Is Japan immune to social change? An essay on similarities and differences in the: society, culture and economy of the home islands, across Doctor Akagi and Akira.
In this essay I will compare and contrast the Doctor Akagi and Akira. These two films, produced respectively 1988 (Akira) and 1998 (Doctor Akagi), show Japan in a time of crises, with destruction on the horizon. Throughout both the plot each film ventures in all aspects of society, from neo-slums to tech villas in Akira; to country brothels and military receptions in Doctor Akagi. The value in this comparison is that the two film’s have plentiful differences (landscape, technology, prosperity), and yet remarkable similarities (social structure, hierarchy, and inequality). These …show more content…
In terms of their production dates, the two films are not to far apart, Doctor Akagi was shot in () whilst Akira was produced in (). The key difference is the Doctor Akagi is fundamentally a movie about the past, throughout it explores a very difficult period in the nation’s history, and perhaps a lot of it is about reconciling the uncomfortable truths and memories of the past, with a distant present. The movie really shows it all, from Akagi son being a war criminal in Manchuria, to the prostitution of (), the corruption of the army and the state, and the xenophobia and inhumane treatment of foreigners. This makes Doctor Akagi is very courageous film; understanding and treating the past for what it is, is the only way to really move forward, Doctor Akagi is a real effort at grappling with the issues of the past. Akira is the very opposite, instead of dealing with the past, Akira devotes itself to the future. At the core of the film is an attempt to escape a future that seems to never change. The buildings get bigger, but society doesn’t move forward. Many of the characters are nihilistic in the film, the biker gangs engage in spontaneous destruction, others are more positive; other students protest the police in the streets. The destruction of Neo-Tokyo is depicted as a chance for a new beginning, with a better society potentially emerging out of the
In this essay I will compare and contrast the Doctor Akagi and Akira. These two films, produced respectively 1988 (Akira) and 1998 (Doctor Akagi), show Japan in a time of crises, with destruction on the horizon. Throughout both the plot each film ventures in all aspects of society, from neo-slums to tech villas in Akira; to country brothels and military receptions in Doctor Akagi. The value in this comparison is that the two film’s have plentiful differences (landscape, technology, prosperity), and yet remarkable similarities (social structure, hierarchy, and inequality). These …show more content…
In terms of their production dates, the two films are not to far apart, Doctor Akagi was shot in () whilst Akira was produced in (). The key difference is the Doctor Akagi is fundamentally a movie about the past, throughout it explores a very difficult period in the nation’s history, and perhaps a lot of it is about reconciling the uncomfortable truths and memories of the past, with a distant present. The movie really shows it all, from Akagi son being a war criminal in Manchuria, to the prostitution of (), the corruption of the army and the state, and the xenophobia and inhumane treatment of foreigners. This makes Doctor Akagi is very courageous film; understanding and treating the past for what it is, is the only way to really move forward, Doctor Akagi is a real effort at grappling with the issues of the past. Akira is the very opposite, instead of dealing with the past, Akira devotes itself to the future. At the core of the film is an attempt to escape a future that seems to never change. The buildings get bigger, but society doesn’t move forward. Many of the characters are nihilistic in the film, the biker gangs engage in spontaneous destruction, others are more positive; other students protest the police in the streets. The destruction of Neo-Tokyo is depicted as a chance for a new beginning, with a better society potentially emerging out of the