Akira in popular culture

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The 1988 anime film Akira (アキラ, Akira^?) has been parodied and referenced in popular culture many times, perhaps owing to its great international popularity.^[1]

1 In music
2 In television
3 In video games
4 In art and literature
5 Parodies
6 References

[edit] In music

Atari Teenage Riot sampled Kaneda's line "Let's sit down and talk about the revolution and stuff" for their song "Into the Death". The same dialogue is featured in "Anarchist Revolution" by DHC Meinhof.
The music video for Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's 1995 song "Scream" featured clips from Akira and other anime.
There is a British band named KANEDA after Kaneda.
The Pop Will Eat Itself single "Karmadrome" features voice samples from the original English dubbing of Akira that was produced by Streamline Pictures.
Some tracks on Oval's album Wohnton feature samples from the film's soundtrack.
In The Teriyaki Boyz song "Tokyo Drift," from the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, one of the lines is, "like a Kaneda tai Tetsuo, Neo Tokyo metsubou?", which translates as: "like a Kaneda versus Tetsuo, Neo Tokyo collapse?".
Philadelphia based jam band The Disco Biscuits created an improvised score to the film during the third set of their epic New Year's Eve 1999 concert at the Theater of the Living Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The film was projected onto a screen facing the crowd while the band watched on monitors and provided the completely improvised score.
In the Linkin Park b-side "High Voltage", Mike Shinoda^{[citation needed]} mentions the word "Akira" in the background during one of the verses.
Kanye West's music video for his 2007 single "Stronger" pays homage to Akira by reenacting scenes using CGI.^[2]
The German trance group Sunbeam sampled the movie (in its original English dub by Streamline) for their 1994 song "Outside World".
The ska band Reel Big Fish featured a remix of the song Talkin' Bout a Revolution on their album Our Live Album is Better Than Your Live Album which featured voice samples from the English dubbing of Akira.

[edit] In television

In Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, Kaneda and Yamagata can be seen in the background.
In two episodes of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Mandy is shown riding Kaneda's motorcycle.
Alex Jaegar of Industrial Light and Magic has said that the Akira-class starship from Star Trek, which he designed, was named for the film.^[3]
The motorcycle chase scene in Batman Beyond pilot episode "Rebirth" was heavily inspired by the motorcycle scene in Akira. Parallels include Terry fighting and evading the Clown-like Jokerz biker gang (complete with motorcycles with designs similar to those in Akira) and Terry crashing his bike when Bruce Wayne suddenly appears out of the shadows in his path, flooded in the bike's headlights. In the movie, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the Joker's ultmate weapon is a jamming device that allows him to take control of laser-armed defense sattelites much like the SOL in Akira.
In Spaced, Tim promises to take Daisy to Akira at the ICA so that she can see it on the big screen, but then he meets up with Sarah instead.
In Episode 4 of He Is My Master Mitsuki Sawatari styles Shinji Kume's hair to resemble Colonel Shikishima.

[edit] In video games

Tetsuo was the inspiration for The King of Fighters character K9999. Nozomu Sasaki, the Japanese voice actor who played Tetsuo in the film, also did the voice of K9999 in the video game.
The final boss of Konami's Violent Storm (an arcade beat'em up) is reminiscent of Tetsuo: in the beginning he looks like a child with a cape sitting on a throne, then turns into a hulking man with psychic powers.
In one of the final levels of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the Bathhouse, Sam Fisher witnesses the death of an I-SDF contact and his bodyguard who exclaim "Kaneda!" and "Tetsuo!"
In Sonic Adventure 2, the Iron Gate level features almost the same design of the facility where Akira is held, including the lift.
One of the levels in Free Radical's Timesplitters 2 is Neo-Tokyo 2019, the same city and year from the film.
A chapter of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney involves a samurai television show set in "Neo Olde Tokyo."
The lift used when entering the winter base is identical to the lift in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake which is used to also reach a winter area of the map. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater also features an area with a narrow river pass patrolled by guards on hovercraft, highly reminiscent of Akira's sewer scene.
Originally in the game Civilization III, When a player uses Tokyo twice as a Japanese citizen (when it is time for a "New" to be added) it inherently reverts to the name "Neo-Tokyo."

[edit] In art and literature

Absolut vodka has an advertisement in which Akira is cited as the "Absolute: Anime".
In an episode of Genshiken, Madarame sprains his wrist while slipping on wet pavement. Before he is taken away by paramedics, he looks at his swollen hand and remarks how he forgot to do an impression of Tetsuo.

[edit] Parodies

In the TV series Robot Chicken (Season 1, Episode 18: The Sack), there is a brief clip where Kaneda's habit of shouting Tetsuo's name (a penchant of his character in the film version, in particular) is parodied: Standing beside his red motorbike, Kaneda is seen on stage in a darkened theater and sings out "Tetsuo!" in operatic style.
Another parody appeared in the 2005 "Robot Chicken Christmas Special", which references both Dragon Ball Z and Akira, involving Mrs. Claus assuming the role of Tetsuo in an almost direct parody of the transformation scene. It also depicts a character resembling Tetsuo who screams Kaneda's name while beside Santa Claus. Later, the mutated Mrs. Claus transforms into a small glowing snowflake and falls into Gohan's hands, mimicking the final scene of the film.
In the 4th Season South Park episode entitled "Trapper Keeper", Cartman merges with the eponymous Trapper Keeper, causing him to mutate in a fashion similar to Tetsuo. The mutation of Tetsuo's arm is parodied with an unknown part of Cartman shooting out causing the door to crush Kenny. Later in the episode Cartman crushes Rosie O'Donnell in a direct parody of Tetsuo crushing Kaori. The music playing in the background is very similar to the score that played during Tetsuo's mutation in Akira.
My Way Entertainment created a parody called "Viral Disease" in which actors overdubbed specific scenes from the film, along with other anime.
In an I-Mockery "Choose Your Own Adventure" the reader is able to avoid a gang by asking if a "Japanimation convention is going to be held," and it is revealed that the whole gang were Akira fans.
A shot of Tetsuo wearing a hooded sweatshirt and goggles while on his bike is parodied in the anime FLCL with a shot of the main character, Naota, riding his own bike with a similar hoodie and goggles. He is also seen in the episode "Brittle Bullet" with the same jacket and eyewear, but without a bike.
The anime Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, a series rife with pop-culture references, contains several allusions to Akira, including brief shots of caricatured versions of Tetsuo and the Buddhist priest, among others.
In the Homestar Runner Halloween cartoon "Three Times Halloween Funjob", a hidden easter egg scenario offers a small jar of pills labeled "Akira" as an option which causes Stinkoman (a cumulative parody of anime stereotypes) to scream as his arm mutates wildly before he finally stops to remark, "That tickles." Stinkoman himself is somewhat of an Akira parody, as his voice and mannerisms are patterned after Cam Clarke's rendition of Kaneda.