As media studies goes into sound more and more I remember the movie with in my opinion the best soundtrack of all time, 1988's "Akira."
Akira is an 80's anime sci-fi thriller which was based on a manga of the same name. To give the most basic summary possible, a boy who gets superpowers and tries to rule the world but it literally blows up in his face. The actual soundtrack was composed by Shoji Yamashiro and it's pretty much perfect. Taking place in a cyberpunk world the soundtrack has a sense of future, it's echo-y, it's new. However it has a mix of feudal Japanese music in there. Take the main character, Kaneda's, theme as an example. It uses instruments such as the type of drums used in feudal era Japan but has echo-y voices which play as the movie shows you the futuristic Japan, buildings and billboards as far as the eye can see. The soundtrack is also capable of capturing the super natural aspects. Take the score "Illusion" for example, as Kaneda is flying through an empty void, this song that feels vast and endless plays as Kaneda talks to his friend for the last time. Not 1 song in this soundtrack sounds bad, they're all amazing and they perfectly fit their scenes. The moral of the story is to watch Akira, for it is a masterpiece.
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