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Preview data: all rankings, scores, votes, refresh labels, methodology, testing and editorial-process statements in Top 49 are illustrative demo content, not live measurements or documented reviews.
Rank 034Up 4Editor’s pick
#3 in Anime Films
of 14 ranked entries
Akira
Katsuhiro Otomo · 1988
Hand-drawn on a scale nobody has attempted since, with lip-sync recorded before animation — almost unheard of in the medium at the time. Recorded specifics: year 1988, director Katsuhiro Otomo, runtime 124. Panel highlighted animation quality still unmatched, neo-Tokyo design and score built on gamelan and Noh. The reservation on record is compresses a much longer manga.
DystopiaHard SF
Score breakdown
How Akira earned 92.1
Each criterion is scored independently, then combined using the weights published on Anime Films.
- Direction & animation craftweight 30%
- 94.0
- Emotional & narrative impactweight 30%
- 92.6
- Cultural influenceweight 20%
- 91.1
- Visual innovationweight 20%
- 89.7
“Its production budget, roughly $10 million in 1988, remains one of the largest ever committed to an animated film of its era.”
— Top 49, on Anime Films
On the record
Recorded detail
| Year | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Director | Katsuhiro Otomo |
| Runtime | 2h 4m |
| Score | 8.0 |
Panel verdict
Strengths and reservations
What it gets right
- Animation quality still unmatched
- Neo-Tokyo design
- Score built on gamelan and Noh
Where it gives ground
- Compresses a much longer manga
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Top 49 rankings are editorial. Scores are produced from the published criteria on each list and are refreshed on the cadence stated there. Figures shown across this section are curated demonstration data.