and I'll tell you why I think so:
if there's a core message in Otomo's Akira, it's that anyone can become a god. absolutely anyone might have it in them. Shima Tetsuo's spurred towards apotheosis because he's speeding down the highway on his motorcycle and suddenly there's a kid in the middle of the road—like Peter Parker or Miles Morales just happening to get bitten by an experimental spider, Tetsuo became powerful through sheer luck. an angry young wannabe gangster becomes a rival to the very gods. (sure, he almost makes a complete hash of it, but he's saved by the magic of friendship—really!)
isn't this akin to the vision of harmonious anarchy? a world in which every person is their own master, and all persons are in their way prima inter pares—first among equals? if every person on Earth is a potential god, then how can there possibly be any sort of intrinsic hierarchy or division by "class"? none of the distinctions in physical or biological or intellectual traits (real or imagined) that authoritarians insist are so important to enforce among human beings would, in the long run, matter one little bit. Tetsuo's one of the weakest of human beings, before his accident—the sort of person whom a sneering right-wing zealot would consign to humanity's garbage-dump without a second thought. "obviously a career criminal. little better than an animal. degenerate trash with no future." one bike crash later, and soon Tetsuo's kicking armies and fleets around...and he's writing his own future.
maybe that's really what all of us are. deep down inside, unsuspected, unseen, but ready to be woken with the right spark. maybe we all of us are gods...bound by no law beyond do what thou wilt.
thanks, 🅰️kira-sama. (I'd have used the anarchist 'A' but apparently there's no emoji for it.)
~Chara of Pnictogen