I’ll take Akame’s way of preparing food over any perfect anime housewife.
What They Say:
Under the rule of a tyrannical empire, Tatsumi, a young swordsman, leaves his home to save his poverty stricken village. He meets a girl named Akame, an assassin who was bought, brainwashed and trained to kill by the Empire. Akame is a member of the secret assassin group called “Night Raid” who use special weapons called Teigu. Together, Tatsumi and the members of Night Raid confront the corrupt empire.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Tatsumi has met the titular Akame and joined up with her and her group, Night Raid, ready to take down this corrupt government that has done so much wrong without proper repercussions. First, though, he has to meet his new comrades, and as the brief taste of them we got in the previous episode suggested, it’s quite the diverse and eccentric bunch. Leone has gotten the most screen time up to this point, introducing Tatsumi to the harsh reality on varying levels and then choosing to recruit him rather than leave him or kill him, and she continues being his gateway to this new world by showing him around the place and introducing him to each member. As could be assumed from the title and promotional material, Akame is the most notable one, and it’s soon decided that she’ll be taking him under her wing to show him the ropes. Although she’s likely to remain at least one of the two main characters throughout the series, the end of the episode and the preview do imply that we’ll be spending an episode with each Night Raid member until we’ve familiarized ourselves with them all well enough. For now, though, it’s all about Akame, obvious for the first of these episodes, and a great character to see more of.
Akame is a very interesting character and there are a few pieces to her backstory that are revealed in this episode to explain much of that. That she was raised in the wild means that despite her refined look, she’s a master of “super fishing” and cook up a monster of a fish over a fire with ease. The darker phase of her life pretty much explains how she has an entire spinoff manga detailing her past, and it lends a lot of insight to the more serious aspects of her character. There’s potential for romance between her and Tatsumi (shocking for the male and female leads of a show like this, I know), but first and foremost he’s an important comrade she desperately doesn’t want to lose, and that could lead to more as time goes on. Her training of Tatsumi seems to be for the purpose of preparing food, but in the end it turns out she’s shaped him into a valuable member of the team through these methods.
Although it wasn’t an especially groundbreaking episode in any respect, it was a good way to build some characters and their relationship without wasting too much time on exposition. It moves along quickly enough to keep the audience engaged and accomplishes its goal within the course of the episode. As could be expected, it culminates in a fight sequence that’s nicely choreographed and shows some more signs of Tatsumi’s darker side and abilities. While Butal seems to be a very fun character, I have to take some issue with the joke that he’s apparently gay and therefore he must want to rape Tatsumi or something, and it’s something he should deny.
In Summary:
We begin what looks like a phase that may take some time, getting Tatsumi (and the audience) acquainted with the colorful cast of Night Raid, each one likely harboring some hidden darkness that will be elaborated on in the coming episodes. It’s a good look at Akame in particular, and allows her relationship with Tatsumi to develop as she helps to develop his own skills.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Custom-Built PC, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.