Akame ga Kill Review

Expectations are something dangerous, as are hype and anticipation. If you place your expectations too high, or you get too hyped for a new show you've heard nothing but praise about, there is slight chance... You'll be disappointed; the story was not as well-written or emotionally involving as you've thought it'll be, the set pieces feel outdated or small-scaled, and the direction leaves you cold.

Sometimes, however, the hype can pay off pretty well, as we've seen with cases such as Fate/Zero, Fullmetal Alchemist or Attack on Titan, where the product in question leaves the viewers and critics jaw-dropped as it manages to live up to its promises. Back in the summer season of 2014, Akame ga Kill! began airing while receiving constant praise from its fandom. Does it really deserve that praise? Or does it not? Hm?

Story and Setting
The story of Akame ga Kill takes place in your typical fantasy world; this fantasy world's empire is secretly ruled over by a greedy Prime Minister who controls and manipulates the empire's young and naive emperor to do as he says, maintaining his tenure over the kingdom through violence and death.

Enter Tatsumi, a young, brush and naive warrior who arrives the empire's Capital to become a soldier so he can get money for his village, only to discover that the entire empire, and capital in particular, is highly corrupted. Following an incident involving him coming closer to the empire's true colors, he is recruited into a group known as "Night Raid," an assassination squad of the Revolutionary Army whose goal is to defeat the Empire's greatest threats and remove the Prime Minister.

A major plot point in the story is the usage of ancient and strange tools and weapons known as "Imperial Arms," (or Teigu, in Japanese) each is a device with special abilities that range from simply poisoning the opponent with a single cut to appearance transformation to elemental control to whatnot. They also come in different shapes and forms, ranging from swords to guns, belts and even a makeup case. No, seriously. Those ancient devices were created by the original emperor thousands of years prior to the main plot, with him wishing to pass on his legacy and keep the empire standing... Probably not understanding that weapons are not the best way to maintain peace... It should be noted that each time two Teigu users engage in combat, one of them is certain to die.

Okai, so... Akame ga Kill!, huh? Where do I even start with such series...? Y'see, in terms of plot, Akame ga Kill has a rather interesting, if not very original, premise of a young man coming to the big city only to discover it being corrupted as hell and join the revolution against it. This is coupled with a slew of legitimately good and appealing ideas such as the lack of plot armor, and grey-and-gray perspective. The final product here... Well, to put it simply... Leaves a lot to be desired in terms of storytelling and execution.

Let's start with the good here, ye? Akame ga Kill's most infamous trait is its lack of plot armor, and I'll be damned if not to mention that it's in full-mode; characters die, and not only supporting characters, but main characters as well, all thanks to the iron rule of the show which says that "Imperial Arms" users die when engaging one-another. This gives the show the ability to add much more suspense and fear to its battles, because you know for sure that one of the fighters will kick the bucket by the end of the fight, and it has a high chance to be a major cast member, too.

Another rather good point in the story is that Akame ga Kill is not your typical black-and-white action anime; all sides of the war commit a lot of murder and are very well aware they are not good people, being assassins, hitmen, thieves, spies and other shady men and women. It does't become a true, in-depth show of moralities and human nature like some other "grey and gray" anime, buuuuuuuuut... it's a welcome move to try and be less "good & evil" and more "evil & not so evil."

The third and final feature of the story which I actually enjoyed is the second arc of the series, "Kill The Jaegers"; at this point a special forces unit is formed to take care of Night Raid's growing threat, and I will admit this is a rather solid story arc. Like, it's ain't the Chimera Ants holy rain of near-perfection of Hunter x Hunter or the Kyoto arc of Samurai X, but it's still a highly entertaining arc with improved writing and pacing, and it does a better job at showcasing characters from all sides in comparison to the preceding and succeeding arcs.

And this is really a big problem of the show... The writing; while the show does shine several times throughout its journey, especially in its aforementioned second arc, Akame ga Kill! suffers from typical action series cliches, poorly executed and generic characterization, ecchi tropes and eventually overplaying its own tricks of so-called "mature" plotlines and anti-plot armor.

A major issue is how uncertain Akame ga Kill! is in terms of its tone and atmosphere: the series attempts to paint itself as a serious and dark show set in a corrupted kingdom and brutal reality where people can't live without fearing to be raped or murdered by different factions... Only for it to be brutally murdered by random and normally awkward jokes and comedy moments enforced by the writers; it's not uncommon for people to mourn over their fallen comrades in what is seemingly a heart-wrenching scene, only for a character to later crack a joke or do some exaggerated comic reaction. And this breaks both the flow and any attempt of the series to be serious and moody. The lack of balance between drama and comedy is thankfully toned down as the story continues, but it never really gets better; I'd rather have the show drop its comedy aspects completely.

Another problem with the series is that it uses its "anti-plot armor" way too much, way too often to the point that by the end of the series, it's just a little gimmick to provoke shock, suspense or emotion, or just a way for the series to announce "hey guys, look! We're not like other anime, we kill our characters!" The first few deaths had actually took me by surprise and made me shocked, but as the story went on the death toll increased and more members of the cast said hello to Satan, the deaths became duller and more boring, and overall lost almost any impact they had.

The last major problem is the final arc and the ending: for those who don't know, Akame ga Kill! is an adaptation of an on-going manga of the same name. For reasons unknown, the production company decided to go astray from the main plot and create an anime-only ending, which was rather odd given how faithful was the anime adapted from the manga up to this point. Without really comparing between the two versions of the story, the changes can be felt with the rather jarring or sped-up pacing the last episodes had, as well the as the ending, which was rather lackluster and unsatisfying.

The Characters
Our main character is surprisingly, and unfortunately, not the titular Akame, but a young lad by the name of Tatsumi. Tatsumi is... bland. And boring; he's your typical spiky-haired, brash and energetic shounen hero type of a protagonist. In short: he's nothing special, really.

Akame, however, fares a little better; she's an ex-member of one of the government's children assassination teams, who joined Night Raid after realizing how horrifically corrupted the government was. In terms of characterization, she's treated better than Tatsumi, being depicted as an outwardly cold and merciless murderer, while in truth she has a hard time truly contain her emotions and sadness regarding her friends' deaths. Another positive aspect I should point out of her character, is that her relationship with Tatsumi, isn't a romantic one, which was a bit surprising for me, as many of these shows tend to put the main male and female protagonists as a couple.

As for the rest of Night Raid... I guess they ain't bad as characters, just not really standing-out in the crowd; we have the hot-headed tsun tsun Mein, the shy and quiet Sheele, the pervy Lubbock, the charming muscle man Bolat, the sexy, older sister-type Leone and "how the hell a person in her position is that young?" commander Najenda. They all fall into their categories, and while nothing unique or extraordinary, they can be somewhat likable.

Interestingly, it's Night Raid's rival assassination group, the Jaegers, are characters which I, and many others, find to be more compelling, despite being relatively similar to their Night Raid counterparts; a major difference is that the Jaegers kill under the government's orders, rather than against it. Funnily enough, they are made of some legitimately good and likable people (sans the mad Dr. Stylish and the bat-shit insane Seryu), with one of them, Bols, is a gentle family man who is fully aware that he does horrible things in his job, and fully accepts that he might die one day due to his past actions. Hell, even Jaegers' own spiky shounen kid, Wave, is a more interesting and likable character to follow than Tatsumi, despite both being two quite similar in personality.

And it'll be a sin not to mention the Jaegers' foudner and commander, General Esdese "Esdeath," a top general in the government's army whose prowess is unmatched, and coincidentally, one of the show's main villains. This beautiful, sadistic, blood-thirsty and menacing woman is Night Raid's greatest enemy, who kills without mercy under the banner of "survival of the fittest," while at the same time is shown to be highly caring and loving of her soldiers, as long as they survive the harsh battles. For better and for worse, it's hard to be bored when Esdeath is around.

Speaking of villains... While Esdeath and the Jaegers, about over half of them cannot really be considered as such, are very likable and fun to watch, the rest of the villains... are somewhat bland and uninspired; nearly all of them are those sadistic, hyper-sexual, ultra-violent, and off-the-roads insane twats who only appear to get ripped apart by Night Raid's members. Even the show's main behind-the-scenes antagonist, Prime Minister Honest (lol, that name), comes off as a generic corrupted and greedy official. Although, to be honest, I'm not so sure if Akame ga Kill! deserves any deeper or more complex villains given its overall quality as a story.

Animation & Art
Akame ga Kill! was produced by studio White Fox, who are best known for their mega-hit Steins;Gate and the highly acclaimed Katanagatari. This is where I can give the show some praise, because if there's one department done very well in Akame ga Kill!, it's the animation.

As an action series, Akame ga Kill! features a very fluid animation with quick and brutal fight scenes that grow more and more bizarre and grandiose as the show continues. This is in part thanks to the nature of the Imperial Arms, as all those weapons and tools vary in shape and abilities and held by different characters, each using an Imperial Arm in their own unique way. It also helps that the anime, while a little toned down in comparison to the manga, is highly violent and is not afraid to show some (oceans) of blood in each battle. Ultra violent actions fans will be more than pleased.

The art-style of Akame ga Kill! is rather pleasant to look at; characters are often rather attractive in terms of design and are unique in terms of clothing and appearance, and I do have to mention I really like the way the eyes are drawn. However... Why does every single woman in this show is attractive as all hell and fight in either underwear, or short skirt? Goddamn it, Fanservice generation...

Audio & Sound
The soundtrack for Akame ga Kill! was composed by Taku Iwasaki, whose previous works include other White Fox anime such as Katanagatari and Jormungand. Overall, the soundtrack is decent, featuring some catchy tracks such as "Kinpaku," "Mission," and "Incursio." It also features a mixture of both eerie and orchestral music to try and add a more dramatic and serious vibe to the whole experience, with "La Chant de Roma" being the most notable one, and Jesus, some of those tracks are so beautiful and pleasant to listen to.

As for the opening and ending themes, it's hard to not like the former. "Skyreach" and "Liar's Mask" are both very catchy and enjoyable opening themes that serve their purpose well and get you pumped for the action to come afterwards. As for the ending themes, both are rather melancholic and more quiet in tone, but will please your ears as a gentle finishing tune after the slaughter.

As for voice acting... decent Japanese dub as always, although nothing noteworthy in terms of performances. As for the English dub, I'd say it's not bad, but it's rather unremarkable, which doesn't surprise me given the licensing company, Sentai Filmworks.

The Conclusion

 * Pros: Overall, an interesting and promising bunch of ideas and concepts; "anti-plot armor" and "grey and gray perspectives" aspects are initially appealing; great animation and fight scenes; decent soundtrack; "Kill the Jaegers" arc is pretty solid
 * Cons: Plagued by weak writing, cliches, poorly placed comedy, fanservice and uninspired characterization; "anti plot armor" becomes a simple gimmick for cheap emotions; questionably executed final arc and lackluster ending
 * The sexy: Every second girl here

Final Verdict
In the end of the day, I'm faced with a question; was Akame ga Kill! a good series, or a bad one? That's a rather difficult question to answer, as the series does several things good, and several things bad; from a storytelling standpoint, the show is rather shit, plagued by some horrid writing, cliches, fanservice, and pacing issues that hamper the whole experience down. On the other hand, from a technical standpoint, I can say that Akame ga Kill! is decent, featuring some great animation, highly entertaining fight scenes and beautiful music.

If nothing else, Akame ga Kill! works well as a highly enjoyable, yet brainless popcorn action flick akin to summer blockbusters. It's not a bad show, and it does shine with a few glows of brilliance here and there, especially when the show gets into its second story arc, which is far away from a masterpiece, but still solid enough to enjoy. Overall, Akame ga Kill! is not bad, not great, but somewhere above the average. If you have some time on your hands, and you want some simple-minded and brutal action to pass the time with, pick it up.


 * Rating: 6/10
 * Recommendation: Proceed with caution; It's not a must for action fans, but it'll do them very well. Other types of fans will probably not enjoy it.