Join the Night Raid!
Creative Staff
Story: Takahiro
Art: Tetsuya Tashiro
Translation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
Teenage country bumpkin Tatsumi dreams of earning enough money for his impoverished village by working in the Capital – but his short-lived plans go awry when he’s robbed by a buxom beauty upon arrival! Penniless, Tatsumi is taken in by the lovely Lady Aria, but just when his Capital dreams seem in reach yet again, Lady Aria’s mansion is besieged by Night Raid – a team of ruthless assassins who targets high-ranking members of the upper class! As Tatsumi is quick to learn, appearances can be deceiving in the Capital, and this team of assassins just might be…the good guys?!
Technical:
The front cover here is a simple yet appealing image of Akame wielding her blade. It doesn’t stand out terribly strongly, but it certainly does its job well enough. The back cover on the other hand is a nicely stark image of a black and sketchy Night Raid logo over a plain red background, of course accompanied by the usual synopsis. A color page at the start and some short bonus comics at the end are included as extras. Paper quality feels solid, sound effects are left in their original form and subtitled, text reads smoothly, and honorifics are not used.
The base art style for the book is unfortunately about as generic as you can get. It has a moderate level of detail, and the characters are at least well differentiated, but it’s definitely nothing that helps the book stand out. Fortunately, though, the book’s bread and butter is action, and that comes across quite well. Add in some nice gore and solid and frequently appearing backgrounds and you have a book with at least a little punch to it artistically. It likely won’t blow anyone away in terms of style, but it certainly isn’t ugly either.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As a horse and wagon find themselves under attack by a terrifying Earth Dragon, a young boy suddenly appears and makes quick work of the Class 1 Danger Beast. This lad, Tatsumi, has come from the country with a goal of making a name for himself and earning enough to save his village alongside his friends. However, things fail to go how he hopes as he learns he’d only have a chance of entering the military at a low level, and in the aftermath he’s tricked out of his money by a rather busty woman. His luck seems to have finally turned around, though, when he’s taken in by the daughter of a rich family named Aria. Though he fits in well as a guard for Aria, he becomes increasingly concerned about the corrupt Minister who’s making a mess of the country, as well as the notorious assassination organization Night Raid. His brief respite from suffering comes to an end when Night Raid attacks Aria’s mansion, brutally murdering a great number of people.
Tatsumi soon becomes the last line of defense, and ends up in a desperate fight with a girl named Akame in order to save Aria. His world gets flipped upside down once again, though, when Night Raid reveals that Aria and her family have been luring in people from the country in order to torture them to death. This includes both of Tatsumi’s close friends, which leaves our hero with little doubt, especially when Aria really lets her dark side show. Pushed past his breaking point, Tatsumi cuts down the girl he had been desperately protecting minutes before. Finally, thanks to his fighting prowess earlier, Night Raid ends up dragging Tatsumi back to their base as a new recruit, though he protests greatly.
Back at the base, we get a nice little introduction to the team. First off is Leone, the busty woman who tricked Tatsumi out of his money, as well as the somewhat ditzy Sheele. Next up is the pompous girl Mine, and a rather buff fellow who was armored in the previous raid, Bulat. Rounding out the team is the pervy guy Lubbock, and of course the silent and strange beauty Akame herself. Finally, Tatsumi meets with the boss, Najenda, who explains that he can refuse if he wants, but that Night Raid is a branch of a revolutionary army looking to overthrow the corrupt government of the minister. Weighing the sides, Tatsumi decides that to join in with the group of assassins.
As the volume continues, we get a glance at the various assassins in the group, as well as their strange weapons referred to as Teigu. Tatsumi gets paired up with a variety of teammates, takes down his first kill, and even gets some backstories kind of just thrust at him. Will he be able to make it in this cut throat band of assassins, or is he simply too soft to make the cut?
In Summary
With plenty of action and a good glimpse at the dark depths the series is willing to go to, this volume makes for a nice introduction. The opening in particular is packed full of powerful moments that help to set up things with a punch. The presence of Teigu also hints that the action will likely become more involved and intriguing as the series goes on, which is a plus. Outside of that, there’s a lot of setting up here, with plenty of character introductions and the like, which are a little flat but inoffensive. Overall it’s a nice enough start to the series that shows some real potential, but for now this volume could’ve used a little more follow-through in the back half.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B+
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: January 20th, 2015
MSRP: $12.99
