ABSTRACT
Apocalyptic anime is in the wake of The Bomb, in the wake of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and, as well for us, Godzilla. This chapter considers anime's most astonishing example to date—Akira, which not only put anime on the map in the West but exploded onto the West, in the process "devastating" not only the West but that map. It is arguable that apocalyptic anime—anime in the wake of The Bomb—in general and Akira in particular have a major precursor in Godzilla, the first Japanese monster film. As hyperreal hypercartoon, the pure and empty form of the cartoon, Akira takes cartoon animation to its limits, annihilating it. But it does more than that. It takes live action there, too, for it issues a challenge to live action, saying it is more live action than live action. In this sense, it could be said that Akira is more Godzilla than Godzilla.
