This pretty much reflects my experience as well. Though, like you, I didn’t watch Akira until relatively recently, so that probably has something to do with it. Experiencing it in the late 80’s/early 90’s might have left a very different impression. From reading retrospective reviews, lots of critics praise it these days for the impact it had on the industry as much or even more than the story it was trying to tell. Short story time…

A couple years ago, my partner and I decided to watch through all of the AFI Top 100 movies, and there were plenty on that list that I genuinely thought were pretty bad. However, in reading about them after watching them, they are on the list because of the tremendous impact they may have had on the industry; special effects innovations, directing techniques, etc. I kind of lump Akira in that kind of basket these days. It was a technical showpiece that had an outsized impact on the rest of the industry, especially the actual animators who have inserted countless Akira references into their art over the years.