“Twin ceramic rotor drives on each wheel! And these look like computer controlled anti-lock brakes! Wow, 200 horses at 12,000 rpm!”
Dystopian, neo-Tokyo included a vision of motorcycles further into the future than even Japanese sport bikes of the day hinted. Yes, we’re talking about Akira. On this day, July 16, in 1988 the anime classic was released in its native Japan. Here in the U.S. we had to wait another two years for a limited release. Katsuhiro Otomo directed the classic cyberpunk animation depicting a dystopian Tokyo in the year 2019. The film focuses on teenage biker Tetsuo Shima and his psychic powers, and the leader of his biker gang, Shotaro Kaneda. Some movies grabbed us by their bikes, some by their grit, but this cult classic grabbed our imaginations.