Spriggan

A High-Octane Action Spectacle Heavily Inspired by Akira, Yet Burdened by Hypocritical Themes250830 (1.7)The final action sequence of "Spriggan" strongly evokes the dark, gritty atmosphere of "Akira," blending mad scientists, child soldiers, and massive mecha into a visual feast. The story follows Yu Ominae, a 17-year-old student and elite "Spriggan" agent for ARCAM, who was once a victim of the Pentagon’s "Project Cosmos 43." Yu battles Colonel McDougal, a genetically enhanced child prodigy with a "wisdom-amplifying device" embedded in his brain, who seeks to use the ancient "Noah’s Ark"—a climate-control device—to wipe out current humanity and create a "new race" under American leadership. While the action is top-tier, the narrative feels somewhat light, focusing more on the clash of superhuman abilities than deep storytelling.A glaring issue within the script is the dialogue regarding human experimentation. When a character laments that "they are committing terrible acts in the name of the state" and highlights the cruelty of the experiments that created the protagonist, it feels incredibly hypocritical coming from a Japanese production. It’s hard to ignore that Japan itself was a war-criminal nation that conducted horrific experiments on innocent victims during history. Furthermore, McDougal’s obsession with American global leadership feels like a meta-commentary on how the US often shielded such historical war crimes to maintain strategic ties. The film mirrors "Akira" in how a young villain wields god-like power from a frail body, only to be challenged by a "strongest human" protagonist while the adults watch from the sidelines. Despite the flashy finish and the disappearance of the Ark into a black hole, the story leaves me with a bitter taste due to its selective historical amnesia.