Anime is making a resurgence at our house due in large part to my teenage children. I’ve enjoyed plenty of anime before they were old enough to watch it with me. But now I’m rewatching much of it due to their interest.
It’s been nearly 15 years since I first watched Akira. The details of the plot were lost to me. In fact, only one moment in the film stood out clearly in my memory – the death of Tetsuo’s girlfriend. Which is possibly the only tragic moment in the whole film. I also knew it was a film with no true heroes set in a futuristic city where might-makes-right. Or at least, it tries to.
So I decided to rewatch Akira with my kids. And in the process I was reminded of truths that Akira can teach us.
Lesson #1 – Evil is Real
The world of Akira reflects the world we live in. The images of crowds battling police are chillingly similar to the riots that happened throughout American cities during the summer of 2020. It took very little for the veneer of civility to be torn away and replaced with fire. If no other lesson was learned from 2020, it is clear that America is only a hair’s breadth away from the chaos we assume only happens in third world countries.
Lesson #2 – We are the Problem, Not the Solution
The characters of Akira are all trying to achieve something. Kaneda is fighting his enemies, either the Clowns of Tetsuo. Others yearn to throw off the oppression of the Police State. The Council fights to maintain power. The General fights to maintain control and harness the power of Tetsuo and the others like him. Everybody has a plan. But in the end it all burns.
Isn’t that our reality too? We are all striving. And even if our motivations are altruistic, we quickly sacrifice every shred of ethics to achieve our ends. In the end, there is no difference between us the enemy.
Lesson #3 – True Power is Displayed in Jesus Christ
As I watched Tetsuo wreak havoc with only a thought, I was reminded of a story in the Gospels. Jesus Christ is sleeping in a boat while all around him a storm rages, much like the chaos of Akira. His disciples are fighting to keep the boat afloat, fighting for their very lives. Peter awakens Jesus, with a rebuke, “Don’t you care that we are going to die!”. Which is often a fair summary of my prayer life. Jesus stands up and speaks to the wind and the waves. The storm ceases, the waves calm. That is true power.
Tetsuo has power. But his power consumes him, literally. Like an addiction, it serves him at the beginning but by the end he is it’s slave. And as much as we would like to think we are above Tetsuo, we’re not. Just think of that new years resolution you’ve already failed to keep. Or that addiction you have(If you’re thinking addiction only applies to pornography and drugs, you’re wrong. I’ve seen people addicted to Dr. Pepper!). We are plagued by appetites.
But Jesus has power that He controls. He uses it to heal. He uses it to calm storms. He uses it to exorcise demons. He uses it to call forth the dead. And then He stops using it. He restrains all His power and allows feeble men kill Him like a common criminal.
