The Best AKIRA Project Ever Made - AWAKEN AKIRA
Katsuhiro Otomo's legendary AKIRA franchise, which started with a manga and then a full-length anime film, has had many rumors of getting a live-action remake in the past years. In fact, Warner Bros got the rights to make one in 2002, but there has yet to be anything to be released. There have also been countless fan works of AKIRA, ranging from simple illustrations to full-on projects.
When it comes to projects involving Otomo's work, it doesn't matter if you're a high school student who just rewatched AKIRA for the 10th time, if you're a professional illustrator holding an AKIRA art exhibition, or if you're a diehard AKIRA fan who's life got changed by the franchise; we are all equal, we are all fans. But there is one project, created by quite possibly the biggest AKIRA fans we have seen to this date, and quite possibly the best AKIRA-related project we've ever seen: AWAKEN AKIRA.
Released in 2018, AWAKEN AKIRA is a tribute project created by ASH THORP and ZAOEYO, and it is by far the most well-executed creation which pays immense respect to the original movie. The one-minute-long CGI clip took over a year to create, and the final result is something surreal, something we've never seen before.
There is also a website dedicated to the project, awakenakira.com which shows the process behind the making of the project, which makes you realize that one year is actually quite impressive to make something of this level.
You can clearly tell the team behind AWAKEN AKIRA are massive fans, and almost every scene pays direct homage to the film itself. Can you spot all the references?
Tribute by – ASH THORP & ZAOEYO
Score by - PILOTPRIEST
Character Modeler - RAF GRASSETTI
Photography - THE JOELSONS
Website by - OBLIO
