Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira draws us into the post-apocalyptic world of Neo Tokyo, a world that is riddled with corruption and violence. The film opens with the annihilation of Tokyo—a disaster that sparks off a third world war. The strong cataclysmic themes that are held synonymous with anime find their origins in the atrocities Japan suffered at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The bombs that fell took with them over 300,000 lives.  The destructive power of mankind was revealed as a mushroom cloud, and to this day, the thought of it sits uncomfortably at the back of our minds.