Brouillette- AKIRA: The Corruption of Power

Part of what Akira is at its heart is a cautionary tale about the control, and loss of control, of power. Through themes such as social injustice, corruption of the government, and rebellion it shows the abuse of power to an extreme level that effects its entire society. Through one of its main characters, Tetsuo, the film demonstrates how a hunger for control and to become a stronger, "greater" being  can eventually lead to destruction, both internally within the character, and outwardly as he impacts his environment.

Tetsuo and the remains of "Akira"

 The way Akira takes a weak teenage character and gives him incredible power is one of the elements that makes its story so interesting. It brings the idea of corruption of power down to a more personal level. It is definitely easier to relate to Tetuso's character than to an unjust government or group of people who hold ultimate control. He is essentially an unstable character who, against his will, comes into the possession of superhuman abilities. He is pushed forward by the circumstance he finds himself in, his beliefs and his fears. The great power he has is simply the result of the control the scientists and government take over his own life that is only heightened by his own personal potential. This raises the question of whether it is essentially the fault of the scientists who gave him the power, Tetsuo's abuse of the power, or a combination of the two. This question translates over well to our own society. To what extent are we responsible for the power we have through technology, weapons, science, government, etc.? Should the blame be placed on the origins of these things that have potential to do great harm, or upon those who abuse them? How we deal with these issues is very relevant to our modern world. Since 'Akira' itself is basically potential energy- potential to do incredible good or incredible harm- we can see that potential for power Tetsuo gains within ourselves, figuratively. Those who find themselves in control of great power should consider first and foremost how they intend to use it.

On a personal level as well, it is simple to understand the impact that the character Kaneda has had on Tetsuo's life. Part of what drives Tetsuo to use his power in destructive ways is how he compares himself to Kaneda and the way Kaneda and his friends treat him. For example, he is upset by the fact that Kaneda will not let him ride his bike simply because he is not strong enough to control it. He develops a sort of "Napoleon complex" as the weakest member of the gang and fights throughout the film to show that he can be strong and powerful. The repression that all of these young characters experience from the overbearing society in which they live has such a negative effect on their actions and motives, especially in Tetsuo's case. They find themselves fighting for survival, and the idea of "only the strongest survive" has a devastating effect when one of them literally becomes the strongest of his species, so to speak. Tetsuo pushes everything he once knew aside, such as his girlfriend Karori and all of his friends, to seize power over the society that abandoned him.

In the end we find, with the revealing of what Akira actually is, that the 'ultimate state of power' is actually a form of incredible energy. Akira's purpose, hypothetically, is to cleanse all of this corruption and deterioration that the world has undergone and start everything anew. With the intervening of the Espers(the children who were also test subjects and hold incredible power) Tetsuo fulfills his true potential and "joins" with Akira. At that point it could be said that all power is meant to eventually be corrupted, that society and human nature is and will always be flawed, but that when after it crumbles down upon itself and is destroyed there will always be some hope remaining for the future(symbolized in those left remaining after the great destruction Tetsuo causes at the film's end). There will always be potential to do bad or good.

While it is easy to look at the grand picture that Akira paints, a story about a post-apocalyptic sort of world in which the corrupt government controls society with an iron fist, it is also important to consider how some of the main characters develop and display the themes of the corruption and use of power. It may even prove to be more important.
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 Just as a useless extra, here's a spoof of Akira if an "American version" of it were made: