Akudama Drive

The bustling metropolis of Kansai, where cybernetic screens litter the neon landscape, may seem like a technological utopia at first glance. But in the dark alleys around the brightly-lit buildings, an unforgiving criminal underbelly still exists in the form of fugitives known as "Akudama."

No stranger to these individuals, Kansai police begin the countdown to the public execution of an infamous Akudama "Cutthroat," guilty of killing 999 people. However, a mysterious message is sent to several elite Akudama, enlisting them to free Cutthroat for a substantial amount of money. An invisible hand seeks to gather these dangerous personas in one place, ensuring that the execution is well underway to becoming a full-blown bloodbath.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Cutthroat Main

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Ordinary Person Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Courier Main

Umehara, Yuuichirou Japanese

Hacker Main

Horie, Shun Japanese

Brawler Main

Takeuchi, Shunsuke Japanese

Doctor Main

Ogata, Megumi Japanese

Hoodlum Main

Kimura, Subaru Japanese

Execution Division Master Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Execution Division Apprentice Supporting

Hanamori, Yumiri Japanese

Black Cat Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Tominaga, Yoshihiko Producer

Danno, Yoshito Producer

Takahashi, Kazuaki Producer

Reviews

Jun 3, 2024

CarbonRuiner

Recommended

TL,DR: over the top situations full of action scenes, an impeccable visual style, and an interesting non-logical story, but everything's so cool.

First thing first, the show is good, but as good as a good action shonen/movie/videogame, period. The rest is incidental. You should approach this anime as you would if it were a Devil May Cry, if it's cool it's cool, whether it makes sense or not.
So if you are looking for a deep and well tale story, an intriguing with no plot holes and a study of the psyche of its characters this is not that kind of anime (this is not, even with ... all the similarities, a Psycho-Pass kind of show). This is a wild ride with a story and characters that make you want to keep watching it, but without asking for any of the above.

Everything is so over the top, but so over the top that one can only suppress any logical reasoning in their brain and be dragged along with what's happening on the screen.
The first chapter is perhaps the least interesting, in fact after watching it I abandoned the series disinterested, months later I returned and watched the 2nd and ended up hooked and enjoying it. So if you find yourself, like i was, not very invested on it, i recommend you give a try to the next ones.

The visual style is spectacular (very cyberpunk-esque), the animation is monumental, the characters have great designs and unique personalities. There is a good characters development, especially of the one who would be considered the main character. The plot is quite interesting and complex (with reminiscent of Psycho Pass as i said) but at the same time nothing makes sense. And that's what makes it great.
If you are in for the ride you'll enjoy it. An anime with an interesting story where when things happen you must just focus on the “wow, really?! I didn't expect this” and not on the “I didn't expect it because it doesn't make any sense”, even when, in fact, it does not.

There's Dragon Ball fights, even some buildings are knocked down. Some characters has their severed limbs sewn back on and keep fighting. They "teleport" sometimes to a place just because it's necessary for the plot (How did they know where they were? How did they get there from the other place? whatever, is cool, who cares. Motorcycles that almost fly. Bleeding out? No problem. And the story? oh boy, interested? yes, it's impossible not to be interesting when you mix, action, consciousness simulations, genetic engineering, virtual worlds, space travel, references to a lot of well-known movies (the title of each chapter is the name of one), despotic empires, corruption, information manipulation, nuclear warfare, immortality, social issues, the greater good, indoctrination, abuse of power... not everything listed is in the anime, don't wanna spoil anything, but you can imagine the amalgam of themes one after the other.

So I recommend it as long as you know what you are coming for.
I came expecting the series to be nothing more than a superfluous show full of fanservice and no story to tell. It turns out that I ended up loving the story (although not to be taken too seriously) and there isn't even that much of a fanservice, there's a character with a big cleavage but not unnecessary frames of it the series never ceases to amaze!

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 17, 2023

Kakashitachi

Mixed Feelings

This anime was definitely a wild ride. If you like animes such as Dororo, Babylon, Tokyo Ghoul, Hell's Paradise or even Chainsaw Man then this is definitely worth checking out.

It's another one of those that leaves one with the moral questioning and is not for the faint of heart at all. It's focus is mainly on the morals, the story, and not necessarily on telling a lot of background and the likes about most of the characters - just a trend since a while.

If you're into bloody journey's, characters you'll like that you maybe shouldn't like (JJK, CSM, and the family are waving) then, once ... again, you'll enjoy this.

If you allow yourself to get into it, then you'll be emotional, you'll be mad, you'll be wondering if everything's alright with your head and while that's not for everyone the animation, voice acting, characters and their designs alongside the story and the unique setting designs and ideas definitely do their job.

In the end I wished I knew more about the characters as much as I wished that I knew what happens from the ending on - which is one of the only things that are frustrating about the show.. the ending leaves the watcher hanging a little, especially given the previous developments of the show.

Future theme? Ayato from Tokyo Ghoul? Found family? Mad people? Gore? Fun? Sadness? All there.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 26, 2023

Sukamii

Not Recommended

Well-written

For lack of a better simile, Akudama drive is like eating rock candy- at first seeming incredibly interesting, an interesting appearance with an enticing texture, it tastes sweet but isn't much more. Like liquid sugar, Akudama Drive doesn't really make for much more than a temporary sugar rush.
Like flashes of lightning, the series always presents something that is enticing, ideas that come off as interesting, characters that you *could* grow attached to- but they exist within their boxes of tropes and don't become more than characters on the screen. For their initial presentations, most of the characters exist as incredibly edgy and egotistical characters ... that I could easily become interested in as the story unfolds (barring Doctor, as I dislike near everything about her character, except her VAs performance)- but they don't exist as anything more. They have predictable fates, stories that unfold in a blase manner. It's really a shame.
For the first five episodes it feels exceedingly generic, the "plot twists" and advancement of the story don't feel like anything special, and after getting past the fifth episode; I felt as if it had wasted my time telling a story that could easily be condensed. Even after the halfway marker and the show becomes "interesting", it's only due to clever moments of design where before you flashes entertainment. But its embedded in a genre (and medium) that does it but better in every way. The characters are by far the worst offenders of this, I don't think there was a single one I came away from thinking they told an exciting story worth remembering. The tropes are solid, the animation is good, and the plot is exceedingly average. It's going to be forgotten to time, created to sell and nothing more.
I won't waste my breath doing an in depth analysis of the themes, ideas, or story on the whole of the series. What you see the the first episode is what you get the entire run time, sometimes a little bit more- but by and large its exactly what it is. Defying its own sense of logic and reason, stretching suspension of disbelief so far that it frays and snaps under its own existence.
I usually don't continue to watch series I actively dislike, but even more than that I hate dropping something unless it's so painfully egregious that I feel like my life force is being siphoned away as I watch. At times, Akudama Drive felt like an art vampire- but what's even worse is that I definitely enjoyed it. After all, I wouldn't have picked it up and watched all the way through if I wasn't at least having fun. Its not so terrible that you'll feel your eyes roll into the back of your skull during viewing, but it gets close. Just when your souls close to its desperate escape from your flesh it'll do something clever- a nice use of doubles, an enticing action sequence, or a genuinely heartfelt moment that convinces me to watch another episode.
I wouldn't recommend Akudama Drive for any reason other than understanding what makes Anime tick, in good ways and bad; to experience how good tropes can go to die when the characters they inhabit become nothing more than the tropes themselves, and when the story gives up on being worth your time. There are plenty of anime that are genuinely worth your time, exploring ideas in genuinely meaningful and artistic ways. I'm absolutely against saying "go watch this show instead of x", but with very little effort you'll be able to find works in this genre that do everything Akudama Drive wants to do with some fraction of grace and fidelity.

But if you REALLY want to watch this mess, nothing in this world should stop you. It's not a good time, but at the very least its a fun ride.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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