A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
Sound
That engine roar and tribal percussion still haunts sound designers.
Production
Bankrupted studios, invented anime fandom in the West, worth every yen.
Director
Katsuhiro Otomo
Mitsuo Iwata
Shotaro Kaneda (voice)
Nozomu Sasaki
Tetsuo Shima (voice)
Mami Koyama
Kei (voice)
Taro Ishida
Colonel Shikishima
Mizuho Suzuki
Doctor Ônishi
Tessyo Genda
Ryûsaku (voice)
Koichi Kitamura
Priestess Miyako / Council A (voice)
Yuriko Fuchizaki
Kaori (voice)
Masaaki Okura
Yamagata (voice)
Takeshi Kusao
Kai (voice)
Hiroshi Otake
Nezu (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The production used 327 colors—50+ created specifically for this film, unheard of for 1988 cel animation.
Otomo refused to compress his 2,000-page manga; the film covers only the first third, creating its own legendary (and darker) ending. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics prediction? In the manga, they got cancelled. Eerie.
JP
