Akame Ga Kill Anime Review: What's Good, Bad & Okay-ish
The show is full of deadly female assassins, formidable monstrous beasts, & some very well-written characters, Is it any good?
Akame Ga Kill as a Shonen anime expands its horizons beyond its target demographic.
The show doesn’t shy away from graphic violence and gore. Additionally, All the characters are expandable, including the protagonist.
Therefore, there is always a sense of danger throughout the anime series.
The show is full of deadly female assassins, formidable monstrous beasts, and some very well-written characters.
Plot Synopsis
The story chronicles the journey of young warrior Tatsumi. This naive country boy moves to a big city, looking for a job to help his poor village.
He soon discovers he may have bitten off on more than he could chew.
The capital is corrupt up to the highest authorities making it difficult for Tatsumi to find a job.
There are rumors of a revolutionary assassination squad, the Night Raid. They go around assassinating corrupt nobles and army members.
On top of everything, Tatsumi gets tricked and gets his money stolen. Consequently, he is forced to spend his night on the streets.
There, a seeming king young noblewoman notices him. She takes him into her warm home, giving him a roof over his head and food on his plate.
Here comes the twist, she and her entire family are sadistic murderers who prey on the poor. We come to know that this family tortured and murdered Tastsumi’s friends.
At this point, the Night Raid “raids” their mansion and starts assassinating the noble’s family. Tatsumi aids them and thus begins his journey as a member of the Night Raid.
The Good
1. The Characters
Within its short time, Akame Ga Kill manages to set up some very intriguing characters. Each of them is drawn to stand out.
Their character design matches their personalities.
There isn’t much complexity to any of the characters. That said, characters like Esdeath and Akame are very fun to watch on screen.
Specially Esdeath’s dichotomy between being a psychopathic mass killer and a woman trying to find love is very interesting to explore.
2. The Art and Music
The animation by White Fox is pretty decent. The fight scenes and backdrops can be generic at times.
However, the animation holds up enough to not ruin the fun of it.
The music is exceptionally good in Akame Ga Kill. It sets an immersive experience for the most part.
The background score often adds depth and dimension to things happening on the screen.
The Okay-ish
The Story
Akame Ga Kill- the anime, finished airing in 2015 before the manga ended.
Therefore, the anime storyline deviated quite a bit from the manga it was adapted from. That said, the story is alright…ish.
There is nothing particularly wrong with the storyline of Akame Ga Kill. However, it fails to be something beyond what it appears on the surface.
The Bad
1. The Tone
Akame Ga Kill has gratuitous and sudden deaths. The darkness is attempted to be balanced with humor here and there.
However, it is a hit and a miss-for the most part.
The show suffers from tonal problems. Often ridiculously light and funny scenes come directly after what should be a traumatizing experience.
In the very first episode, Tatsumi discovers the brutal killings of his best friends.
Immediately he exacts revenge on the killer. This is a traumatizing and confusing event for Tatsumi to process.
However, what follows is a comedy scene of the Night Raid teasing and kidnapping Tatsumi.
This completely destroys the emotional impact of the earlier scene.
2. The Protagonist
Tatsumi is a bad protagonist. That’s all there is to it. He is very boring and fails to leave any sort of mark.
With nothing unique to set him apart, he isn’t more than an easily forgettable, one-note shonen protagonist.
In the anime, his romantic relationship (if it can be called that) comes out of nowhere and makes no sense.
Overall, I was more invested in the fate of secondary characters and even villains like Esdeath than I was in Tatsumi’s journey.
Concluding Thoughts on Akame Ga Kill
After everything is said and done, the anime just doesn’t stick with you.
Akame Ga Kill set up some very interesting premises and character arcs.
The various arcs are overall entertaining and the pacing is kept fast in general.
However, perhaps because of this, we aren’t given enough time to be invested in the characters.
The show doesn’t reach its full potential as many others in its genre have been able to.
Akame Ga Kill is undoubtedly thrilling and entertaining.
The show begins with very promising characters in the intriguing backdrop of a kingdom in turmoil as resistance brews.
However, the show fails to say something bigger and deeper as it appeared to have initially set out to do.
Having said all of that, its 24 episode run is a fun ride. It is a perfectly enjoyable show that can be finished in a weekend.
Anjali Mehta