Akira - The Original Japanese Soundtrack

Akira: The Orginal Japanese Soundtrack is strictly for diehard Anime fanatics and Akira fans only. Others will cover their ears and turn down the volume after the first couple of minutes. The entire majority of this disc consists of music, sound effects, and Japanese dialogue. Oh, yay. It's difficult to imagine anybody enjoying this CD without knowing that the film itself is extremely violent (and this album contains some of the film's most horrifying moments, such as Tetsuo's doll nightmare and his metamorphosis into a grotesque mess), and not understanding Japanese language. Need I mention, too, that the sound effects are both irritating and loud, even though they worked just fine for the movie. The same thing is true for the dialogue, but the worse part is that those who do not understand Japanese language will be completely baffled. (I certainly was!) They'll also be disturbed, too, because the actors spend most of their time on here screaming and yelling. I recognize that this film was made in Japan, and that it was a violent movie to begin with, but I found this CD to be a totally uncomfortable listening experience. And I foolishly thought that it would be the music from the film only! What a mistake on my part; at least I did the right thing and purchased the soundtrack album months later after this. That album is less obnoxious, and more of a recommended purchase than this one.