Creative Staff
Story: Takahiro
Art: Tetsuya Tashiro
Translation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
During the final battle Akame faces off with Kurome! What will become of this fight between sisters? Read the next volume of Akame ga Kill! and don’t miss a beat!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
We do actually get a bit of the ramifications of Tatsumi’s limit being pushed up against at the start. Like, he’s half turning into a dragon, and it feels like they’re really committing to how messed up he’s getting, but then… he just reins it back in and is back to his normal self. I suppose it’s still better than his limit just being an arbitrary number and nothing else, but I feel like this dialing back is a bit of a shame as it removes a touch of the tension. Oh, and meanwhile, Esdeath realizes she can just use her powers to straight up fly, so that’s neat.
Anyway, Akame is sent out to do some preliminary assassinations in the capital before the final battle, and it actually goes surprisingly well. Like, she kills her targets, then gets out of town… but Wave spots her and follows her. And I actually like the battle that follows because Akame had kind of been pushed out of the spotlight by Tatsumi, but this just serves to drive in how ridiculous she is. Which is to say, she not only beats Wave, she does so with an overwhelming disadvantage (having to hit him over and over in the same spot whereas one blow would mean death for her), and then spares his life once it’s clear he’s lost. The reason she does that, it turns out, is because she wants him to set up a one-on-one meeting with Kurome.
Now, things progress and though it’s not through this original method Akame attempts, the sisters do get their meeting. Naturally this turns into a battle to the death, despite nobody involved wanting that. Shockingly though, Wave intervenes and manages to talk them down, deciding to desert alongside Kurome because he’s in love with her. It’s a turn of events where I had to think on whether it worked well or not, and… I settled on it being an effective plot point. While it completely flies in the face of the theming and feel of the series, that’s actually what makes it work as a surprise twist, to take what would normally be the more generic route. You’ve been so conditioned to accept tragedy that when this is so obviously heading that way it just seems like a given, so when it turns around it’s actually shocking. Plus, a little bit of a happy ending totally just sets the stage for making the coming mess more effective, I suppose.
In Summary
So, there are some other events going on throughout the book, but this volume is ultimately all about the clash between Akame and Kurome. And fortunately, I’d say this largely works out pretty well. It draws heavily upon their past, and Kurome’s motivations in particular feel a little bit clearer, even if she’s still pretty nuts. Plus the action is very solid, with Akame especially getting a real chance to strut her stuff throughout the book. Add to this a rather intriguing twist, and you get another solid entry in the series that’s definitely worth a read.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: B+
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B+
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: January 30th, 2018
MSRP: $12.99