I know this is a very old thread. But i believe Akira Criterion collection was off an IP and the Blu ray and 4K from the negative. One of the Japanese laserdiscs might even have come off of a print.
The 4K issue has been degrained to hell and back. The original blu ray looks better in some respects. Even with the edge enhancement and overscan issue which Funimation corrected on their release.
Its a choice but no way am i paying 90 dollars for a dodgy q-tec upscale.