It’s one of the most iconic images in all of sci-fi and anime, separately or together — the red motorcycle driven by Shotaro Kaneda, the lead character and all-around teenage punk badass of Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark manga and anime Akira. It’s perhaps the vehicle that best represents the whole ethos of Cyberpunk, with it’s sleek and space-age design and sponsorship decals not unlike a stock car. But, as amazing as it is as piece of anime awesomeness, nothing is truly cool until it’s been immortalized in LEGO.
The YouTube channel known as Sariel’s LEGO Technic Den, which creates lots of great electronic and radio-controlled LEGO pieces, has brought the Kaneda motorcycle to life in a size reserved for hamsters (a theme of their videos). With the help of LEGO aficionados the Avro Bros’ detailed books and stickers, the folks at Sariel’s have made a mostly-articulate remote-operated motorbike that actually drives and turns.
The whole thing is about 14.5 inches long, and since that’s pretty small, relatively, the bike can’t be self-contained and hence has to have two cables coming out the back to connect to the remote. So, while it’s not a fully autonomous and free-roaming bike (the controller has to walk a few paces behind it), it still captures the attitude of the street gang leader who drove it in the movie.
Akira has certainly been in the zeitgeist of late, with reports about a writer hired for a live-action film. But, the movie’s never really far from our thoughts; Player Piano’s version of “Kaneda’s Theme” kept us thinking about the explosion, and a fan-made live-action trailer kept the dream alive too.
Let us know what you think of this LEGO creation. Would you build it better?
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