Anime Review: Akame ga Kill!
Well, I had fun watching Mawaru Penguindrum, so I decided to watch another series. Ah, the joys of summer break~! =D This time, it's Akame ga Kill!
First, some random thoughts. I like the theme music, and the background music suits the scenes it's used in, though I don't think I'd listen to it by itself. I like the art style and character designs; it's just rather pretty, and I like looking at it. Bright colors make for an interesting contrast with the darker themes of the show. Also, does anyone else find it odd that Akame is the title character, yet Tatsumi seems to be the main protagonist? He's the viewpoint character, at least. I'd have guessed there'd be more focus on Akame herself. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I'd expected.
I like pretty much the whole cast. With just a couple of exceptions, so far. Tatsumi is just kind of adorable, though he can be cute when he gets serious. He starts out painfully naive, but as time goes on, that's wearing down a bit. He's still idealistic, but it's an improvement. Though, I have to laugh a little, since I associate the name 'Tatsumi' with another character from another series. (That would be Yami no Matsuei, for the record!) And this Tatsumi is nothing like the other one.
I like Akame, though I'd kind of like to get into her head a little more. She can seem blank sometimes, yet on a few occasions we've see that she does care deeply. She said something about needing to be able to switch off her feelings, so I guess that explains it, but still...I feel like I want more of her, somehow. I really wish we could have had a flashback of when she defected to Night Raid. They tell us that she was sent to kill Najenda, but defected instead. But that's all. I wish we could have seen that; what did they talk about? How did she convince Akame to change sides?
Leone is boisterous and fun, though I'd like some backstory on her. All we really know is that she grew up in the slums.
Sheele is kind of an airhead, but I honestly really liked her. She's sweet and kind, and she genuinely wants to be useful. Her backstory was sad. (Well, they all are, but you know. She only has one friend, who then dumps her after Sheele saves her life? WTF? If a friend killed the man who was trying to murder me, I'd hug the stuffing out of her, not run away!) My favorite part with her was when she hugged Tatsumi and let him cry. That was what he needed, and it was just really kind. Her death was a bit shocking, simply because she was the first. I'd heard that people died in this series, so I probably wasn't as shocked as I might have been. Still.
Bulat was an instant favorite. He's a little ridiculous, but in the best possible way. He could have come from any of the old-school shounen series that I adore; he's that type. He's totally the guy you want to have for a big brother or mentor. And that pompadour was epic. XD I was so sad when he died. From a writing perspective, I can see why they did it, but still. I wish he could have lived longer.
Mine is a character that I wondered if I'd like, when we first met her. She's the arrogant, argumentative type, which is often taken to extremes in some shows. Thankfully, Mine isn't one of those. She has the qualities, but they're toned down enough for her to be a person, rather than a shrieking harpy. I actually ended up liking her more and more as the series went on. And I totally ship her with Tatsumi. <3
Najenda is just kind of badass. It's weird that that's my initial reaction to her, when we don't see her fight much, and not until late in the series. But that's how she comes across, so I'm inclined to like her.
Lubbock is a character that took a while to grow on me. Not that I ever disliked him, but it took a while before he got any backstory or fleshing out. In the beginning, he kinda hung around in the background, doing support work. (Traps, alarm systems, etc.) While that is definitely useful, it meant that he kept out of the fights, mostly. It wasn't until later that he got a chance to shine. He can be pretty badass when he sets his mind to it! It sucks that he died, but I'm glad he took the bastard Syura down with him.
Chelsea kinda got the short end of the stick, development-wise. She was a mid-season replacement, and also a non-combat-type. So, I feel like we really didn't get to know her that well. I mean, yes, we got a bit of backstory. And we saw that she was a little harsh with Night Raid because she wanted them to live; her last team was all killed when she was away. But that's it. Honestly, when she went off on her own to try and kill Kurome, I pretty well figured that she'd get killed. And sure enough. She's probably my least favorite member of Night Raid; not because I dislike her at all, but I just didn't get as attached to her.
And Susanoo was a little bit similar. Since he was an Imperial Arm, it was a little hard to know how much to treat him like a person. He seemed fairly human, but he wasn't. And he, like Chelsea, wasn't developed enough to really find his footing. I liked him well enough, but I really would have liked to see more.
Next, the Jaegers. Esdeath is a little tricky. Obviously, she's a violent psycho. So, not good. But, on a purely shallow note, I adore her character design. I like ice-colored characters in pretty much any series; I just find that look to be really pretty. (And her blue eyelashes!) So, she's very much not a nice person...but she's so pretty that I like looking at her. What does that say about me? XD Plus, this whole thing with her wanting Tatsumi...it gives an odd juxtaposition of her attitude. With him, she acts like a young girl, all sweet and blushy. But otherwise...she's scary. And I can't take her 'love' for him all that seriously, truthfully. She pretty much just laid eyes on him and declared herself in love. =/ And even as they talked, and he made it clear that they felt very differently about some very important issues, she seemed to not really hear it. I halfway expected her to have a tragic backstory, like most everyone else. And, I guess maybe she did, in a way. She lost her family and her home, but she was already pretty warped at that point. And she just took it further. Like Tatsumi, I was a bit gobsmacked when she explained that when she slaughtered tons of people, she wasn't doing it out of anger or revenge for her family or anything like that. She was just completely cold and practical about it.
I like Wave. He's a nice guy, and I'd like to know more about him. Honestly, I thought pretty much from day one that if anyone could be persuaded to defect to Night Raid, it'd be him. (Not that he did, though he did help Tatsumi out in the end.)
Bols was a bit of an oddity. He was pretty weird at first, but it turns out he's kind of a sweetie. Seeing him with his wife and daughter was surprising. On a couple of occasions, he told Wave that he 'wasn't nice', but really...he kinda was. Sure, he'd done bad things. And that isn't good. But he did them because he was following orders, not out of some sadistic desire to hurt people. (*Cough*Esdeath*Cough*) Not saying that forgives his crimes, but on a scale of evil, he's lower down the totem pole than some others.
Run wasn't really fleshed out much, though he seemed a decent sort, too.
Kurome was odd. Her playing with the dead is creepy, obviously. And her relationship with Akame is also a little eerie. They both say they want to kill their sister out of love. It's weird. I guess I just can't see how Kurome could value the Empire over her beloved sister. From flashbacks, we see how close they were when they were little. And even again, when they were reunited. They loved each other so much...When Akame defected, Kurome should have gone with her. Again, I feel like we don't know her that well, so it's a little hard to understand.
I think the only character that I dislike at this point is Seryu. She's freaking psycho, and her constant parroting of 'Justice!' is honestly unnerving, given that she's working for an extremely corrupt government, under extremely evil people. =/ I almost thought I could give her the benefit of the doubt, at first. She was mad and hurt becausse Night Raid killed her mentor. Maybe she didn't know what an evil son of a bitch he was. But as time goes on...she gets seriously more crazy. She's a little too eager to kill, and by the time we see her slaughtering people who stole food to survive? Yeah, no benefit of the doubt. She's just batshit crazy, and I was so freaking glad when Mine finally killed her. (And Mine deserved to be the one to do it, too, after what happened with Sheele.)
I said before that I'd heard that characters died in this series, but honestly, I was a bit surprised at just how many. Out of a total of ten members over the course of the series, only two members of Night Raid survived to the end. Two! And not the two I'd have expected. I'm surprised they killed Tatsumi; even in series that don't shy away from deaths, the viewpoint character is usually safe! But not here. The title character, Akame, was safe, and Najenda. And of the Jaegers, just Wave and Run. I'd hoped that Wave might survive, since he seems like a decent guy, but I wasn't really expecting it.
I'm glad they managed to kill the minister who'd been pulling the strings. And I wasn't shocked that they executed the young emperor. One review I read of this series was surprised by that, but not me. From a writing perspective, it made perfect sense. You overthrow a tyrannical regime, you pretty much have to execute the leader. If you leave him alive, then that gives any loyalists something to rally around. Plus, you know, he needs to pay for his crimes. And honestly...even if he was a kid, he was old enough to have some independent thought. He was influenced by the minister, but he's not totally innocent, either. In the final battle, he's torching his own capital, and Tatsumi's screaming at him to look around, you're murdering your own innocent subjects, you have to know this is wrong! And he didn't; he kept doing it. Like a spoiled brat accustomed to power, he thought he could do whatever he wanted. He didn't care about his people; he only cared about the Empire. So I didn't really feel bad about the execution.
What I want to know is how Leone took a pistol full of shots to the abdomen, and kept herself upright and walking around long enough to go off to talk to Akame, and then go off to the slums to die. She'd lost her healing factor at this point, so really...she probably should have died right off. That bugged me a little. (Obviously, I'd rather she have lived! But knowing that wasn't going to happen, I thought this was odd.
And it was kind of sad, seeing Akame go off by herself. I mean, I guess I can understand. Killing is her only skill, so she couldn't really have anything to offer the new government. The whole point of the revolution was to have a regime that would treat people kindly, so they'd have no need for an assassin. (Which might not be realistic, honestly, but that's what they were aiming for.) I guess she could have joined the military, or worked as a bodyguard for a high-ranking (and honest!) official. Actually, the more I think about it, the less I understand. =P Maybe she just wanted a normal life? But we see her in a post-credits scene, fighting again. So, it's not like she settled down to raise sheep or anything. Hmm.
Final verdict? I liked it, though the number of character deaths was a little hard for me to handle. If you don't want to be sad, maybe skip this one. But I did like it, despite that. I may look into reading the manga; apparently it's somewhat different. And there's a prequel series that's still running, I think. That might be fun.
First, some random thoughts. I like the theme music, and the background music suits the scenes it's used in, though I don't think I'd listen to it by itself. I like the art style and character designs; it's just rather pretty, and I like looking at it. Bright colors make for an interesting contrast with the darker themes of the show. Also, does anyone else find it odd that Akame is the title character, yet Tatsumi seems to be the main protagonist? He's the viewpoint character, at least. I'd have guessed there'd be more focus on Akame herself. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I'd expected.
I like pretty much the whole cast. With just a couple of exceptions, so far. Tatsumi is just kind of adorable, though he can be cute when he gets serious. He starts out painfully naive, but as time goes on, that's wearing down a bit. He's still idealistic, but it's an improvement. Though, I have to laugh a little, since I associate the name 'Tatsumi' with another character from another series. (That would be Yami no Matsuei, for the record!) And this Tatsumi is nothing like the other one.
I like Akame, though I'd kind of like to get into her head a little more. She can seem blank sometimes, yet on a few occasions we've see that she does care deeply. She said something about needing to be able to switch off her feelings, so I guess that explains it, but still...I feel like I want more of her, somehow. I really wish we could have had a flashback of when she defected to Night Raid. They tell us that she was sent to kill Najenda, but defected instead. But that's all. I wish we could have seen that; what did they talk about? How did she convince Akame to change sides?
Leone is boisterous and fun, though I'd like some backstory on her. All we really know is that she grew up in the slums.
Sheele is kind of an airhead, but I honestly really liked her. She's sweet and kind, and she genuinely wants to be useful. Her backstory was sad. (Well, they all are, but you know. She only has one friend, who then dumps her after Sheele saves her life? WTF? If a friend killed the man who was trying to murder me, I'd hug the stuffing out of her, not run away!) My favorite part with her was when she hugged Tatsumi and let him cry. That was what he needed, and it was just really kind. Her death was a bit shocking, simply because she was the first. I'd heard that people died in this series, so I probably wasn't as shocked as I might have been. Still.
Bulat was an instant favorite. He's a little ridiculous, but in the best possible way. He could have come from any of the old-school shounen series that I adore; he's that type. He's totally the guy you want to have for a big brother or mentor. And that pompadour was epic. XD I was so sad when he died. From a writing perspective, I can see why they did it, but still. I wish he could have lived longer.
Mine is a character that I wondered if I'd like, when we first met her. She's the arrogant, argumentative type, which is often taken to extremes in some shows. Thankfully, Mine isn't one of those. She has the qualities, but they're toned down enough for her to be a person, rather than a shrieking harpy. I actually ended up liking her more and more as the series went on. And I totally ship her with Tatsumi. <3
Najenda is just kind of badass. It's weird that that's my initial reaction to her, when we don't see her fight much, and not until late in the series. But that's how she comes across, so I'm inclined to like her.
Lubbock is a character that took a while to grow on me. Not that I ever disliked him, but it took a while before he got any backstory or fleshing out. In the beginning, he kinda hung around in the background, doing support work. (Traps, alarm systems, etc.) While that is definitely useful, it meant that he kept out of the fights, mostly. It wasn't until later that he got a chance to shine. He can be pretty badass when he sets his mind to it! It sucks that he died, but I'm glad he took the bastard Syura down with him.
Chelsea kinda got the short end of the stick, development-wise. She was a mid-season replacement, and also a non-combat-type. So, I feel like we really didn't get to know her that well. I mean, yes, we got a bit of backstory. And we saw that she was a little harsh with Night Raid because she wanted them to live; her last team was all killed when she was away. But that's it. Honestly, when she went off on her own to try and kill Kurome, I pretty well figured that she'd get killed. And sure enough. She's probably my least favorite member of Night Raid; not because I dislike her at all, but I just didn't get as attached to her.
And Susanoo was a little bit similar. Since he was an Imperial Arm, it was a little hard to know how much to treat him like a person. He seemed fairly human, but he wasn't. And he, like Chelsea, wasn't developed enough to really find his footing. I liked him well enough, but I really would have liked to see more.
Next, the Jaegers. Esdeath is a little tricky. Obviously, she's a violent psycho. So, not good. But, on a purely shallow note, I adore her character design. I like ice-colored characters in pretty much any series; I just find that look to be really pretty. (And her blue eyelashes!) So, she's very much not a nice person...but she's so pretty that I like looking at her. What does that say about me? XD Plus, this whole thing with her wanting Tatsumi...it gives an odd juxtaposition of her attitude. With him, she acts like a young girl, all sweet and blushy. But otherwise...she's scary. And I can't take her 'love' for him all that seriously, truthfully. She pretty much just laid eyes on him and declared herself in love. =/ And even as they talked, and he made it clear that they felt very differently about some very important issues, she seemed to not really hear it. I halfway expected her to have a tragic backstory, like most everyone else. And, I guess maybe she did, in a way. She lost her family and her home, but she was already pretty warped at that point. And she just took it further. Like Tatsumi, I was a bit gobsmacked when she explained that when she slaughtered tons of people, she wasn't doing it out of anger or revenge for her family or anything like that. She was just completely cold and practical about it.
I like Wave. He's a nice guy, and I'd like to know more about him. Honestly, I thought pretty much from day one that if anyone could be persuaded to defect to Night Raid, it'd be him. (Not that he did, though he did help Tatsumi out in the end.)
Bols was a bit of an oddity. He was pretty weird at first, but it turns out he's kind of a sweetie. Seeing him with his wife and daughter was surprising. On a couple of occasions, he told Wave that he 'wasn't nice', but really...he kinda was. Sure, he'd done bad things. And that isn't good. But he did them because he was following orders, not out of some sadistic desire to hurt people. (*Cough*Esdeath*Cough*) Not saying that forgives his crimes, but on a scale of evil, he's lower down the totem pole than some others.
Run wasn't really fleshed out much, though he seemed a decent sort, too.
Kurome was odd. Her playing with the dead is creepy, obviously. And her relationship with Akame is also a little eerie. They both say they want to kill their sister out of love. It's weird. I guess I just can't see how Kurome could value the Empire over her beloved sister. From flashbacks, we see how close they were when they were little. And even again, when they were reunited. They loved each other so much...When Akame defected, Kurome should have gone with her. Again, I feel like we don't know her that well, so it's a little hard to understand.
I think the only character that I dislike at this point is Seryu. She's freaking psycho, and her constant parroting of 'Justice!' is honestly unnerving, given that she's working for an extremely corrupt government, under extremely evil people. =/ I almost thought I could give her the benefit of the doubt, at first. She was mad and hurt becausse Night Raid killed her mentor. Maybe she didn't know what an evil son of a bitch he was. But as time goes on...she gets seriously more crazy. She's a little too eager to kill, and by the time we see her slaughtering people who stole food to survive? Yeah, no benefit of the doubt. She's just batshit crazy, and I was so freaking glad when Mine finally killed her. (And Mine deserved to be the one to do it, too, after what happened with Sheele.)
I said before that I'd heard that characters died in this series, but honestly, I was a bit surprised at just how many. Out of a total of ten members over the course of the series, only two members of Night Raid survived to the end. Two! And not the two I'd have expected. I'm surprised they killed Tatsumi; even in series that don't shy away from deaths, the viewpoint character is usually safe! But not here. The title character, Akame, was safe, and Najenda. And of the Jaegers, just Wave and Run. I'd hoped that Wave might survive, since he seems like a decent guy, but I wasn't really expecting it.
I'm glad they managed to kill the minister who'd been pulling the strings. And I wasn't shocked that they executed the young emperor. One review I read of this series was surprised by that, but not me. From a writing perspective, it made perfect sense. You overthrow a tyrannical regime, you pretty much have to execute the leader. If you leave him alive, then that gives any loyalists something to rally around. Plus, you know, he needs to pay for his crimes. And honestly...even if he was a kid, he was old enough to have some independent thought. He was influenced by the minister, but he's not totally innocent, either. In the final battle, he's torching his own capital, and Tatsumi's screaming at him to look around, you're murdering your own innocent subjects, you have to know this is wrong! And he didn't; he kept doing it. Like a spoiled brat accustomed to power, he thought he could do whatever he wanted. He didn't care about his people; he only cared about the Empire. So I didn't really feel bad about the execution.
What I want to know is how Leone took a pistol full of shots to the abdomen, and kept herself upright and walking around long enough to go off to talk to Akame, and then go off to the slums to die. She'd lost her healing factor at this point, so really...she probably should have died right off. That bugged me a little. (Obviously, I'd rather she have lived! But knowing that wasn't going to happen, I thought this was odd.
And it was kind of sad, seeing Akame go off by herself. I mean, I guess I can understand. Killing is her only skill, so she couldn't really have anything to offer the new government. The whole point of the revolution was to have a regime that would treat people kindly, so they'd have no need for an assassin. (Which might not be realistic, honestly, but that's what they were aiming for.) I guess she could have joined the military, or worked as a bodyguard for a high-ranking (and honest!) official. Actually, the more I think about it, the less I understand. =P Maybe she just wanted a normal life? But we see her in a post-credits scene, fighting again. So, it's not like she settled down to raise sheep or anything. Hmm.
Final verdict? I liked it, though the number of character deaths was a little hard for me to handle. If you don't want to be sad, maybe skip this one. But I did like it, despite that. I may look into reading the manga; apparently it's somewhat different. And there's a prequel series that's still running, I think. That might be fun.