Akame ga Kill!

It started so nice... When I saw the beginning of the first episode with that cheerful male protagonist on his important mission in all those bright colors, I thought it would be another good fantasy anime series. When he ran into Leone, and she robbed him, I thought it would probably be funny too, and when the rich girl took him in and invited him home, I had a warm feeling and I was excited that there would be social issues involved. Over the next few minutes, I was cruelly let down and found that nothing was as happy and playful as I thought. However, I was in for a pretty rough affair where even the cutest characters have secrets; the good guys are the bad guys, and who knows if they are good at all when they murder people, even if they only murder the really bad characters. In other words, nothing is as it seems. This surprising sobering up, the sudden change of pace, and overall mood had me enthralled, and I suspected this would be very good. The following episodes did not disappoint me either; the pace and mood changed so often that I remained fixed and grew to like the characters, although that was another mistake. As I have discovered, it is very popular nowadays to kill off some main characters now. Then, however, the creators of Akame ga Kill take this almost to an absurd level, which could be rivaled only by George R.R. Martin and A Song of Ice and Fire (i.e., Game of Thrones). However, unlike Game of Thrones, Akame ga Kill does not have a very deep plot. So as the episodes go on, it more or less degenerates into something akin to Mortal Kombat. Instead of dealing with the problems of fighting against a corrupt society and dealing with social issues, it is only about survival. I was still excited and determined to solve this puzzle, so I resorted to something I do not normally do and read the manga. I was blissfully surprised to find that the manga was just as moody as the anime series and that there were perhaps even more brutality and gritty scenes than in the anime series (as is usually the case with manga). It left me in silent awe and a combination of utter satisfaction, and there was a slight aftertaste because the material I was indulging in was quite gritty in places. I was convinced that this anime series would be one of my favorites. However, as it happened, I was unpleasantly surprised again because, towards the end of the anime series, the plot sped up considerably. Some rough passages (Wild Hunt and his rampage) and the love story subplot (I am not going to reveal who it involves) were left out. The narrative was slightly edited (for which I had to knock the rating down in exasperation). Obviously, the anime’s creators were heading towards a conclusion, and I suspected that there would not be a second season, so the only thing left to sort out in the last few episodes of the anime series was the answer to the question “Who would survive?” Here, I was repeatedly unpleasantly surprised and my favorite characters got killed off except one (I will not say which one, let me surprise you). To sum up, Akame ga Kill is not an anime series for sensitive and romantic souls. It is not an anime series for fans of complex narratives and complicated storylines. However, I believe that it will appeal to lovers of simplicity, sudden twists, and action-packed scenes with an excess of animated violence. 7.3/10. (23/11/2014) (less) (more)