Calling it something else is the cheat code to avoiding most stupid criticism.

You wanna set Akira in Baltimore? That sounds awesome. Delinquent kids tooling around on dirtbikes through overgrown abandoned offices, even less organized than bosuzoku. US military factions and three-letter agencies grappling with one another, while offscreen, the states descend into regional powers. An American lens on transformative power biting us in the ass.

Just call it literally anything but Akira. Otherwise it will never be judged on its own merits.