Feb 15, 2024
How You Might Find This Show: Akame ga Kill can be an enjoyable watch if over the top violence, cool weapons, no character plot-armor, dark themes and high stakes battles are to your taste. The story itself is pretty straightforward, but the way it’s told can really be hit or miss depending on the viewer. It can feel rushed or fast-paced for a war setting due to the show airing while the manga was still publishing, and wouldn’t finish until two years after the anime finished airing. Without spoiling who dies, you may or may not find it difficult, if not impossible to get attached
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to the characters due to most of them either A) Not having a ton of screen time before their demise, and B) Not having a ton of depth to their character. You may find it easier to feel for the group, however, since it’s made apparent how close they were in the immediate aftermath. Their potential as comrades to the MC can influence how you feel towards them as well. The comedy is also deployed at pretty inopportune times, sometimes immediately after a tragic or somber moment. The villain motivations are a mixed bag, you may be able to understand where some of them come from like Wave and Bols, but others like Esdeath, who simply yearns for overwhelming strength, and Minister Honest, who is a plain power-hungry glutton, are more one-dimensional.
My Personal Experience: AkG, as a standalone anime, was a decent watch. I didn’t mind the story even though there were tweaks that could’ve been done to make it mesh together better. Though it all happens faster than it would in any real-life war, the acts of the war made sense from one confrontation to the next. I also appreciated its unique look into how opposing sides view themselves (Seryuu especially). The art style is decent, no real complaints there. The animation is solid, with the action scenes standing out the most. The only animation aspect that genuinely annoyed me was a certain style of still-frame that’s overused to hell and back for dramatic scenes (You’ll know exactly what I’m referring to the first time you see it). I was really only able to get attached to Tatsumi and Akame (best girl), thus when a character death occurred, I felt bad for their and the rest of the group’s morale more than for the actual character who died. The violence aspect delivers nicely as well, with only two deaths in particular coming off as brutal just for the sake of it. The music was standard but effective, seemed to fit each moment it’s used for well. The OPs and EDs provided a good contrast to each other with one being upbeat and action-oriented with the other being soft and melodramatic. I’d really recommend giving the full song for the first ED “Konna Sekai Shiritaku Nakatta” by Miku Sawai a listen. As for the ending, I didn’t love nor hate it. It could’ve been executed better, but it wasn’t the atrocity it's been made out to be. I haven’t yet read the manga, but I hear the second half is a complete 180 from the direction the anime went. We’ll see which one I like more in due time.
It'll be a 7 on here as per the MAL scoring system, but my actual score is 7.2
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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