AKIRA, cut no. 182, poster

A street in downtown Neo Tokyo with pubs and shops. This production background was used to depict the first-person perspective of a wounded man staggering down the street. He has been hit by a bullet and is suffering from loss of blood, thus his vision is blurred as he tries to comprehend the environment. The camera moves quickly across the large tableau. A blur effect was created by using multiple exposures during the photographic process.

This piece is outstanding from all the background artwork created for AKIRA. Usually city dwellers, cars, litter and all other things which could be animated would not been rendered on the final backdrop of the scene. Moving items would be drawn on cels, mostly by the animation department and not be part of the art director's domain. However, because of the special camera effect, Toshiharu Mizutani was offered the chance to depict the complete scene on one tableau.