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.
