Akame ga Kill!

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Over the time, the term "edgy" has become something that people throw around for just about anything like Halloween candies. Therefore, when people label something as "edgy" these days, the chances are that it's not an appropriate term to describe that something. Fortunately, that term has found a perfect place just recently, and it's called Akame ga Kill. The more of this series I read, the more I'm convinced that the author is working on his 100% run of Shadow the Hedgehog and DMC as he's writing this masterpiece.

The biggest problem with this series already starts with the first chapter- The main character, Tatsumi, ... is a rather generic shounen protagonist who starts off with his two best buddies on some unexplained journey. Unfortunately for him, the group gets separated at some point, and when Tatsumi finds his buddies again in the Capital, the main setting of the series, it's shockingly revealed that they have been tortured to death by the very mean woman, Aria. (Don't bother remembering her name since she's irrelevant) Later, she gets killed and Tatsumi joins up with his actual group. What a fake out! Such a ruse! Deconstruction of a typical shounen manga! Now, what's wrong with this? It seems to be a nice introduction to the grim-dark setting the series seems to be going for, and serves as a possible motivation for the protagonist to stop the corruption that festers the Capital. Well, nothing, really. In fact, that's a good thing. So why did I state that the problem starts here?

Because this becomes a gimmick.

The series really seems to like emphasizing that the Capital just happens to be full of terrible people who seem to take their ideas from Comiket guro doujins. Even when the first chapter establishes this idea already, the author just has to beat the dead horse over and over in order to invoke some sort of emotion from the audience. Unfortunately, it's not very effective by the 10th time, and especially more so when the victims are extremely shallow or just so obviously fodder. The extra chapter later in the series is a perfect example of this- Three random girls, suddenly tortured/raped and dead. (one by suicide) What was the point? Nothing. The villains were irrelevant, and so were the 3 girls. The point emphasized? Uh, the Capital is full of bad people? Wait, that was already established by first chapter. It's really just another half-assed attempt to invoke some sort of emotion from the audience, and it doesn't work at all because it's just really trying too hard and eventually becomes just annoying. The author seems completely incapable of portraying something as "evil" unless some gory scene is involved. This baffles me because plenty of shounen manga-tier antagonists are fully capable of murder- But apparently visually showing that process in detail, despite it leading up to the same outcome, makes it any different?

Eventually, the series introduces a rival group called "Jaegers" to oppose the protagonists. Mind you, these characters, unlike most of the random fodder Monster of the Week villains in this series, are supposed to be actually relevant. Now, how would the author try to differentiate these guys from the rest? Give them the panel time instead of the protagonists, and write them just like how the protagonists are written with random SoL segments. Of course. It's sort of already painfully obvious what the author is trying to do here- By humanizing them, clearly the audience will feel some sort of sympathy for these guys when they die, and question the morality of it all. No, it doesn't work that way.

This is a great example of cherry-picking. Just showcasing some moments of these characters being not murderous psychos does not make them any more sympathetic than the rest. No, all that does is show that these characters are human beings, not some cardboard cutouts with the label "I am evil" attached to them. And the last time I checked, a character being a human (i.e. having emotions and personality) isn't an attribute. It's a requisite to even qualify as a character, so this really doesn't do anything to develop them at all either. And as for the central antagonist the protagonists are supposed to be aiming for- He's some overweight guy in charge of the Capital behind the puppet monarch who has a headgear that vaguely resembles devil horns, which I guess it's supposed to be deep and symbolic. And just like all the cardboard cutout antagonists outside of Jaegers, he has nothing going for him other than the fact that he's a dick. What a fucking joke. Of course, you can argue that maybe later in the series, whatever his motivation might be would be revealed or something, but I think it's already far too late in the series to give him a personality.

So while I was busy describing how awfully written the antagonists were and the plot driven by them, I forgot to mention the protagonists in much detail. Well, there's an excuse for that- There really isn't much to them at all either, except maybe Leone, who is one of the first characters Tatsumi meets. First of all, outside of their personality quirks, they aren't given much time to develop as characters. One reason is that some of their would-be panel time is given to Jaegers instead, who are even more shallow. In fact, two of the characters who die later in the series are given some sappy flashbacks (which is an obvious death flag- and this is rather offensive since this shows that the author is at least partially aware that these characters would be too shallow without addressing them before their deaths) and the author calls it a day for those characters- And one other character who dies is introduced much late in the series, only to be killed very quickly. It's like the author couldn't decide to kill off one of the existing characters, so he introduced a new one instead just to make that possible. Again, shallow characters dying to invoke emotions. Nothing could be more forced.

On the other hand, here are some more relevant plot points regarding the protagonists:

There's the whole drama between Akame, the other main protagonist, and Kurome, a member of Jaegers. They're sisters. They also used to work for the Empire/Capital. Akame left because she wasn't brain-dead enough to work for people who treat their comrades like shit. Kurome didn't. Now they're enemies and want to kill each other. Okay. Here's the weird thing- There are few possible reasons as to why Kurome didn't leave the Empire like Akame did. One being that Kurome needs to rely on drugs to survive due to heavy experimentation on her body- So does that imply that she agreed with Akame's decision to leave and that she couldn't because of her physical condition? Considering the fact that they want to just kill each other and neither of them seem hesitant at the idea, that doesn't seem to be the case. Then the other reason must be that Kurome doesn't really care for her own comrades as much as Akame did, and therefore didn't want to bother leaving the Empire, right? No, because she clearly does care for her comrades considering the scene involving her after Bors (another member of Jaegers) was killed in battle. So there's one last possibility- Kurome is being brainwashed to a degree in some form/shape. Or maybe she's stupid and just accepts all the awful things the Empire does. And at that point, it's just forced sibling rivalry. I guess the author really had to check that off from his trope list.

There's also this drama between Tatsumi and Esdese, the leader of Jaegers and the strongest soldier of the Capital. There's supposed to be some sort of romance between the two- No, of course it's not developed well at all. Esdese just outright falls in love with Tatsumi on first sight for literally no reason- What better way to make the main character seem more relevant than forcibly tying in a fairly significant character into it, right? Brilliant, AgK! Truly a sign of a masterpiece in the making.

And the last plot element that warrant mentioning is the Teigus- Most of the time, these are just fancy weapons with special abilities, which seem to be like the requisite for every generic shounen ever, but there is one very important key point about them that I'd like to go over. The author points out that there is not a single Teigu that can resurrect the dead- Basically, this is the author's way of saying "This is not a generic shounen where dead characters can come back to life like dragon ball and therefore deaths are final." However, this is how I see it: "Characters die in this series and if they do, they're likely going to be very irrelevant in the end." Even though this plot point could've been brought up much later in the series, it's introduced rather surprisingly early- Almost as if author is just desperately attempting to show how grim-dark his series is as much as possible. I think the term "edgy" fits in perfectly here.

Overall, this series is just a perfect misunderstanding of what makes a series "mature" and dark- And while it's perfectly fine and possible to make your series mature/dark through some creative writing, inconsequential deaths and completely unnecessary gory scenes leading up to them sure as hell aren't the way to go. So in conclusion- This series is just another overrated generic shounen with completely unnecessary gory scenes and characters to make it seem more mature and dark than it actually is, despite it being an extremely shallow, boring work as a whole. I suppose, in a way, that this series is trying to be really pretentious in that aspect. In the end, it's just one of the flavor of the month series, where after you read it for a while, you quickly lose interest in it because it's far too formulaic and the characters are too shallow to even care for. And then you sort of forget you ever read it in the first place. This is what happens when you focus on one particular trait of your series so much that you forget about everything else that makes a story interesting.

However, even after all that, if you're interested in how this series can redeem itself, I suppose it doesn't hurt to keep up with it. Maybe it will stop shoving forced characterizations, drama, and gore doujin materials down your throat at some point. But I highly doubt that will happen any time soon because this series is all about forcing something up your face while endlessly trying to make a point about how dark and serious it is.

Being a generic shounen manga isn't that terrible of a thing, though it makes the series relatively forgettable- And even then, one could still have a generic setting and make it interesting and fun to read. Akame ga Kill, however, just tries really hard to paddle away from the generic shounen manga territory, while at the same time, not knowing where it's actually paddling towards. So far, it's been a truly revolutionary trainwreck.

Akame ga kill is a manga series that tries to be too many things, while not firmly committing to being anything, seemingly intent on ignoring every positive aspect it has going for it in favour of edge, hollow character development and a directionless story.


Story:
This set-up seemingly possesses potential for portraying morally ambiguous themes about power, utilitarianism and real-world parallels, but instead settles for being a shallow good versus evil narrative set in a medieval world with magical weapons and blood. These themes are abandoned due to nature of this series’ tone and minimalistic world building, with every character sorted into one of three categories: the ... bad people who kill innocent people because they can, the Good Guys who kill bad people because it’s good, and the innocent people. The story essentially focuses on Good Guys fighting Bad Guys to save Innocent People, with every characters being painted boldly in one of these three colours. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; simple stories can be impactful if told well. However, Akame Ga kill’s simple nature is contradicted by its gruesome tone and narrative; horrific events occur, but never manage to appear impactful due to cringe-worthy attempts at levity. If Akame Ga Kill was aiming to be a proper dark shonen, it would have been more prudent for it to have followed suit with Evangelion and Attack on Titan by showing the more human, comedic side of the characters and militaristic attitudes in different settings, with sufficient time in between to ensure natural tone progression. In Akame Ga Kill, however, these sides contradict each other, with the humour taking place in serious circumstances, suggesting that Nightraid laugh at rape and murder, and the serious parts taking place in casual settings, implying that the characters are actually morbid and affected. Hence, in this case, the levity serves as a way of making the characters appear inconsistent, rather than multi-faceted.

The poor attempts at levity also affect the pacing and plot progression. A good example of this was when Tatsumi was placed in the enemies’ territory, presenting him the opportunity to learn about their motives and intentions, but instead all that he gets to learn is that the villains are as inconsistent and shallow as he is. Once again, in a light hearted show, this would be acceptable, but in a dark fantasy setting where the villains kill and torture people for fun and heads are mounted on pikes, such frivolous time wasting conflicts with the tone. Additionally, the action scenes are as unnecessary as the comedy scenes, and about as well managed. Well-constructed action can serve as a device to give the characters depth, as I stated in my Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (2014) Prologue review. In this case, the characters move and attack with little individuality or character, always opting to attack the “henchmen” instead of the “Boss”. This mix of poorly handled levity and action, juxtaposed by a dark tone and imagery, results in an inconsistent and ineffectual narrative that has little identity or memorability. Like Btooom! and Elfen Lied before it, it relies on shock factor and misogyny to desperately earn the audience’s interest, despite clumsy theme execution.

Characters:
The awareness of the general public is never clearly presented; many are murdered in cold blood over the series, but civil unrest within the capital is never clearly articulated. If the series were to express that different states are segregated, inhibiting the flow of information, then this may be excusable, but given how easily characters can travel and how explicit the government’s deplorable actions are, there is no reason why the public shown be so clueless and silent. The “bad” guys are given little depth or reasoning, with most of them being presented as either cruel sociopaths or idiotic youth who know no better. Most of them are monotonously one-note, predictable and dull, their only interesting feature lying in their teigu. Their character designs do not help them come across as imposing; in spite of serving under the same group, they do not sport commanding uniforms, instead opting for campy costumes that would look ridiculous even on the set of Batman and Robin, contradicting their intended image. The exception to the rule is Esdeath, the fully-grown Yuno Gasai (Mirai Nikki), whose charisma and presence overshadows all other characters on both sides. The being said, she is not a well written character, spontaneously shifting between being an oppressive war lord and caring commander with little consistency or believability. The governor and his son are the most 2-dimensional, serving as flat figure-heads for evil, and the innocent civilians are simply there to be raped and murdered to anger the heroes.

Tatsumi is perhaps the blandest of the cast, being poorly established as a do-gooder who doesn’t mind killing and undergoing little convincing character development. The other members of Nightraid don’t fare much better, with the manga’s title character and our scissor-wielding Sheele being the most snore-inducing. The others have minimal substance, their characteristics consisting of a basic desire to “kill things” and the odd personality quirk. Given their capacity as assassins, the writer could have investigated how taking lives has affected them psychologically and physically, but instead the author seems content to paint them as the “good guys” and leave it at that. Within the context of the story, where they are required to kill over and over again, this seems like a huge missed opportunity. Additionally, there is negligible chemistry between these characters; Akame does not parallel or juxtapose Tatsumi in any conceivable way, Esdeath is too spontaneous to relate to anyone and any attempts at character interaction feel contrived and copied. Like the story, the characters should have more depth, but are the same stereotypes we’ve seen a million times before, just soaked in blood.

Art:
Much like the story and characters, the art style is sketchy, unrefined, and forgettable though to its credit it is more firmly committed to being a simple fighting shonen with bright colours than its story or characters. The character designs lack identity, with Akame coming across as a dull, emo version of Saber and Leone looking like fan-service character rejected from Fairy Tail. Tastumi is a cut-and-paste protagonist and the quirky Nightraid companions and jaegers look like they were pulled out of Power-Rangers. The fights, while occasionally entertaining, are undercut by a poor sense of direction and minimal impact due to low-detail backgrounds and confusingly designed settings. Overall, the art in Akame Ga Kill fails to stand-out, isn’t the series’ most glaring fault.

In conclusion, Akame Ga Kill is a pale, forgettable manga series that attempts to set itself apart through half-heartedly attempting to be a dark and serious manga, in spite of its shallow world and characters and lacklustre art and designs. If you’re looking for a legitimately mature anime, I highly recommend checking out Hellsing Ultimate or Fate/Zero.

To say I’ve grown a hatred for anything White Fox produces is like saying that more than half the English-speaking aniblogging community are Asian. Despite the fact that I usually try to give anything a chance regardless of studio or whatever as long as the premise appeals to me, White Fox has a bad record – four years long – of taking premises I like and fucking them up to the point that I get more enjoyment from watching a one-eyed man do pole dancing. I probably wouldn’t have minded so much if it wasn’t for the fact that I seem to be alone in ... my feelings for this studio, mostly because White Fox is riding the Steins;Gate train longer than KyoAni rode the Haruhi/FMP one. Thankfully, nowadays people are starting to join me in my White Fox hate bandwagon mostly because they stopped pretending to try with their premises, and I have yet to see a season preview that went “bunny girls drinking coffee? Sign me up!”

But apparently the fans seem to think they’re back on track with their recent acquirement of Akame ga Kill, a manga that apparently has a reputation for being bloody as shit, which of course got me excited until I found out that bastard son of Madhouse was adaptating it. And let me tell you right now, when a studio has gotten to the point that they can kill your hype for something just by attaching their name to it, something has seriously gone wrong somewhere.

Still, it’s a good premise, and most of White Fox’s “mistakes” have been dependent on the source material they were adapting. Plus, that recent trailer looked kind of cool. So maybe this will be good? Maybe this will be the one anime of theirs that actually works out well? Maybe my manga-loving buddies have similar taste to me for once? I do like people getting cut up.

Curious I was to discover what all the fuss was about that I jumped into the manga, and the process and result was a bit of a disappointment. I was only able to read six chapters of Akame ga Kill. Partly because I was reading the manga at work and they kind of frown on that sort of activity, and partly because anymore than five pages of this f*cking thing would get me more riled up than an Indian person watching Slumdog Millionaire. I guess I could have read some more during the weekend, but here’s the thing: I don’t want to.

This thing is anime-joke heavy. And yeah, I know that’s kind of a shitty critique when I’m reviewing a manga and all, but my point is this: Akame ga Kill is supposed to be about the horrors of some kingdom with blood and guts and people getting beheaded right? It’s supposed to be serious whilst having levity to appeal to a more mainstream audience who can’t handle stuff like Oyasumi Punpun, right? Then why the hell is the main character feeling sad about the deaths about people he cares deeply about in one page, only for the next page to be the assassins dragging him in a comical fashion whilst he goes “No! Let me go! Let me grieve!” like he’s suddenly in a Shonen Jump manga?

I could understand if this thing was going for a comical tone with some serious moments, and I’m not much of a fan of grimdark stuff with no levity these days, but it feels more like someone combined a deep serious seinen manga with Soul Eater and the result is terrible. The other option is to use black humor akin to Black Lagoon or Akira, but the only time it got close to that was when the main dude nearly got his head blown off by that sniper chick. And it just turned into a lame teenage rant fest after that, showing that this thing doesn’t have any idea how to do tone.

But that’s not the only problem this stupid thing has. Akame ga Kill makes the classic mistake of taking a cool concept and doing its best to ruin it down to the basics.

When Night Raid – the assassin group that serves as the main characters in the story – is first introduced, the story gives off this vibe that they’re a bunch of amoral assassins that go around killing people regardless of whether they actually deserve it or not because…well…they’re assassins. I was hoping that the story would play off the pros and cons of the trade in regards to killing people who deserve it and getting innocents in the way in a sort of Gunslinger Girl-fashion. Nope. Turns out Night Raid are a bunch of Robin Hood-like figures who are the last line of hope against this EVIL empire and their EVIL ways. So basically, they’re just good-hearted mercenaries who are justified because everyone in town is corrupt. Their methods of killing are never questioned and they’re never really in trouble with the public. In fact, the manga SUPPORTS their “kill people without remorse” methods and it’s disgusting.

That wouldn’t be bad by itself if the story played it right. Even Leon the Professional had rules and all. The difference is that Gary Oldman was the person contrasting him in that film whilst all Night Raid have to face a bunch of generic thugs who are so try-hard that it hurts. The guys they fight are basically just a bunch of schoolground bullies who want to crush someone’s head because crushing someone’s head is fun. It’s like watching a whole army of D-list villains from a superhero comic.

So basically, the assassins are pure good guys whose motives aren’t in question and the people they’re fighting are pure evil who commit 80s ultraviolence antics? That’s got to be the stupidest misuse of inserting morality in a cool concept since that godawful Hell Girl series!

As for the fight scenes, it’s hard to say with still pictures, but concept-wise, it’s nothing different from your usual Shonen Jump mildew aside from the fact that people die brutally at the end. Unfortunately, that’s the only change. It’s like someone created a good ending for a story, but forgot to put in the good middle that justifies said ending.

In summary, going by what I read alone, Akame ga Kill is basically Zvezda World Conquest if it took itself more seriously and ironically ended up even more childish. Some people have told me that the manga goes into Linkin Park-esque “oh we’re showcasing how horrible life is. Feel sad. FEEL SAD!” about thirty chapters in to the point that makes the second half of Now and Then Here and There look like, um, the first half of that show. Whilst I doubt the anime will actually get to those parts unless it’s more than a cour, I can’t even get to when the manga “turns to crap” because the beginning is crap too. Shitty tone. Shitty characters. Shitty way of moralizing its concept. The works.

So much for a good anime by these White Fox guys. Now let me go check out that Amagi Park manga.

Spoiler-free:

Akame Ga Kill is a dark fantasy shounen battle manga that bites off more than it can chew with its ideas that leave the reader feeling unsatisfied at the end. Although the art for the fights can be gorgeous at times, the fights themselves fail to deliver on the hype. The core group has great character moments that give strong emotional payoffs throughout the course of the story, but the bloat of having such a wide cast really holds the story back. The manga’s titular character, Akame, gets a lot of the story’s spotlight, but strangely enough we mostly experience the story through the eyes ... of Tatsumi. This results in her being the “chosen one” but not narratively for the reader as we experience the story from Tatsumi’s point of view. Overall, the narrative really fails to do the heavy lifting necessary to explore its dark fantasy ideas while still having the story fill its niche of being intended for a shounen audience. It tries to do both at the same time and ends up falling flat because of it.

Spoilers:

Positives

A large and varied cast of characters with their own unique backstories and abilities
Strong art, especially when it comes to high impact moments
Interesting political drama between the various factions in the world
An interesting concept of a story

Negatives

Akame Ga Kill tries to do too much and that is where its shortcomings are exposed. The world is huge, but we see almost none of it. The cast is large, but a huge chunk of them die off without giving the reader time to build a connection to them. The fights are set up in a cool way, but they rarely last more than a few pages and leave little impact. One of the biggest flaws narratively is Akame’s murasame blade. The idea of a one hit blade on paper seems very cool, but the fights involving her feel so trivial that Akame just becomes a Mary Sue character to resolve any conflicts. The author fails to really give her any interesting fights where she is forced to really struggle, except the Wave and Esdeath ones. Speaking of Mary Sue’s, what even is Esdeath. Throughout the entire story, has she even faced any struggles really? Her ice powers can freeze time, change the weather conditions of an entire region, and create an entire ice army without showing any strain on her strength, besides comments made by her opponents. Her unlimited stamina just makes any fights she participates in feel all the more pointless as she essentially can’t lose. Funny that the only way to kill off the Mary Sue’s was to run them into each other. The moral question that was introduced much earlier on about how the nature of Night Raid meant that they existed in a moral gray zone where they had to do abhorrent things to combat those who commit even more abhorrent crimes is basically completely ignored immediately after. The villains are portrayed almost comically evil as to assuage any guilt their deaths may cause. The few members of the enemy faction, the Jaegers, that do get characterization really don’t present a compelling case to support the Empire’s side. It really doesn’t help that the characters that are supposed to represent the “good” of the Empire are either not really bad people like Wave or Kurome or just raging psychopaths like Seryu and Dr. Stylish.
At the end of the day, Akame Ga Kill really shot itself in the foot by trying to incorporate dark fantasy elements while staying within the boundaries of the shounen genre. We hear a lot about the atrocities that happen, but they are never shown, rendering them weightless. Night Raid does get some solid characterization that do make their deaths feel impactful, but contrast that with the slew of villains we meet one time and get foddered away to build up another character. Another quality that bogs it down is the predictability of the story where the outcomes of events and their consequences do not come as a surprise. In conclusion, the manga does have some interesting aspects that make it a solid read, but its clumsy storytelling and inability to really commit to telling a feel good shounen or a depressing dark fantasy leaves it feeling undercooked.

This is my first manga review, so I apologize if there is lack of insight in some parts.

A lot of people like to tell others that the Akame ga Kill manga is amazing compared to the travesty that was its anime adaptation. Although, upon reading the manga, that comparison isn't saying much. It's about as good as comparing eating roadkill with a little salt on it next to just roadkill on the street, respectively. This isn't quite the worst manga I've ever had the displeasure of reading, but people do seem to give it a tad too much credit.

Story: 3/10

The plot is ... fair enough initially. Tatsumi is your typical shonen protagonist with big dreams, only to have them crushed when he finds out the empire he wants to fight for is not what it seems. The first chapter actually has quite a strong start since it does a good job establishing how dark this world is quite quickly to give the reader the impression that this isn't your typical shonen. The main character's best friends die, the government of the setting is corrupt, and a terrorist organization is actually the closest thing to what you can call "good guys" in this world. But the events that immediately transpire after only reveal that this was merely a facade and Akame ga Kill is pretty much your typical shonen, just with a little more blood and guts thrown in plus a more pretentious atmosphere. For starters, this series has some serious tonal issues. One minute, a character dies and the tone set for the next few panels is somber to give the reader some time to reminisce about their impact on the characters and plot. But then just a few panels after that, the characters then make a joke in an attempt to lighten the mood. There's nothing wrong with trying to alleviate the mood with some comic relief, but the abruptness of it right after when Takahiro is trying to establish a dark mood pretty much kills the drama he was trying to go for. And the gags that take place aren't even funny. They mostly consist of immature jokes that the characters inexplicably bust their guts at (at one point, Tatsumi's zipper is revealed to be unzipped in the middle of a dramatic speech and his colleagues spend an uncomfortably long time thinking it's the funniest thing ever) and pretty much your typical manga overreaction takes with no unique spin whatsoever. This normally wouldn't be so bad, but Takahiro has the gall to keep up the charade that this world has depth and the characters have complex motivations. For one thing, Takahiro does not do a good job at world-building. The empire, for instance, is not even named, nor are we given any insight as to how big it is, what exactly its culture is like, or how this one man (Prime Minister Honest) managed to corrupt its millennial legacy in such a short amount of time upon becoming de facto ruler. Also, random areas and tidbits are just thrown in. The main characters just go to random areas for their missions without letting the audience where exactly they are. If Takahiro actually put more thought into the world he was trying to establish, he could actually take advantage of opportunities to build up this big empire we're supposed to care about by writing more about WHERE in the five W's of storytelling. But nope, the characters just go where the plot needs them to be. Danger Beasts are also another interesting thing Takahiro fails to put depth into. The Danger Beasts are random monsters that inhabit the areas of the Empire, but the reader is never given information as to what exactly they are, where they come from, why they're called Danger Beasts compared to the normal animals seen from time to time, or how the Imperial Arms were formed from them. Speaking of which, there are occasional infodumps on the Imperial Arms (the series' main weapons) being created from certain Danger Beasts. But most of these Danger Beasts aren't named and only have a mere sentence as their backstory so the audience can't really care less about these infodumps since Takahiro barely explained what a Danger Beast was. Speaking of Imperial Arms, these weapons bring up a lot of promise due to their unique abilities and the rule that two Imperial Arms users must fight to the death. However, the existence of "trump cards" kill any suspense in these Imperial Arms fights since they can easily just shift the tide of the battle in a mere second. Also, the rule is broken much later in the manga when Akame fights Wave, where the latter escapes. Now off the topic of world-building, there are plot threads that Takahiro could've actually done a lot with had he put more thought into what he was writing, but they all just get left behind in the dust moments after being established. For example, the character Seryuu is introduced as a deconstruction of characters obsessed with justice and fanatical devotion to their country. When the depraved organization Wild Hunt is brought into the plot to serve the Empire, this could've been a ripe time to have Seryuu start having doubts about what she's fighting for, but nope. Seryuu bit the dust just before Wild Hunt's introduction before an anticlimactic battle with one of the protagonists. Budo is another wasted character, introduced as a high-ranking official who is disgusted with the Prime Minister's influence. He could've been a valuable ally to our protagonists due them sharing similar world-views, but nope. Budo is only brought into the plot to serve as another bad guy for our heroes to defeat easily. And lastly, Dr. Stylish is stated to have created an all-new breed of Danger Beasts supposedly made from humans, which could've helped introduce more information as to what exactly Danger Beasts are, but nope. Dr. Stylish bites the dust early as well and the Danger Beasts are taken care of over the course of a few chapters without any background or payoff whatsoever.

Art: 5/10

The art is average at most. The action sequences are choreographed well enough to allow the audience to know what is going on, and the character designs are standard shonen fare. Although if I want to nitpick, some of the character themes going on clash with the fantasy aesthetic Takahiro wants to be going for. For example, you've got the titular Akame and her sister Kurome wearing what appear to be schoolgirl uniforms and Chelsea, who appears to be wearing headphones. Normally, I don't mind anachronism stew if it's done well, but these character design tropes are just so blaring that they clash with the immersion of this world Takahiro's trying to build. Not that Takahiro does good-enough world-building to begin with, but still.

Characters: 3/10

Most of the characters are just character archetypes we've seen before lacking depth when it comes to their motivations or actions, which is especially problematic when Takahiro is trying to have the reader believe the world he's trying to write is deep and troubled. Tatsumi, our hero, is pretty much a cookiecutter shonen protagonist complete with naivete, recklessness, and convenient power upgrades at a price. Tatsumi doesn't even have an interesting backstory. He just happened to learn his trade when an unnamed soldier visited his village and that's it. Tatsumi is meant to be the surrogate of the audience, having a clean worldview for the reader to view through, although his vanilla personality doesn't make him good as a character. For a character that receives a lot of focus, it's hard to care much for someone we don't get to know too well other than being a stereotypical hero. Akame, the titular character, seems much more deserving of the main character role since she actually has an established backstory, and seems to be hiding things under a stoic mask, providing a rare example of a character with layers in this manga. But only recently is she getting more focus, and even then, Tatsumi still gets more panel-time than her. The other members of the main group Night Raid are typical cutout manga characters: Mine is a Tsundere, Bulat is the badass big-brother, Leone is the brash big-sister, Lubbock is the pervert/jerk-with-a-heart-of-gold, and Najenda is the mysterious boss. Night Raid in general are treated as morally-ambiguous heroes, although when compared to the villains, they're as white as snow when it comes to morality. The villains of this manga are the most over-the-top, stereotypically evil villains in the medium; often raping, killing, and exploiting the innocent for no other reason than to be evil. Esdeath, the most popular character of this manga in particular, is just an overpowered social darwinist who will never change her ways and has a creepy obsession with the main character that is never really built upon, just hammered into the audience's head when it becomes relevant in the plot. Their Imperial counterparts, the Jaegers, are brought into the story to try and establish a grey spot in the normally black-and-white morality of the story. However, with characters like Seryuu, Esdeath, and Dr. Stylish, it's hard to remember that the bad guys aren't that bad. Wave is supposed to be Tatsumi's counterpart who's inexplicably loyal to an empire that is blatantly corrupt. He's supposed to introduce a different perspective in the story, but he's never really given enough focus for the audience to care about his endeavors since his superiors are so evil it's a wonder why anyone should care that he continues to serve them.

Enjoyment: 4/10

If you're an overly-critical person like me sometimes, then this manga might possibly give you brain aneurysms with its stupidity at times. However, I will give Akame ga Kill credit in that the fight scenes are good enough for a shonen. This manga would be enjoyable if it didn't take itself so seriously because a lot of things in this manga are silly, from the Imperial Arms to character designs to some of the stupid decisions the characters make from time to time. The fact the manga tries its best to remind that this world is grimdark and there's grey-and-grey morality is thrown out the window due to the poorly-written villains (who make the morality out to be voidblack-and-greyishwhite) and atmosphere. The only true way to enjoy this and still feel like an intelligent reader is to just not take it so seriously when the manga does and just turn your brain off to enjoy the loads of violence on the pages.

Overall: 4/10

Akame ga Kill is an okay read if you want to kill time and want something filled with audacity and gore, like a bag of potato chips when you're midly hungry. But if you're actually expecting anything profound like the manga tries to have you believe, then you should prepare to be disappointed. All in all, from the idiot plot to idiot characters to idiot atmosphere, you'll feel like an idiot due to Takahiro's writing. It's certainly not the worst manga or a steaming hunk of garbage, but it's pretty much on the same level as the anime, which was a sinking ship from the beginning.

Weak... if I had to describe this series in one word, it would be "weak", either that or straight up disappointing.
If I have anything positive to say about Akame ga Kiru!, then I'll say that at the end. The story is one simply but huge cliche that's been going on for centuries over centuries in all kind of fiction... we've seen this everywhere, manga, anime, TV, movies, books... there is no area of fiction where we haven't seen a story IDENTICAL TO THE ONE IN THIS MANGA. About characters? Let's start with the main character, a guy who cries about the death of his beast ... friends (quite logical right?) and then 10 seconds later is having a comedic moment where he gets kidnapped by a group of murderers who he decides to join "out of the blue". I will not discuss how week the members of that team are, and I'll jump straight to the main villain, a female who apparently lacks any kind of common sense, it is so ridiculous how unrealistic the attitude of every person in this universe acts, that for me to explain why she is THE WORST villain I've seen in ages, would man to re-type what I've read. She falls in love for no reason with the main character (unless a list she wrote perfectly describing him before meeting him is a good reason) and attempts to make him his pet/lover by force. and who might this guy be? Surprise surprise... the main character who has every single character with a vagina in love with him. Despite her ordering the death of his comrades, it does not stop him from having funny moments with here every time they meet. Does honor, loyalty, friendship and love means so little to this mangaka? They introduce characters and kill the SO FAST that I don't even get to develop feelings strong enough to make me feel sad (or happy for that matter). So unoriginal, so cliche, so boring, so simple and so weak. NO ONE has any reasons for doing the evil things they do in this manga, a bunch of aimless antagonist, with the main villain doing it cause he likes to eat meat, the king (emperor or whatever) does it cause the previous guy tells him too. There is a general who left his people, family, and beliefs, because the moment a woman offered help, he "adored her" and just for that turn against everything he believes and commits suicide for someone he does not know.
P.S that same guy has an attack called "Evil-Dragon-Spear"... how original is that? He is straight up admitting to be evil, and there was no dragon on that spear. Also, characters explain their strategies to their enemy, apparently so they can counter it and drag the fight for many long and pointless chapters. Seeing thins like when a character has the opportunity to get rid of the foe with a surprise attack, he suddenly screams something obvious like "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU NOW", giving the enemy the opportunity to react in time and kill him... senseless, just... senseless.
To keep listing the negative things in this series would take me a couple months so I'll just say the one good thing I see in it: the main weapons for combat; "Teigu". As unoriginal as the it is, there is this one type called "biological teigu" which consist of an animated weapon with multiple functions, yes, we have seen similar stuff before, but the concept of a human-looking weapon to b nothing more than that, a weapon, makes for an interesting variety of outcomes (of which of course the mangaka always chooses the most obvious), that even tho never taken advantage of, keeps the illusion going and makes me think "it still has potential, maybe in the future we'll see it turn around like other have... but I doubt it"

Writing:
Now I am not going to beat around the bush. Akame ga Kill's writing from a critical and enjoyment standpoint was bad.

The story, in the beginning, was decent. with the ending being average yet serviceable. It was the middle that was what ruined a potentially good series for me. My gripes are not just minor nitpicks but major story breaking reasons with the fundamentals of the writing.

The world building in comparison to the anime was better but not by much. Being that the world building was overall still shit. With the lack of a world map or at least a map of the capital makes ... this much more problematic later on.

Characterization and Character development overall was rushed. Though I will commend the manga that it writer at least tries to develop character left and right. But the character just still felt artificial to me. combined with the blatant, Intelligence insulting black and white morality of the story. Makes the issues with characterization and development feel rushed and contrived.

Morality is as black and white as you usually get in a shounen series. With bad exposition being done in a way that is bad yet transparent. Bols was the closest thing to a morally grey character that you can get.

The fights, despite the weapons being interesting. were made boring in the tension or lack there of. couple that with an inconsistent power chain among the characters. makes the combat boring, uninteresting and predictable.

Art:

So far the Only redeeming quality of the series. the anime's art style took a huge shit on some very good looking and detailed artwork in the manga. Which really shines especially when there are colour pages.

Overall:
I had as whole found that Akame ga kill to be a huge disappointment. Though the Begining was alright and the end was not too bad. It was ultimately a potentially good series the was bogged down by incompetent writing.

The lack of tension in the story also made my enjoyment go down the tubes after chapter 10. I was getting bored with the manga very quickly. but I did power through to the end anyway. If it weren't for the artwork. I would have dropped this very early on.

Overall a very forgettable series that could have been great. had it not got bogged down by incompetent world building, lack of tension and rushed characters.

Poorly executed and written manga. Characters are terrible walking clichés and the story is mediocre at best. I can't think of any moment that I enjoyed. Akame is a terrible character and the MC is even worse.
Akame is "beautiful" although the art is really poor. She has an abysmal personality that does not fit the whole thing.
What a frustrating manga. I wish I hadn't bought this.
Poorly executed and written manga. Characters are terrible walking clichés and the story is mediocre at best. I can't think of any moment that I enjoyed. Akame is a terrible character and the MC is even worse. ...
Akame is "beautiful" although the art is really poor. She has an abysmal personality that does not fit the whole thing.
What a frustrating manga. I wish I hadn't bought this.

It's too random and funny to be taken serious but it is also way too edgy to be considered a comedy. In the first chapter you will discover a room filled with dead and tortured bodies, it is a very horrific scene. The next panel shows the person responsible for this trying to comedically tip toe away out of the situation. That is just one example of many. The fight scenes are terrible, in one scenario the MC is clearly overwhelmed and can't move, then out of nowhere he cuts the persons arms off with no panel explaining how he got out of the predicament ... he was in earlier. Another time Akame CLEARLY got cut vertically and yet the injury is horizontal.

It is absolutely baffling that this abomination is a two man job. The work load is cut in half and yet it feels like neither of the two really care. The 'author' has created an incredibly generic story here that relies on fan service to distract the reader from how garbage the plot is. It is the most generic, uninspired Shounen story you will come across, and yet it has Seinen levels of violence. This is a very jarring combination and I am left wondering who is this aimed for? Because besides the high levels of violence every other aspect about this manga is clearly just run of the mill Shounen tropes. I already mentioned my gripes with the fight scenes earlier, but it once again puzzles me how the artist seems to have no issue with creating fight sequences that make no sense. Admittedly, the artist is good and his fighting panels are decent its just the very obvious gaps and missing information in them (off scene ass pulls galore) that bother me.

If you like massive amounts of fan service, meta humour, random humour, out of place humour and don't care about investing into something that has a garbage plot then I suppose this is for you.