I bought this Steampunk Anime movie expecting an alternate time line story. What showed up (when I could see it after turning up the LCD TV's brightness and contrast) was a version of Jules Verne's "Captain Nemo and the Steam Tower That Refused To Die." Inventive? Yes, the world of the Steam family, menaced by different tribes of would-be venture capitalists for a steam ball was different. Family members at war with each other over SCIENCE or COMMERCE made things as murky as the elevator ride to the Steam Tower's control tower level. The action level varied from "Hold on to your hat!" to "Snooze warning: justification lectures and ethics arguments galore!" to "It's time for 'War of the Corporate Scum!" All in all, "Akira" was more coherent, but I'd like to see what Otomo is up to next. By the way, I watched the Japanese language version with English subtitles.
