Sunday, 7 June 2020

'Probably' everything that ripped off Akira

Although film was released in 1988, Katsuhiro Ôtomo didn't finish epic manga until 1990.

Whether you're a fan of anime or not, I would be reasonably confident in saying that most have seen, or at the very least - heard of Akira.

In terms of quality, animation remains pornographic.

One way or another, the following 'borrowed' huge chunks from seminal masterpiece.

Films

Looper
Lucy¹
Midnight Special
The Matrix²
Inception³
Dark City

¹
Plot is basically Elfen Lied.
²An unauthorised remake of Ghost of the Shell.
³aka Paprika.

Due to the nature of special effects, the following could easily be accused of raping Chronicle.

Carrie (2013)
Devil's Due
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
The Last Exorcism Part II
Brightburn

Fair enough, but...

Self-proclaimed apex predator Andrew (basically Tetsuo) is dangerously out of control.
Set-piece splices two scenes, albeit featuring Takashi.


Great film though.

Television

American Horror Story: Coven, HIM (2016 ITV miniseries) and Stranger Things (with a generous helping of Elfen Lied).

Kaneda's skid


Robin's Reckoning Part II (Batman: The Animated Series)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 title sequence)
Video games

Okay, now shit gets extremely serious.

Nuclear explosion

Cho Aniki (PC Engine CD)


Nostradamus (Arcade)


Crater


Axelay (SNES)
Gunforce II (Arcade)
Nostradamus (Arcade)
And to stir things up.

Night Slashers (Arcade)


Cityscape


Cannon Dancer (Arcade)
Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle (Neo Geo)
Silent Dragon (Arcade)
Snatcher (Mega-CD)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (Arcade)
The King of Fighters '94 (Neo Geo)
Vault


Metal Slug 7 (DS) or XX (PSP)
Thunder Zone (Arcade)
Air Duel (Arcade)
Tetsuo

Before it really kicks off, our man isn't having the best of times.
Observe how The King of Fighters literally shared his pain.

(From left to right).

Rugal ('95), K' ('99) and Chizuru (2003)


Hell yeah.

The music to Bari in '97 is a combination of Tetsuo and Mutation from OST.

Cheeky bastards.

As a side note, Fighting Layer has a character called Tetsuo.

But apart from spiky barnet, he doesn't bear much resemblance.
Happy coincidence or not, but game's developer Arika is an anagram of Akira.

Last Resort (Neo Geo)

SNK knew EXACTLY what they were doing, and clearly didn't give a fuck.

Stage 1



Stage 2



The King of Fighters 2001 (Neo Geo)

With the original SNK now bankrupt, eighth instalment was developed by BrezzaSoft and Eolith.

K9999 (pronounced K-Four-9) is fucking infamous.
Let me show yer' why.

Intro


Super Desperation Move


HA HA HA!

Desperation Move is far more obscure.


(Blushes).

Victory portrait


Perversely, Nozomu Sasaki (same guy who voiced Tetsuo in the original Japanese film) was hired to provide yap.

Sasaki (and sprite piss take) returned for the final time in 2002.

Yes, I didn't forget my cape.
To avoid lawsuit waiting to happen, he was replaced by a new character in 2009 remake Unlimited Match.

Nameless (Naisuke Ono) is the 9,999th K' clone and the only survivor of Project Ж.
Super moves were purposely altered.


Miscellany

Prepare to be AMAZED.

In the Hunt (Arcade)

Sunken Town ends against a stadium.


Contra: Shattered Soldier (PS2)

Slave Beast Taka begins the same as it did in Contra III: The Alien Wars.

But then giant tortoise turns around.

Humanoid face vs Mutated Tetsuo


Disturbingly similar, yes?

Violent Storm (Arcade)


Lord Geld's right-hand man Red Freddy (misspelled Fredy), kidnaps Sheena on motorbike.


Camera shot is just a little too convenient for my liking.

Metal Slug (Neo Geo)

Check out unnecessarily gorgeous backdrop in opening mission.


Really Nazca? I mean really?

Finally.

Silent Hill (PS1)




Okay, respective climaxes play out slightly different, but even so.

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