Neoplatonic principles. in real life, we can blame sexual reproduction for such violations. son is not only his father, but also his mother. son is a mutt. father was a mutt, too! hybrid vigor X hybrid vigor. genetic chaos

the practical plot of Akira -- which includes one of the best "antagonistic brotherly love" depictions in ALL MEDIA EVER, RIVALED ONLY BY GUTS AND GRIFFITH IN BERSERK -- is lubricated by this fact of "nature isn't Neoplatonism, IT'S MESSY" Kaneda and Tetsuo aren't even BROTHERS.

Kaneda and Tetsuo are like wolves who share neither father nor mother. they share "circumstantial parents" (i.e. influences -- they are in the same gang because they are both reacting to the same civilization, government, etc), but that's it. and Kaneda IS the stronger wolf.

please imagine: what would the plot of Akira be like if Tetsuo weren't ever afflicted by burgeoning psychic power? surely, Tetsuo and Kaneda would have lived out their status quo. nasty, brutish, and short lives (although, signifying EVERYTHING, same as you re: your own life).

and, if Tetsuo hadn't """gained""" his psychic powers, Kaneda would have continued on playing protective father to Tetsuo! watch the movie again. Kaneda tries to rescue Tetsuo from the evil scientists, and Kaneda doesn't give up on Tetsuo until Tetsuo kills THEIR ONLY FAMILY.

and even after Tetsuo indicates "I'm not part of the family anymore" by killing members of papa Kaneda's gang family, Kaneda doesn't stop acting like a father whose personal duty is to rein in his mutinous, genocidal son. yes, it's personal and petty, boys being boys AND MORE.

and, importantly, WITHOUT THE FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIP, KANEDA WOULD HAVE DIED IN EVERY CONFLICT WITH TETSUO. Kaneda is, of course, naturally a badass. and because he's in a modern comic/movie, we get to be "shown, not told" how badass he is. but, uh. he lived cuz Tetsuo played.

in the comics, "just how unstoppable Tetsuo is" is expanded more. but, the movie (which basically covers comic volumes 1-3, then in the last ~20 minutes, skips to the end of volume 6) makes it clear enough it takes an ORBITAL LASER CANNON just to take off ONE of Tetsuo's arms!

and even when Tetsuo's arm is missing, that proves to be... uh... "immaterial"... to how much "material harm" Tetsuo can... ahem... "generate." the implication is that you couldn't kill Tetsuo unless you blew apart his head. and even then, is such a thing possible? we never see.

there is a scene in the comics that has no analogue in the movie, but is, in my opinion, absolutely vital to understanding Tetsuo's relationship with the world around him people try to assassinate him, but there is only one time that a Tetsuo-specific GENETIC WEAPON is used.

a half-Japanese half-American USA soldier-spy (is the author trying to say that this maneuver can't be perpetrated by someone who's "100% Japanese"?) fires this specific-to-Tetsuo weapon at Tetsuo when (long before the end of the comics) Tetsuo is transforming into a berserk baby

and, the specific-to-Tetsuo weapon doesn't kill Tetsuo it basically calms Tetsuo down, and Tetsuo regains control and composure, returning to familiar humanoid form and he says "thanks. I was forgetting who I was" or something like that ah. he was flattered re: his identity!

Tetsuo does what he does, acts out what he acts out, because he is committed to being "Tetsuo as THE WORLD AROUND HIM knows him," or "familiar Tetsuo AS HE RELATES TO THE FAMILIAR" the question is, who committed him? the tragic thing is, his ignorance committed him to all this!

Tetsuo DOES NOT KNOW that he has become "so powerful that he's not supposed to be here/around anymore." he has become a transcendent being whose nature is to transcend, to ASCEND that's why the movie's punchline is so good, but so STUPID AND UNSATISFYING "OH. OK I'M GOING NOW"

literally. that's the punchline to the movie. revelation and self-knowledge of "oh, I'm like that little kid Akira, I should go where Akira went" lead to Tetsuo's own power resolving the horror Tetsuo's vision of Akira doesn't even need to be of "the actual Akira." it's A VISION

the big question re: "being like water, and becoming the monster" is if Tetsuo could've "walked the path that Akira walked" if all of the preceding drama and violence hadn't played out and... no. don't you get it? he wouldn't have gone away without the correct drama playing out.

THAT'S THE ONLY SENSE IN WHICH KANEDA IS A HERO WHO IS VITAL TO THE STORY AND ITS RESOLUTION KANEDA'S BIKE AND LASER CANNON HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT EXCEPT THAT IT WAS ALL PART OF THE TRASHY FAMILY DRAMA PLAYING OUT ONLY Kaneda had the "weaponry" needed, but IT WASN'T PHYSICAL

the physical/bodily "play" was INVOLVED. because that physical/bodily play was the only way for Tetsuo's self-ignorance to be dispelled but that was only required because Tetsuo's ignorance had committed him to being a villain in the world that he knew, re: familiar people/ways

and, MAYBE the final conflict and its resolution NEEDED to make its long Rube Goldberg journey (which did involve more than Kaneda, but, Kaneda was the ingredient from before the Rube Goldberg step of Tetsuo's psychic power activating) BUT: "arrested development" is a theme.

if the only way out is through, then anyone who keeps things from passing through is TOTALLY BLOCKING the way out, even if things get 99% of the way through and then get pushed back. it's literally some Book Of Revelation and "a katechon is preventing the end of the world" stuff

you're sympathetic to doomsday cult people, aren't you? you can see the logic behind "the end of the world" being a good thing? you can see why people could beg Jesus C. to come down and destroy everything? doomsday-wanters are screaming "ANYTHING BUT THIS. ANYTHING BUT THIS"

people who want doomsday rarely talk about unhappy endings. to them, it all works out for the best. AND THEY CANNOT IMAGINE "THINGS WORKING OUT" THROUGH THE "GORY COMPLEXITY" OF "THEM VERSUS THE WORLD AROUND THEM" and they definitely can't imagine WORKING THINGS OUT THEMSELVES.

doomsday-BEGGARS seem like narcissistic children, don't they? the people I'm talking about don't say "if doomsday comes, it comes. if it doesn't, it doesn't. until then, I'll continue acting, WITH AGENCY, as though it won't. and even when doomsday comes, I'll act like it's fake"

and a type of person very related to doomsday-beggars is: extremists extremists don't sit and beg "ANYTHING BUT THIS." they say "THIS SUCKS, AND THEREFORE, THERE IS ONLY ONE THING THAT I CAN DO, AND I MUST DO IT." suicide bombers are extremists, of course. but there's more

the doomsday-beggar wants daddy to come home and fix everything because they know mommy hasn't the extremist says that death through one's own actions is GOOD, even if it's suicide in solitude and an expansion of an extremist's suicide is a grueling, lengthy "suicide by cop"