The Danger of Uncontrolled Technological Advancement: Lessons from Akira

Since I was a kid, I fell in love with animation. I still remember the day when I saw my very first animation, Dragonball. Even though I was sure that it was not real, it made my heart pound and my palm sweaty. Since that day I have watched a variety of animations regardless of their themes. All of those combined, if someone asks me to pick my favorite, I will probably say ‘Akira’. Akira is an animation mainly about the advanced science technology in the future. But it is not the story nor the characters that caught my eye. I really liked that animation due to its background. It places itself in the far future, where technology has been developed extremely. Sounds familiar, right? Yes, indeed this background seems a lot similar to our world nowadays.

We are living in an era that is technologically far more advanced than even just a few years ago, and this rapid progress brings not only convenience but also a growing sense of anxiety. The same is true in Akira. In the world of Akira, problems created by scientific and technological advancement eventually emerge as the most serious threats to society. Thinking about this, I cannot help but wonder whether we, too, will face similar challenges in the near future, and it is this concern that motivated me to write this essay.

Akira is an artwork that gives us the fundamental question: does the progress of science and technology always give positive results to humanity? In Neo Tokyo, where the animation is placed, due to the advance of technology it seems like a better society, but on the other side there is an uncontrolled science and technology skills and broken ethics that are causing chaos to the city. This animation shows that even though there might be positive effects of technological advance, tragedy can happen when the human attitude toward it and social responsibility are lacking.

The main character Tetsuo’s transformation, in particular, symbolizes the dangers that arise when excessive scientific and technological advancement pushes beyond human limits. The government and the military seek to maintain national security and social order through psychic experiments, yet in the process, individual dignity and safety are thoroughly disregarded. Treated as both a test subject and a tool, Tetsuo ultimately becomes an uncontrollable force that threatens the entire city. This reveals a profound irony: although technology is meant to serve humanity, humans instead become its victims.

Moreover, Akira illustrates how scientific and technological advancement can intensify social inequality and violence. The youth of Neo Tokyo are marginalized within the system, while the government monopolizes technology and power, losing meaningful communication with its citizens. When technological progress is used not for the public good but as a tool of control by a select few, society becomes increasingly divided and unstable. This resonates strongly with contemporary concerns surrounding the expansion of surveillance technologies, military innovation, and artificial intelligence.

However, Akira does not completely reject science and technology themselves. The work’s central message lies not in the speed of technological progress, but in its direction. When technology is used to improve human life, it can offer significant benefits; yet without ethical

standards and democratic oversight, its consequences are inevitably destructive. In other words, the real issue is not how advanced technology becomes, but under what values it is employed.

Ultimately, Akira makes it clear that excessive technological advancement cannot be an unconditional benefit to humanity. Technology itself is merely a neutral tool, capable of leading humanity toward either prosperity or destruction depending on how it is used. The work persistently urges us to reflect on the importance of human responsibility, ethics, and control before technological progress, powerfully raising the need for deeper reflection on how science, technology, and human society can coexist.

Nowadays in our world, technological advancement is getting faster each year. Indeed, our lives are getting convenient, but we still have to take care of the right norms and ethical responses for the advanced technologies. With the right attitude, there will be less negative effects and more positive ones.