Akira is haunted by a "bouncing ball" song that he remembers his mother singing when he was a small child, and now on the verge of a sexually active adulthood, he wants to find the origins of the song. The young man ostensibly wanders into a time-warp in which aspects from his childhood and adulthood mix together. In this never-never land he comes across a beautiful woman/witch who is lost inside the labyrinth of her mansion, just as the young man is lost in the labyrinth of time — and on some levels, perhaps the labyrinth of his subconscious.

Credits

Shūji TerayamaDirector

Hiroshi MikamiYoung Akira

Takeshi WakamatsuAkira

Keiko NiitakaMother

Jūzō ItamiPrincipal / Priest / Old man