There's an implication drawn from war that, no matter how much we desire it to be false, people will get hurt. Now, this isn't strictly between countries. "War" in this context encompasses all battles. Mental turmoil, physical skirmishes, and verbal bashing are simple examples of such altercations. In some way, shape, or form, the people involved will not leave entirely unscathed. And depending on the severity of the situation, death is a possibility. Akame ga Kill! is all about such death, but is not much more than violence without substance.
STORY
The journey starts with Tatsumi, a young village boy who moves to the Capitol in search of his fellow companions. What he finds within the city leads him to join Night Raid, an assassin-filled group whose goal is grand in scope but simple in nature: overthrow the kingdom.
Akame ga Kill! relies on the notion of emotional appeal. Death is rampant within the show, meaning no characters are safe. Akame, Tatsumi, Sheele, literally everyone attributed to the anime are at risk of being eliminated. In order for this to work, Akame ga Kill! requires that the audience become invested in the characters themselves. This is the first problem the anime encounters. Most of the characters are, at times, given their moment of spotlight. Usually involving a single episode or so, much of the cast is given some slight background in order to provide insight about who he or she is and where he or she came from. But there's a rift in this story-telling. For a vast majority of the characters, the appeal mentioned earlier either isn't enough or is hastily thrown in. This creates a disconnect that causes a loss in the show's intended effect. More specifically, the anime has too many characters with too little time to make the deaths meaningful or impactful enough.
Akame ga Kill! also suffers an identity crisis. It constantly reverberates between being a serious, "dramatic" battle shounen and a comical, light-hearted romp. The show demonstrates time and again how brutal many of the situations can get. But when it is interspersed with funny jabs or quips to lighten the mood, it doesn't add anything. Rather, it portrays a lack of focus. Then, when the show slides back towards its more serious self, the same issue arises again. Thinking about both aspects, the show shines brighter when it is following the more serious tones. This is mainly due in part to the more "adult" subject matter of murder, espionage, and torture. Sadly, the show doesn't stick to this thinking until the final few episodes. Meaning, one must wade through the entirety of the show's lack of direction.
A glaring issue that Akame ga Kill! also harbors is in what actually occurs. Much of what happens has little or zero consequence on future scenarios. The goal behind Night Raid is to topple the current government. They say that what they do along the way is striving towards that goal, but it never comes off that way. Instead, each fight is standalone. Destroying the lab monsters, getting rid of a high officer, or killing a member of the Jaegers doesn't directly affect the group's ultimate dream. In this way, every episode isn't a step towards a resolution, but is instead just another time slot dedicated to potentially killing off another cast member.
ANIMATION
Akame ga Kill! tends to do well in this department, regardless of the awful story.
Beginning with the art style, the show is, more or less, generic. Forests, safe havens, and inner city towns provide some variety, but are usually not detailed too extremely. The character designs, on the other hand, are actually quite pleasant. While most stick to a "this is my color" formula, the designs are done in such a way as to express that character's personality. Akame appears mysterious and foreboding with her jet-black, straight hair and red eyes, while Lubbock seems energetic his disheveled attire. This applies to both the good and the bad guys. It's easy to see that much attention was paid to make them stand out.
Animation-wise, the show does above average. The fight scenes are both large and small in scale, with many opportunities to show off its prowess. Examples include a flurry of swords between duelists or a massive explosion as the byproduct of an Imperial Arm. Since most of the show is steeped in fighting, and the quality of the fights never seems to falter too much, the show should at least be credited for this.
One last note. The show incorporates some rather impressive shots that are more paintings than drawings. These occur usually once per episode. They don't do much other than show case a heavily detailed scene, but they're a nice addition to provide the animators involved a chance to showcase their talent.
CHARACTERS
This is perhaps the most difficult category. Again, Akame ga Kill! requires a big investment towards the characters involved. Some may argue that this is true for all shows. And to an extent, they are correct. However, this one makes it paramount that such a bond is established. Since death is the name of the game, if the death doesn't matter, than neither does the character. To avoid spoilers, I'll focus on my personal favorites.
Having an anime titled after you is no easy feat. Akame, the sort of "poster child" for Night Raid, is an assassin known for her unmatched swordplay. Resolute, quiet, and unusually hungry, she takes it upon herself to remember the foes of her past in order to provide strength for her future. Despite being in the title, she is relegated to the sideline for a good portion of the show. Character background is given for her, but it comes too little too late. It's strange, to say the least. In the beginning, when she is first introduced, it seems as if her role will be quite huge in the context of the story. But that is not the case. Instead, Tatsumi takes this position, leaving Akame on the wayside. Seeing as Tatsumi is a rather lame protagonist, I think this decision was a poor one.
Most girls like to dress up and put on make-up, and Chelsea is no different. Her flowing orange hair and signature candy sucker make her not only attractive but also "human." That is, among everyone, she seems the most out of place within the fantastical world. Her personality is upbeat, and often clashes with Mine. However, her cheerfulness should not be mistaken for passiveness. Chelsea's main problem is that her inclusion serves no larger purpose. She's pretty much just there. While she may be a confident and fun young lady, she brings almost nothing to the table.
Esdeath, and Akame ga Kill!'s "best girl," is technically not the main antagonist. However, her presence on the battlefield certainly makes it so. Icy and cold, like the Imperial Arm she wields, Esdeath is the epitome of war. Her beauty is striking and so are her skills. Throughout the show, it becomes apparent just how unstoppable a force she really is. Yet, behind her cool demeanor lies a gentler side that she can't quite seem to understand. Her motivations are simple (she just loves to kill and fight), making her a rather plain villain. However, her decision making is not without reason and her personality, despite her torturous ways, makes her adored by all.
Objectively speaking, I find Seryuu Ubiquitous (what a last name! :P) to be the strongest character. Absolutely staunch in her convictions, she aims to bring justice upon the evil-doers of the land. She is quite two-faced, acting bubbly and happy by day but ferocious and insane by night. Her ideals rival that of Night Raid. That is to say, while what she is doing seems wrong, to her she believes that her actions are just. That what she is doing is for the good of the Capitol. Out of the entire cast, she seems to provide the most insight: sometimes, it's important to take a step back and truly think about what you are doing.
The rest of the cast is either largely forgettable or doesn't do much to make a lasting impression. They may have their moments here or there, but there just isn't enough character development or attachment to any of them to make them worthwhile.
SOUND
The first OP follows a rock-n-roll approach, with hard guitar and drum beats. The vocals involved are quite tame in comparison. The song itself is okay, with the best portion coming through in the end with the final guitar riff.
The second OP is a step up from the first. It's very gradual, starting almost as a lullaby, but picking up tempo with the guitar and choir singing. Once again, the final guitar pieces take the cake, but accompanied with even more of the choir singing, it makes it all feel quite strong.
The first of the EDs is very gentle, contrasting well with the show's overall atmosphere. The violin playing adds to this, as does the slow drum beat. Vocally, the singer does a nice job, too.
The last ED follows its counterpart, being rather gentle in nature. The multiple voices singing in harmony give a rather pleasant feeling. In fact, the visuals provide a lot of the sensation; it feels as if the song flows like rippling water.
The soundtrack doesn't have anything particularly amazing. If there was anything, I usually enjoyed the sound effect of Akame clashing or slicing through someone. It's a distinct "whoosh!" sound effect that always sounded pretty cool.
Voice acting wise, there are no stand out performances to be had.
ENJOYMENT
Much of the fun for this one derives from the fights themselves. It was usually awesome to see the varying Imperial Arms at work and how they would clash with one another. In particular, the final duel is quite impressive, both in its length, the variety of moves, and the ultimate, final technique.
A lot of the bad guys that pop up throughout the anime are really quite lame. They are just there to be evil and killed off. Meaning, I was never really fazed by anyone that Night Raid had to encounter, because they never added their own spice or originality. This is obviously not true for the Jaegers, but before their introduction (and even during their time), the rest of the villains are nothing more than boring fodder.
At the end of the day, Akame ga Kill! is an anime that really doesn't do much. The characters are very hit or miss and the story is nonsensical. However, if someone is looking to have a semi-enjoyable time, wondering who will prevail after all is said and done, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.
SUMMARY
Story: Terrible, disconnected, doesn't know what it wants to be, no purpose
Animation: Good, nice character designs, above average actual animation, picture-esque still frames
Characters: Bad, fun cast, but the majority are non-memorable
Sound: Fine, mix of okay and good OPs and EDs, forgettable soundtrack, average VA work
Enjoyment: Fine, action and death galore
Final Score: 4/10
