I would like to respond in a different way to the quote that Jessica posted previously.
...Leadership has manifested itself in all parts of the globe and throughout history in the shape of two dominant figures of the past: the magician and prophet on the one hand, and the chosen warlord, gang leader, and condottiere on the other (35).
In the movie Akira, there appear to be a plethora of different leaders present within the story. There are the multitude of gangs, the high council, the scientist, and even perhaps those strange children that were changed by the scientists. However, the one true leader of the story is Kaneda. It is interesting to see that the leader, the one who takes true action to stop injustice in the face of terrible consequences is a leader of children. Kaneda is a reject, someone who has few prospects in life, but his friends trust him. They fight along side him. Granted, it is only a street gang who are not fighting for any noble cause, but he has a basic ability to gain the trust of the people around him.
Akira is also a child, but one with many prospects. He was identified by the scientists and taken to be studied along with the other strange children we encounter. What I find most interesting about the difference between Akira and Kaneda is that they while they are both misunderstood children, Akira is the only one that the scientists care about. They are so amazed and frightened by his abilities that they dissect him, looking for the source of his powers. Meanwhile, they ignore someone like Kaneda who has the ability to gather people around him, to take care of his friends and even eliminate Tetsuo Shima.
I'm not sure that I see a great difference between the mysterious powers of a god or someone like Akira are so different from the political and social power of someone like Kaneda. As we can see, once Tetsuo gains his powers he has a great influence over society. However, his power eventually consumes and destroys him and those that he loves. Akira brought destruction as well, but I am unsure that he was the cause of the annihilation of the old Tokyo. It appears to me that he simply had a power that was too strong to be controlled. Nonetheless, we see that even after the massive destruction of Tokyo, the general still thinks it would be plausible to go back and unearth the remains of Akira and to learn from his powers. However, the powers of someone like Akira or Tetsuo are not human, they are alien to us. Those types of mystical powers can be referred to from the past but in the present they will most likely lead to death and destruction. I think that is why Weber talks about leaders of the past. Even Kaneda as a gang leader means nothing in his actions and ability to rally people to him until he helps to destroy Tetsuo. But even in the end, the three strange children admit that they should spare Kaneda from being taken away with Tetsuo because he was uninvolved.
I think what I'm trying to say from this is that leaders have to be from the past. People rallied to the name Akira because he represented something powerful. Politicians are powerful because they represent something greater than themselves. So are Messiahs. In dune we had a figure whose power stemmed from both of those places. Perhaps that is why Paul was never destroyed because people saw him as human and magical. Akria and Tetsuo were too powerful and beyond human understanding to allow to live. Kaneda was simply a normal kid who had a great will to stand up against a friend. If anyone else has thoughts on this please post. The movie is very complicated and I may be going in the wrong direction because I dint think I understand it all even after having seen it several times.
For those of you who have not seen Akira, you should! Here is a trailer from 1988 when it was released. Watch for the subtitles, they are small.
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