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KANEDA
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The teenage leader of a motorcycle gang, Kaneda’s carefree life of a
juvenile delinquent is brought to an abrupt halt when his friend Tetsuo
becomes involved in a mysterious government project, “Akira”. Despite his
rebellious front, he is a good person at heart and is always looking out
for Tetsuo. As the story progresses, he finds himself unwillingly sucked
into a maelstrom of political intrigue, covert operations, and the possible
destruction of the world. Amid all this, however his main concern remains
about his friend’s well-being.
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TETSUO
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Bullied ever since he was a child because of his small build, Tetsuo comes
with an impressive heft of emotional baggage. Throughout the years, he has
built up an intense resentment of Kaneda, stemming form his low
self-esteem. When he accidentally crashes his bike near a young boy
involved with Project Akira, poor Tetsuo is dragged off by the government
for testing. This experimentation seems to give him supernatural psychic
powers, rivaled only by those of the legendary Akira. Unfortunately, this
new-found power corrupts Tetsuo, as he sees it as a way to finally prove
himself, with tragic results.
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KEI
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An intelligent and driven young woman, Kei belongs to a rebel group trying
to prevent Project Akira and the dire consequences it may bring. When
Kaneda first meets her, he takes a liking to her and joins her group to
liberate Tetsuo from the government’s clutches. She seems rather irritated
with Kaneda at first, but gradually starts to return his feelings. Their
moments of interaction provide the only tried-and-true anime elements in
the film.
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TAKASHI, MASARU, KYOKO
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These three green-hued "children" are employed by the government and were
test subjects for a rather unscrupulous project in the past. Due to the
extensive experimentation performed on them, their skin and hair became
unnatural colors (green and white, respectively). Masaru uses a mechanical
chair to move about; it seems he can’t walk. Kyoko is the girl in the odd
trio, and Takashi is the boy whom Tetsuo crashes into, starting the chain
of events in the story. All three children have psychic powers, although
they’re not as strong as Tetsuo or Akira.
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Of course, these are only a select few of the main characters,
for a complete profile of characters of this anime series, check out our featured site:
The Unofficial Akira Website
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