Akira it is a revolutionary feature film, a pillar of Japanese culture which, more than 30 years after its debut, maintains its place among the greatest films of all time. However, recently, the anime producer wanted to dispel one of the myths inherent in the production of the anime.
While the web is stirring up for Akira’s 4K remaster edition to say the least disappointing, Shigeru Watanabe he began to investigate the causes that led all sources to cite the monstrous figure of one billion and 100 million yen for the film budget (at the time about 8 million euros). Thanks to Junya Suzuki, researcher for Katsuhiro Otomo itself, two 1987 articles were identified that first nominated a production budget of 1 billion yen, of which 100 million more for corrections to completed film.
Watanabe has denied a similar figure for the creation of the film, considering it excessively high, also due to the number of staff involved in the making of the film. Then, quoting the words of Ken Tsunoda (director of Akira’s production committee for Kodansha) in the book “The Law of Anime Film Hits“, the producer confirmed that the original budget was 500 million yen (about 4 million euros at the current exchange rate), although the cost of the feature film increased by 200 million at the end of the works.
Finally, Watanabe assumes that the numbers have been inflated, as was the custom of the 1980s, because of advertising costs or for a simpler promotional purpose. And you, instead, what do you think of this story? Let us know with a comment below, but not before you have retrieved our Akira Review.
