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)
Akame ga Kill! is a pretty dumb show, and I say that in the most loving way possible. Everything about it just gets more and more ludicrous past the point you could ever expect it to, and that’s one of the most captivating aspects of the series, particularly because of how masterfully it’s executed. So when the man leading the attack on Night Raid HQ is a self-proclaimed mad scientist called (named?) Dr. Stylish, you know what you’re getting yourself into. And by that I mean you have no idea what you’re really getting yourself into, and that’s why you want to see how it plays out all the more.
This could very well be the first in a line of events pitting the members of Esdeath’s newly assembled Jaegers against Night Raid, as the two are essentially mirror images of each other, destined to wear each other down until one side is completely decimated, even if the use of Imperial Arms by all members of each team didn’t already guarantee that. And even with all the idiosyncrasies you can add up between the characters still in the running, that prospect could seem a bit uninspired, if not as tepid as a lot of series that may seem superficially similar. But in the world of Akame ga Kill!, every battle is going to have a few things to really keep you tuned in. First is of course what the hell they’re going to pull out this time. I won’t spoil the fun, but needless to say it’s as crazy as the precedent set by the series so far combined with Dr. Stylish suggests. I’ll admit that simply being silly isn’t enough to keep me having a good time in a lot of series. But fortunately, our friends at White Fox are keeping the quality up in terms of artwork, animation, and direction to accent these insane ideas in a spectacular way.
But something else that Akame ga Kill! is kind enough to provide nearly every time the Night Raid crew gets into a scuffle is some serious plot progression that gives every episode its overall significance. Even if simply taking down Dr. Stylish isn’t enough to warrant you caring, there’s a lot to this episode in terms of the future. While we’ve seen that neither the protagonists nor the antagonists can escape death and the latter side has gotten several batches of new recruits, we haven’t seen newcomers to Night Raid since Tatsumi himself. Well not only do we have a continuation of the arc of one of the fallen comrades, we also get some new ones, and rather than just the usual quirks, the “character” particularly focused on for much of this fight has a very unique element to him that will be intriguing to explore in the coming episodes. And of course he doesn’t take long to show that he’s no freer of those silly quirks than anyone else in the show, despite the serious nature surrounding the rest of his characterization.
In Summary:
Akame ga Kill! is as ridiculous as ever, and I think it’s safe to say that many of its viewers are coming back to it precisely for that reason. If the panache of Dr. Stylish isn’t enough to win you over, the addition of new allies and the concepts to be explored thanks to that addition likely will.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Custom-Built PC, 27” 1080p HDTV.
