WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Akudama drive is an anime about a dystopian future in which "Akudama" are deadly and feared criminals who tend to wreak havoc on the city of Kansai. Kansai is a city that lives in a symbiotic type relationship with the mystical Kanto, a city that defeated them in a major war, leaving them surrounded by nothing but deadly wastelands. In the midst of this, a random girl encounters one of the Akudama at a simple takoyaki stand. As he drops his coin, she attempts to return it to him, leading her into a life-changing and very exciting to watch series of events. Ultimately, she is caught up in a scheme with several Akudama to attack the most sacred site in Kansai: The Shinkansen, which is the sole train that leads to the revered Kanto, taking goods from Kansai's factories to Kanto. The purpose is to procure a vault that has unknown contents before it reaches Kanto. Just like with every vault that has mysterious contents inside of it, in every anime ever made, this vault contains children who are vastly important to Kanto. The entire story then revolves around getting these two children to safety away from Kanto and Kansai.
The story itself is very entertaining, as the Akudama, battle it out with the "Executioners" (Kansai's anti-Akudama police force) in an attempt to complete the mission. It's pretty much non-stop action. However, unlike most non-stop action animes, it still manages to tell a compelling story that is bouyed by great voice acting performances, pretty memorable moments and fantastic animation. However, as said at the top, it is plagued by a few logic flaws that take it down a notch.
Logic Flaw #1: The span of time in which this whole anime takes place can't be too much longer than a few days. As such, the idea that hardened criminals would generate the kind of attachments that they did to each other, doesn't make much sense. Especially in such a short period of time. This is truly exacerbated by the decisions half of them make as it regards rescuing kids they don't even really know in a life-or-death situation none of them even wanted to be in. It's just not realistic that people who cared nothing for anyone, would be willing to make the kinds of decisions some of them made in this anime.
Logic Flaw #2: The Akudama are never properly explained. At first, they are clearly some kind of superhumans, able to destroy robots with their bare hands, stitch themselves together after being cut in half, and flying around fighting with Executioners like Naruto ninjas. But, then, it appears that anyone can be labeled an Akudama if they break the law. This creates a hole in the story: "What are the main characters if Akudama are just anyone who disturbs the peace?" Why are they so superpowered? Why do they exist? The story never explains it.
Logic Flaw #3: Swindler (the normal girl) as a Character. She's just a normal girl. I watched the entire anime expecting her to actually be some kind of superhuman individual with an ability to pursuade people by looking at them. But, in the end, she's just a normal girl. How then, does she survive the things that she does in the anime? It turned out to just be the power of plot, which is always disappointing.
There are some other logic flaws in the anime, but some of it concerns the ending of the anime. As much as possible I don't want to spoil the ending of this anime for readers. It's truly fantastic.
In spite of these logic flaws, I was thoroughly entertained by this anime. It reminded me somewhat of Kekkai Sensen, mixed with a little Psycho Pass, mixed with the Professional. (A 90's movie featuring Jean Reno). It had fantastic fighting sequences, slick and eye-catching animation, and worked outside of the box as far as world-building and story telling. If only they had tightened up the logic flaws it would've been a masterpiece. Instead, it's a really, REALLY good anime.
