Some of you may have already heard about Bartkira, but if you haven't - get ready for one of the weirdest things you'll ever see.
Back in 1988, a film called Akira was released. It's cited as one of the greatest examples of both anime storytelling and frame-by-frame animation in history, and it still maintains a loyal legion of fans nearly 30 years after its release. The Simpsons, on the other hand, needs no introduction: the family from Springfield has been around for almost as long, and has dominated television for decades.
So, what happens when you mash the two of them together? You get Bartkira: a retelling of Akira's trippy sci-fi story with the cast of TV's longest-running sitcom. It's just as bizarre as it sounds, but it somehow works: both franchises are just weird enough that, when they come together, it makes sense.
While Bartkira was previously based on the comics that inspired the Akira film, it only makes sense that a project inspired by two iconic animated works returns to animation: so, without further adieu, here's the first animated trailer for Bartkira!
As far as remakes go, the Bartkira trailer is pretty spot-on. Granted, it won't be all that easy to follow if you don't already know the plot of Akira (or speak Japanese, for that matter), but in terms of recreating the feel of the original trailer with Simpsons characters thrown in, the teaser's pretty great.
Sadly, it doesn't sound like the team is going to re-animate the entire film, judging by the video's description:
"In association with the comic, Moon Animate Make-Up producer Kaitlin Sullivan pitched the idea of an animated trailer to match and with the work of over fifty artists, produced the Bartkira animated trailer...We are a bunch of fans who did this for free and are profiting in no way off of this other than having a larf. "
Sure, it would take a team of dozens of animators months (maybe years) to go over the original film frame-by-frame, but...who doesn't want to see what happens when the Simpsons start getting to the weird, bio-mechanical sci-fi horror of Akira's finale?
If you're looking for more on the Bartkira trailer, or want to take a look at the comic itself, head on over to the project's official site.
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