The lead character of the legendary anime movie ‘Akira’ — Shōtarō Kaneda is impressing people with his fashion style and strong personality for decades. The young boy knows how to fight against every wrongdoing in the government through his own set of outlaw activities. He was the leader of the leading biker gang of that time in Neo-Tokyo named ‘Capsules.’ With all other members, he was involved in drugs, all dressed up in the Akira Kaneda jacket was the maestros of dodging the police.

His voice-over was performed by Johnny Yong Bosch, who did the job like a pro. Kaneda wanted to be called by his last name, so next time you talk about him, you know what to call him.

Kaneda grew up in an orphanage with his best pal Tetsuo. As soon as they reached adolescence, Kaneda formed a gang of bikers known as ‘The Capsules’ with Tetsuo. He and his gang members got busted by Colonel Shikishima after the clash of Tetsuo during a hunt after a competing gang. In the jail, Kaneda meets a rebellious female member, Kei, whom he tries to hit on throughout the movie. 

Kaneda and Tetsuo broke their friendship when Tetsuo went on a humongous rampage with his developed psychic powers. Kaneda started to feel responsible for what Tetsuo had become and also wanted revenge for the murder of his buddy, Yamagata, from the hands of Tetsuo. He made it his life’s mission to get rid of Tetsuo by all means. 

When Akira woke up, and Espers took Tetsuo with them, Kaneda said his last goodbye to his friend by holding his gloomy orb in his hands. This shows despite being cocky and fighting against Tetsuo, and he was sorrowful that he had lost his best friend forever. 

Kaneda was the portrayal of a common teenager present in Neo-Tokyo at that time. He was hot-headed, young, tough, brave, and rebellious by all means. He appeared cocky and arrogant from the surface but had a very close bond with his friends, gang members, and Tetsuo. He cared about all his loved ones equally and could go to any limit to protect them. It showed when Colonel was taking Tetsuo with him, and he shouted that Tetsuo is his friend, and no one can harm him except us.

Well, relationships and Kaneda can’t be in a single sentence. He was committed to going after girls and tried to be frank with them by throwing cheesy pickup lines at them. With his exquisite looks and skills of charming girls, there is no wonder that he was famous among the girls. Not only in his high-school, but overall, girls present in Neo-Tokyo had his name on their tongues. 

Things took a turn when he met a girl from the rebellious anti-establishment organization, Kei. Surprisingly, when Kaneda tried to charm her, she didn’t get affected. At that moment Kaneda knew, he is soon going into big trouble… love, maybe?

Even before Kei, bikes were the first lovers of Kaneda. He loves to roam around the town riding on his red bike. He has a good time doing whatever he wants to do by not taking the rules made by the government into account. He needs an opportunity to fight and show his rebellious side. Either it’s the Clowns on the street or his teachers at the high school, he knows how to deal with all of them. Girls and his red high-tech bike were the primary interests, and oh, not to forget drugs.

​​​​​​​KANEDA’S BIKE:

The slick motorcycle of Kaneda became his identity in the movie. Although the bike was stolen, it looked just the perfect bike for a biker gang leader. The highly advanced bike with modern technology performed just like a bike from the future. The racing bike didn’t have any specified model name, but by looking closely, a logo similar to that of BMW’s can be seen on the left side of the bike. 

Just like the recreation of the Akira Kaneda Jacket, a fan from Japan has created a copy of the same bike. He described all the specifications of the bike from the start. There are multiple logos of different brands present on the bike as well. From Canon Inc. to Shoei Co., and even the badge of the American Air Force. Well, Kaneda, you were something!