Witness Shotaro Kaneda's iconic bike slide from Akira as never seen before thanks to one animator's faithful recreation of the scene using toys and stop-motion animation.
Animated by Kenta Shinohara with sound design by foley artist Masafumi Watanabe, the iconic motorcycle scene from Akira was brought to life in a 30-second stop-motion animation recently uploaded to the YouTube channel, Animist. The animation embraces its use of toys in a humorous yet highly polished take on the famous scene, blending both digital and practical effects seamlessly.
In the video's description, the animator described several challenges with the shoot. Not only was the motorcycle heavy, which made it difficult to wheelie, but its headlights were battery-powered, automatically turning off every five minutes. For a more detailed look behind the stop-motion animation, a making-of video was also uploaded to the Animist YouTube channel.
Released in 1988, Akira is a post-apocalyptic animated action film adapted from Katsushiro Otomo's manga series of the same name. The anime film centers on the leader of a biker gang, Shotaro Kaneda, whose friend Tetsuo Shima threatens the world with his powerful telekinetic abilities after surviving a motorcycle crash. The anime has since gone down as one of the quintessential works of the cyberpunk genre, and has even recently attracted director Taika Waititi to try to get a live-action adaption off the ground.
Source: YouTube
