Akame ga Kill / First Impressions

「蟠を斬る」 (Wadakama wo Kiru)
“Kill Your Cares”

If there’s anything that I get out of Akame ga Kill every week that’s guaranteed, it’s the entertainment factor. It’s a fast-paced show that leaves me amused for half an hour and there’s always someone that dies. If that’s your thing, then you should definitely get on board with this anime right now. *thumbs up* What I love about it, is that it’s unpredictable to a certain degree that’s not totally out of the box, but enough so that you’re satisfied. The cast of characters are not boring, although they’re not terribly unique either. I think the chemistry between them works and there’s enough comedy to lighten the mood up. It’s interesting to hear where they all came from and how they all ended up with the Night Raid. I thought Mine’s story would’ve been a lot more tragic, but her story ended up being quite short and straightforward. We’ve all faced times some sort of discrimination (or you know… maybe not, in which case you’re lucky) and I think her reason to fight is a justified one.

I realized that Akame ga Kill is a story that’s simply very plot-heavy and not necessarily a deep one. It doesn’t take itself seriously and the audience shouldn’t either. One of the complaints that I hear a lot is the timing of the humor and the lack of seriousness in the overall tone. I definitely get where you’re coming from – believe me. Compared to other shows airing this season, Akame ga Kill does not deliver when it counts and I think it tries, but it falls short sometimes due to everything else going on. It keeps advancing the story – but does not leave time to digest the full importance of “Hey! There are people being publicly crucified here!“. Don’t get me wrong, I see that torturing women is wrong and so is murdering innocent people, but this bag of tricks is getting old and it’s the primary focus of the show. I like that the story is spending time to develop the rest of the cast – like Mine, Bulat, and Akame… but the more time we spend getting all chummy chummy with the Night Raid, the more I feel like the violence just doesn’t faze me anymore. The horrid scenes and shock factor just doesn’t seem to leave an impact on me and I hate that because this is humanity we’re talking about. If I can’t feel revolted by people dying, then it makes me lack empathy towards the Night Raid’s cause.

Moving along… I still like where the story is headed and despite my complaint above, I don’t see any reason to stop watching. One of the reasons that I love anime so much is that it can tell a concise story in a short amount of time that’s entertaining and watch-worthy. I think Akame ga Kill delivers that. After three episodes, I’m happy to say that it’s met my expectations in terms of the blood and gore that was promised, but it also provides a great setup for what’s to come. I’m most looking forward to seeing how the Night Raid take down the Emperor (Taichi You) and the Prime Minister/Honest (Ishii Kouji). The Emperor is certainly young and naïve, but his unyielding trust towards the Prime Minister is kind of scary and if anything, he deserves to die because of his own lack of judgment as ruler of his country. I’m not saying that he should – but he needs to know the consequences of his decisions. Another person that I’m keeping an eye on is the killer whom appeared at the end. I don’t think it’ll have to be long before he makes his move though because the preview clearly states his intensions. It’ll be more interesting to see where he came from and who he fights for.

Author’s Note: Hurray! I’m picking this up. Blogging only one show every two weeks just isn’t enough. =)

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: The constant talk of torture & sadness is not phasing me anymore. #AkamegaKill needs to be less comedic for me to take it seriously

Full-length images: 08, 15.

 

Preview

90 Comments

      1. Based on a lot of the raving reviews about the manga, it seems the story will take a darker path and have bigger battles, but it still doesn’t resolve some of the problems I have with the show. It’s as leatherhead posted below, the story tries to take on this dark premise but lacks the maturity to handle it in a manner that I find satisfactory. It’s very vapid, and I think even the shonen demographic deserves better. Children are pretty intelligent and capable of handling much deeper narrative than this.

        James
        Reply

      2. If you don’t want to be “stamped out”, then you should really explain your logic better than just posting “mediocre everything”. That is obviously inflammatory and trollish language.

        You should at least name some examples of anime that have done similar stuff. Off the top of my head, I’m thinking Mirai Nikki, Code Geass, Ga-Rei, Higurashi, Umineko. These have similar death themes and gore, but I would not say that any of them, including Akame, are mediocre. They all have their own story and unique executions.

        Also, I really struggle to think of a series with 3 childhood friends that kills off 2 of them before the 1st episode…
        https://randomc.net/image/Akame%20ga%20Kill/Akame%20ga%20Kill%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2012.jpg

        Ptolemaios00
        Reply

      3. Fine, I’ll bite. Though Leatherhead already summed up my general feelings on the show below anyways.

        The whole “the ruler is a puppet of a lower level bureaucrat” (V for vendetta?)idea is nothing new, but nevertheless it’s not a bad one. It’s just a shame the child king is dumb as rocks and the minister is just a 2D villain.

        The “conditions” that come with a character’s powers (or in this case, weapons) have been done before in Hunter X Hunter and those were pretty well thought out, whereas twin tails’ need to be in a pinch is pretty simplistic in comparison. I also don’t know why they needed to explain that twice in the episode. The first time around was clunky, she literally explains it to herself in the middle of battle.

        And the characters are pretty unoriginal
        – MC walks in on Tsundere changing, and within the same episode tsundere starts crushing on MC. (Am I supposed to be impressed with this?)
        – Big boobed ‘onee san’ character
        – Friendly aniki (whose also gay, but they downplay that aspect like being gay is some sort of joke)
        – Perverted guy
        – polite girl with megane
        – and last but not least, stoic, badass girl with black hair
        I don’t really need to give you examples to tell you these archetypes have been done before.

        The pacing of this show is also meh. The transitions between scenes are very awkward. That base invasion part started and ended so quickly it felt like it didn’t even happen. But I know why it was there, it was to show off the character’s moves again, but it was just tossed in there so haphazardly the intentions of it became transparent.

        With that said, what makes this show so great? The fighting? The moral ambiguity? The events that unfold after a successful revolution? I never said the show is unwatchable, just mediocre.

        James
        Reply

      4. One reason why I’m enjoying Akame Ga Kill over most animes this season is the fact the villains are 2-dimensional (so far). There’s too many villains that are made for the viewer to sympathize with to the extent I feel that it starts getting ridiculous at points.

        The 2-dimensional villains are certainly not a bad writing choice because anyone could have given them a sappy backstory like, “oh, my parents abused me so that’s why I abuse others”. It’s intentional and that’s probably because so far, they’ve just been cannon fodder for Night Raid. Although even with their lack of development, they are given immense characteristic, and that is they are a corrupt a-hole of the highest level. Simple, but effective. I can actually hate these guys and enjoy seeing Night Raid wipe them from the face of the earth. It keeps the action going. Also you can tell that the character designs and the animation makes no effort to hide the fact that they are to be despised (although I will admit that martial artist looked cool until he opened his mouth).

        One of my favorite parts of this episode is when Lubbock (wire guy) killed that girl. In that short amount of time, they established a few things about his character. He earnestly has a soft spot for females, but he knows his duty above all else because of prior experiences. One could probably also say that he doesn’t like all the fighting and that he’d probably prefer to be able to chase women without worrying about them backstabbing him (literally). Just from that, he showed that he is a reliable member of Night Raid just as much as the rest.

        I like it when a show can put a lot of character into a short scene and that’s what I feel Akame Ga Kill does right. No need for long, drawn out build-ups. Of course, each has their pros and cons.

        Goodwill Wright
        Reply

      5. @James:
        So what you’re saying is… you don’t like the show because it’s “mediocre” and by “mediocre”, you mean that it copies ideas that have been done repeatedly in other shows. In other words, you think it’s unoriginal…
        Well I hate to disappoint you but pretty much ALL anime is not going to be original these days. There isn’t anything in recent shows that I can say hasn’t been done already because it’s hard to think outside the box and usually, people don’t like that and it doesn’t sell o_O You listed a lot of elements in a show that people actually DO LIKE about anime in general – people like tsunderes and lolis and big-boobed girls… they also like seeing animated fight scenes and how the MC gets super inhuman abilities to fight because of his past and how he develops over time. This is everywhere and if you were expecting something different, then you my friend, need to watch more anime or open your eyes to what other people enjoy more.
        You are limiting yourself if you don’t watch “mediocre” anime and I don’t think Akame ga Kill is mediocre at all. Just because something is a tried and true formula, doesn’t mean it still isn’t worthy of being watched. I watch a ton of “mediocre” anime and still get enjoyment out of it.

        Cherrie
        Reply

      6. @Cherrie
        Being unoriginal is almost unavoidable with the amount of media that people consume nowadays, but that’s reason enough to give a pass to anything that the anime industry churns out? Look, I know people like some of the stuff I mentioned, but to me, when a show comes along and pretty much everything is the same old same old, I find that to be mediocre writing.
        Not because it happens to share elements of existing animes, tv shows, etc. but because it takes this ‘tried and true’ formula and doesn’t really make it their own, they just kinda use the formula…and that’s it.

        @Goodwill
        Your points do make sense, but the simplistic writing isn’t really doing it for me. I think it’s because the 3 major targets of Night Raid so far have been presented in the same format:
        -so and so did this bad thing
        -let’s go kill them
        -mission complete
        To be honest, I don’t think every villain needs to be humanized, but AgK almost forces the idea that “they are 100% bad” down your throat. Sometimes NOT saying something is better for characterization. Case in point, the guard from episode 1: his ideals were never really expressed, but inferred. He knew what went on in that barn, but he ‘accepted’ it despite seemingly being against it (based on his attitude about the city expressed during the shopping scene).

        As for Lubbock, his whole character is about liking women, so it was almost inevitable he’d end up having to kill one. The point I made about not saying anything applies here too. I just wish he didn’t explain himself, especially that objectifying “what a waste.” I think showing his expression would have sufficed, but you do make a point that he doesn’t let his personal side affect his professional side. I just wasn’t surprised by it though.

        James
        Reply

      7. > Also, I really struggle to think of a series with 3 childhood friends that kills off 2 of them before the 1st episode…

        Maybe this is the author’s way of saying that this show is NO Naruto.

        Matroid
        Reply

      8. The reason why there was so much down-voting was because it was a completely useless comment, almost like one of those ‘first’ posts. Someone posting effectively saying ‘this is shit’ and nothing else deserves to be down-voted to oblivion.

        Scruffy
        Reply

    4. Not every series can be the best show ever… sure the creator might be trying his best but at the end of the day it just has to do enough which this series seems to do! 😛 hmmm you might have a point about it being over hyped… but when there isnt alot going on, it happens in any given season that shows get higher appraisals! Best shows ever are normally uncommon 😛 so at very least this show is entertaining so it does its job.

      Right, so to you James what show this season is tickling your fancies? which show(s) do you find satisfying to your preferences? just curious.

      GoodStuffs
      Reply

      1. Writing manga is a tough job, and there’s always the issue of writing what makes money, not what you think is a better story, so I have no animosity towards the manga artist lol.
        Recently, I’ve come to value my time a little bit more so I just don’t waste my time with anime that I don’t think will really leave a lasting impression on me.

        Right now, there’s honestly not a lot of shows that I like too much. Zankyou no terror is at the top of my list right now. It does a great job of creating an atmosphere and being consistent with it, and most important of all, it knows how to be subtle. I wouldn’t call it a work of genius quite yet, but I have no complaints about it so far.

        I’m watching Stardust Crusaders (JoJo’s bizarre adventure) because…well…that show knows how to get campy. While some shows take crappy exposition and tries to hide it unsuccessfully, JoJo wears it proudly, explaining every move, sometimes in hilarious ways. Not as good as the arc that came before it in 2012, but I find it fun nevertheless.

        Space Dandy season 2 is a mixed bag. The stories are episodic and not always amazing, but when you watch it, you can tell the writing team is having fun and really using their brains to think of wacky plots. Artistic freedom is hard to come by in mainstream entertainment (money money money), but being the legendary Watanabe, as well as having a slot on adult swim (infamous for some strange programming) gets you some leeway on that.

        Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun is something I never would have expected to like, but I gave it a try and I’m quite fond of it. The humor is clever and well done. This is my “turn off my brain and enjoy” show of the season.

        Some crossovers from previous seasons:
        Hunter x Hunter
        Diamond no Ace (campy sports drama!)
        Baby steps (methodical look on tennis, very honest and wholesome show).

        James
        Reply

      2. ah, so you like the angst of ankyou no terror for me, its bit too early to tell if itll be a winner. Similar to toyko esp… I hope they turn out winning! Aldnoah.Zero tho seems like you cant go wrong with it! Im really enjoying that series so far.

        lols yaaa jojo is a classic its hilariously corny but still hilarious I need to start watching new season. LOLs. Its just so convenient that they all look like original jojo and pretty much teh super hero of the universe!

        I just couldnt get into space dandy every episode… is like a reset? dunno just didnt do it for me.

        Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun yeah its fun! makes me miss mangaka-san to assistant-san to more!! ok not really the same other than being about manga artists lol… hmmm im prefering ao haru ride as far as following a girl likes boy category its less comedic but the gushy feels man!

        overall you seem to like the zany shows which is consistent with your views nice nice.

        For this season…
        Barakamon is the top feel good show of the season to me for sure! It definitely accentuates the simple pleasures in life awww yeeeeah! When they romanticize the country I just cant get enough of it I WANT MOAAAR!! IT really hits home how disconnected people are in the city! The feeling of city life that its everybody for themselves mentality! theres little sense of community. Its such a breath of fresh air to find beauty in the country life that was long forgotten by the city folk (tho city life is sooo much more convenient) 🙂

        GoodStuffs
        Reply

      3. Yeah space dandy is pretty much a reset every episode (alternate universes, since the main cast have died several times XD). It’s almost like a wackier Mushishi in that every episode focuses on a new subject matter. It’s more catered to western cartoon viewers, I think.

        I forgot to mention Aldnoah.Zero and Barakamon. I definitely prefer the latter for it’s wholesome ‘lessons’ and the light atmosphere. A.Z. is shaping up to be a pretty standard mech show, but it’s only 2 episodes in and nothing has annoyed me yet so I’ll keep watching 😛

        James
        Reply

    5. You’d be surprised in future episodes. All this quaint little time is just a prelude to that astonishing amount of torture and overall lack of humanity the antagonists actually have.

      drifters
      Reply

  3. I’m glad the adaptation is 2 cour because I definitely believe they’ll have enough time to get a lot of the big parts I wanna see animated. But how far it’ll go is what’s kind of hard to tell.

    MindMaster83
    Reply

  4. A much better episode compared to the first two, except for a couple of inopportune spots (again) the comedy was rightfully delegated to the denouement moments rather than shoved into the middle of the “serious” scenes. Still not living up to the hype (the humour for one can be improved IMO), but it’s good to know Akame ga Kill can be better than what it’s shown us to be so far.

    Also Akame has one big thing going for it in the lack of censoring in the bloody scenes. None of those aggravating black bars which grace our screens in Tokyo Ghoul 😛

    Pancakes
    Reply

    1. I’m glad I couldn’t get into Tokyo Ghoul (just didn’t find the execution interesting), as the censoring, which didn’t bother me initially, I could see becoming a nuisance.

      Impel Down Hippo
      Reply

  5. I also like that, at the same time, we get brief flashes into Tatsumi not long before with Sayo and Ieyasu, and not just having the latter two’s deaths seem empty and be nothing but motivation factor for Tatsumi to join Night Raid and all. We’re actually seeing how important they were to Tatsumi beyond just seemingly random friends.

    More deredere Mine and Akame will be nice too, lol.

    https://randomc.net/image/Akame%20ga%20Kill/Akame%20ga%20Kill%20-%2003%20-%20Large%20Preview%2002.jpg

    Why Sayo have to die so soon? ;_;

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

    1. The way Sayo died was particularly gruesome. In the manga, her leg was ripped off! There is also the hidden implication that she was also sexually tormented before her demise. Her death is what made me start a marathon of reading the entire 51 chapters of the manga and I still felt strongly about her…

      KF
      Reply

  6. One of the complaints that I hear a lot is the timing of the humor and the lack of seriousness in the overall tone.
    Technically White Fox isn’t to blame…
    They’re doing a rather faithful adaptation of the manga so far..(about 90%?)

    I’m most looking forward to seeing how the Night Raid take down the Emperor (Taichi You) and the Prime Minister/Honest (Ishii Kouji).
    –>That’s been the ultimate goal of Night Raid so far, and probably the final arc.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Long wait indeed.

    Techim
    Reply

    1. I think someone mentioned it below in the comments… but I don’t blame White Fox either if they’re being faithful to the manga so far. I haven’t read the manga, but I imagine that a lot of scenes that are comedic in nature are probably smaller frames in the actual manga. They’re probably off to the side and to be “glossed over” rather than take things out of context. However, when that’s animated, it might feel a little jarring because you’re literally cutting into a different scene each time and the audience can’t miss that. Anyway, I don’t see that as something that will go away anytime soon… so people will either love or hate it. >_>

      Cherrie
      Reply

    1. Yeah, it was kind of dumb. He stopped the sword and instead of using it to get away by stabbing Tatsumi he dropped it in favor of bare hands. Oh well, not really a big deal. It’s not a deep story and it won’t be so we can just enjoy it for what it is or bitch about every detail. That’s SAO kind of plot but with more action (at least so far) not a second Berserk.

      Urizithar
      Reply

  9. And here I am thinking that they’ve decide to leave out the part where those assassins infiltrated Night Raid’s base in previous episode since it suppose to happens before Tatsumi receive his 1st mission. Surprised to see that they include that in this episode. A bit disappointed though to see that they leave out a crucial moment (to me at least) which involves Tatsumi fighting one of the assassin, where Show Spoiler ▼

    Terrorhunt
    Reply

    1. I really don’t see why people are surprised at this. It is extremely common for Shounen Adaptations to get their beginning altered and events re-arranged to better fit the Anime medium (the first impression is important and, unfortunately, what worked for the Manga often doesn’t work for Anime).

      Nayrael
      Reply

  12. I’m ok with the blood and gore but I’m still not getting used to these

    https://randomc.net/image/Akame%20ga%20Kill/Akame%20ga%20Kill%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2008.jpg

    https://randomc.net/image/Akame%20ga%20Kill/Akame%20ga%20Kill%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2025.jpg

    I’m still traumatised by that scene in Chaika where Show Spoiler ▼

    Speaking of Mine,

    https://randomc.net/image/Akame%20ga%20Kill/Akame%20ga%20Kill%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2015.jpg

    Sure she’s flat and has twin tails but she does not fully conform to the thunder girl role.

    SHE MUST WEAR STRIPPED UNDERWEAR TO BE ONE!

    cruiser2710
    Reply

  13. “If there’s anything that I get out of Akame ga Kill every week that’s guaranteed, it’s the entertainment factor.”

    Sadly that’s all it’s ever going to be at this rate. None of Tatsumi’s developments feel remotely genuine, I don’t see a reason to get behind our heroes when their sadistic methods of killing are only justified because all the villains are generic “I’M SO EVIL!” and characters don’t have any real defining depth to them.

    This episode focused on Mine (the tsundere) who’s relationship with Tatsumi was easily predictable. This episode i was thinking “alright when is Tatsumi going to save her which of course will raise her opinion of him in just one episode”. And of course that exact thing ended up happening. But the way they did it lacked consistency. Someone tried to sneak up on her before and failed. Yeah she was aided by the scissors girl but she still saw him coming. But this episode she was suddenly completely oblivious to the martial artist dude. Given her experience i doubt she wouldn’t be able to see him coming. But of course they needed Tatsumi and her to bond as quickly as possible so we are expected to ignore that stuff. Not to mention I don’t understand why the guy didn’t just pick up Tatsumi which given his strength would have been easy.

    The way they constantly gloss over every characters backstory makes me think they just want the audience to get the gist of their motivation but don’t want it to seem that important. So it’s basically just giving the very barebones to justify their behavior. Doing this doesn’t make me care about any of them. Just saying “some bad stuff happened so I joined a group of justice killers” isn’t good enough. It seems like they just want to focus on the silly battles instead of giving us a reason not to write these characters off as a bunch psychopaths that get off on killing. In that regard I don’t feel Akame ga Kill is nearly mature enough to try to be tackling the themes it presents. It hinges on pure shock value of how cruel the world is which is supposed to make us get behind these bland characters as they make unnecessary jokes while cutting people up. Sadly that combination doesn’t make for a good show imo.

    leatherhead333
    Reply

    1. You really don’t want back story here. Unless they change it from the manga.

      Show Spoiler ▼

      Besides that, I agree with Cherrie about being entertained each week. It’s not a strong story or anything but it entertains me.

      rh75
      Reply

  14. the manga is good, however, obviously it isnt perfect, it has its flaws
    Show Spoiler ▼

    anyway, i think a lot of people, like comments above, had the wrong expectations about AgK

    dan
    Reply

    1. @dan: I agree – including what you wrote in the spoiler. I’d also add that character depth and development could be improved as well. Still, as you say, the manga isn’t perfect and has flaws, but it’s still good.

      daikama
      Reply

    2. I don’t think that needs to be in spoiler tags, but thanks for doing so anyway =) I hate being spoiled so reading the comments to moderate them has always been the worst haha!

      I agree with your point – especially about the expectations of Akame ga Kill. I was also one of those people that went in with different expectations, but now that I’m blogging it, I still really like it for what it is. It might not be as serious or dark as I would’ve hoped, but the story is still there and it’s something that I find worth spending time on. People just have to alter their expectations of the show after seeing it, then they won’t be so disappointed.

      Cherrie
      Reply

  15. I’m finally getting used to the pace. I had to remember that the manga itself started out at a pretty fast pace as well, which is what is being reflected in these first 3 episodes. No complaints so far, and unlike some, I actually really like the art in this anime adaption.

    bakakubi
    Reply

  16. I enjoyed this episode. As covered in the blog, it’s just not a deep show like Sidonia, etc. It’s just a fun ride from start to finish. I enjoyed the episode. Sometimes I just want to sit down and enjoy a good, honest story and that seems to be what this show is delivering

    Rick Anime
    Reply

  17. I thought the comedy worked better this episode (LOL’d a bit more this time around), though IMO it’s still misfiring too much. Some of that is arguably the series shotgun approach to humor – lots and lots of little jokes scattered about hoping some of them will “hit”. As Techim noted, Whitefox is doing a pretty faithful adaptation, including the jokes, so I don’t pin all the blame on them. However, I still think it’s primarily an execution issue (timing/delivery/transition from serious, grim-dark to comedy). The humor just doesn’t come across as well as when I read the manga.

    While I may be in the minority here, I think the execution/direction is a bit off in general, yes, including the action/fight scenes. Not to the same degree as the comedy, but still noticeable. Fights lack tension and excitement, coming across as perfunctory. Admittedly, the *stab!* [insert comedy moment] *slice!* approach doesn’t always help, but for me that’s not the entire issue. An example is the last fight when Tatsumi helps Mine by holding the guy so she can shoot him.

    For me, the fight dragged on to the point I thought repeatedly “Just SHOOT HIM, then carry on a conversation!” I realize that it is an important moment, and the vast majority of the dialog must be retained accordingly. However, all I can say is that the scene really didn’t bother me when reading the manga. Again, this strikes me as an adaptation issue. Also, IMO cannon fodder death speeches after having their throats slit or a grapefruit size hole punched through their chest isn’t exactly adding to the “serious” tone of the show. Yes, standard shounen stuff, but doesn’t mean you must play by the shounen rule book.

    I’ve been critical, so let me say this. Of the limited shows I’m watching (key), this is the best one IMO. It certainly does more right than wrong, and complaints aside, I probably don’t mind the comedic attempts as much as others. I’m definitely in for the season as well as continuing to follow the manga.

    —————————-

    @Cherrie: First, thanks for picking up the show. I was hoping you would do so. 😀

    — The constant talk of torture & sadness is not phasing me anymore. #AkamegaKill needs to be less comedic for me to take it seriously

    I definitely can see your point, one also espoused by others. The show’s comedy integration can indeed be off-putting at times. However, your comment “…not phasing me anymore” (emphasis added) strikes me as one becoming inured to the constant violence and sadistic torture. Personally, I have a somewhat different stance about all this. IMO, Akame ga Kill simply tries too hard, BOTH with the comedy AND the uber grim-dark sadistic torture “serious” stuff. It’s not just a viewer (or reader) becoming inured due to the steady, pervasive stream of such scenes, but TBH, there were a few occasions while reading the manga in which such events came across as over-the-top silly. “Sharks… with laser beams!” rather than “extra” gruesome and horrific as intended. Those moments kicked me out of whatever immersion I had in the story at that point.

    To be fair, such occurrences are more exception that rule. If it wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t stick with the series. Regardless, I think the overall uber grim-dark presentation is just too much, and starts to cross into “comic book evil” territory which in turn makes the overall tone less “serious” rather than more. So for me, the issue isn’t simply “too much comedy”, but rather too much, or to an excessive degree, for both elements in addition to the execution and integration issues mentioned above. I like comedy, and I like comedy in series like this because it does help to balance things out as you note. It’s possible to have both in meaningful quantities – you just have to do it right.

    — I’m most looking forward to seeing how the Night Raid take down the Emperor (Taichi You) and the Prime Minister/Honest (Ishii Kouji).

    Same for me. There are other things I like about the series (action, and yes, even comedy at times), but “how it all turns out” is the main draw for me here as well.

    Thanks again for picking up the show. 😀

    daikama
    Reply

    1. Thank YOU for reading =) It’s also nice to actually converse with people who read the post… and not just people who regurgitate what I’ve already said… clearly those individuals don’t read it lol. That’s ok too ^^”

      Anyway, I haven’t read the manga for Akame ga Kill (I like to be free from spoilers =X if I can help it) but I definitely see your point where the “serious” scenes are over-exaggerated beyond belief. Maybe not comedic… but not something that I take seriously anymore. It could be delivery and it could be the mix of comedy/tone of the anime, but overall, it just loses its impact on the audience. I don’t mind it – and I think being less attached might make it less frightening for me… but it also makes me feel less sympathy for the capital or country. I like your comparison to “comic book evil” because that’s exactly how the bad guys feel to me right now… they’re just there and then quickly written off.

      What I originally meant was that I think the repeated scenes of torture and agony are starting to become a norm in this series. In the first episode, it was a huge shock and now… I’m like “Meh, nothing new.” (Omg that makes me sound like a horrible person >_>) I think the story can really continue to leave a strong impression if it actually went into details about the villains and maybe explore WHY they do what they do. I watch a lot of American Crime TV Series and one of the reasons they scare me or actually make me feel anxious is because it talks about the motivation for each murderer. They also do other things other than “rape and kill women”. Sometimes they skin people or bury people alive or even eat humans… you know like that stuff…. =X Maybe not for anime but you know… there’s more than one way to grip my attention.

      Not saying that won’t happen though… I think AgK still has cards up its sleeve and potential to get there =)

      Cherrie
      Reply

      1. @Cherrie: Your welcome and thanks for the reply. It’s a bit hard to explain without getting into too much detail & risk spoiler stuff. Also, JMO/matter of preference.

        — “What I originally meant was that I think the repeated scenes of torture and agony are starting to become a norm in this series. In the first episode, it was a huge shock and now… I’m like “Meh, nothing new.”

        That’s part of what I mean by becoming inured, and I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the sadistic torture theme is both constant and pervasive as the story progresses. However, as noted, for me it goes beyond that. Some of the grim-dark torture stuff strikes me as trying too hard to make it “extra super grim-dark horrific” which backfires (i.e. “over-the-top silly”). For example, in the anime: “You are sentenced to death by being drawn & quartered by bulls” [emphasis added. Also caveat of assuming TL is accurate]. Drawn & quartered is a horrific method of execution including emasculating and disembowling (the “drawn” part) the convicted while still alive. After death, beheading and chopping off all limbs (the “quarter” part) to desecrate the corpse.

        Torn apart by bulls while alive? OK, also a horrific form of execution, but pick one OR the other. Attempting to combine the two strikes me as trying too hard to make the scene “extra super grim-dark horrific”. EITHER method is more than sufficient for a “grim-dark serious” tone and driving the point home that “this guy is EVIL!” – especially considering the added comment about “taking care of his pretty wife”. Seriously, is anyone’s view of the PM and/or that scene going to change if he “just” orders the guy drawn & quartered OR torn apart by bulls ON TOP of the “minor” fact the guy wasn’t even guilty?

        I do like the series (honestly), and perhaps I’m being overly critical, but things like this just strike me as silly overkill which boots me out of immersion in the story. “Less is more” in this case and would help me take events more seriously.

        — “I think the story can really continue to leave a strong impression if it actually went into details about the villains and maybe explore WHY they do what they do.

        Agree. Hmm… not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but I’ll err on the caution. Show Spoiler ▼

        “I think AgK still has cards up its sleeve and potential to get there =)”

        Yep, agree. Frankly, IMO the anime is still pretty good “as is”. Certainly better than other shows I’ve watched. That being said, as we’ve discussed the adaptation is not reaching its full potential. Lots of episodes left so hopefully the adaptation execution will improve from here on out. 😀

        daikama
        Reply

  20. Okay, it’s been 3 weeks and I’ve become far too attached to the characters to drop this show.

    Just- just tell me WHO I shouldn’t become too fond of, because I think I’m at least genre savvy enough to know that Akame ga Kill is the type of the show to kill their darlings.

    Murasaki
    Reply

    1. This might be a bit of a spoiler, but if you want to know who not to be fond of…
      Show Spoiler ▼

      chromenova
      Reply

    2. Let’s play 1 lie and 2 truths with who you can stay fond of:
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Ptolemaios00
      Reply

  21. One of the most difficult things for an adaptation like this is that moving from manga to anime, the author doesn’t have nigh-unlimited time to make a scene impressionable. That is to say, when you are reading through the manga, you might gloss through the comedy or accept it as a fresh breath of air, but even one or two panels dedicated to fairly gruesome content is enough to draw your attention for a prolonged period of time – and hold it. On screen, however, there’s simply no way to accurately allocate the right amount of time in such a way that everyone is satisfied. The pacing is difficult, in quite a literal sense. There’s 23-someodd minutes, and you have to cut that up somehow.

    Jif
    Reply

  22. I think most of the complaints anime-only viewers have is how it doesn’t take itself seriously and it has too many lighthearted moments that the gruesome and darker elements don’t take effect. I think the main reason for this is in the start, the author tries to explore the main cast of characters in Night Raid first before getting into the more gruesome and dark overarching plot. Right now in each episode it’s kind of like “explore a character, then kill some unimportant villains in a few minutes without truly understanding the villain”. Without spoiling anything, the future enemies will have more time to develop and showcase what they’re really all about so you can actually feel something. Nothing tragic has happened at all compared to what will happen in the future, so I can safely say it’ll only get more entertaining and gripping over time. For now, enjoy understanding a bit of the characters as the plot slowly progresses~

    chromenova
    Reply

    1. Noooo! I want my instant gratification now!
      Why should I have to watch this if it won’t progress right to the end of the plot in episode 3!
      I don’t care if this is going to go for 24 episodes!
      I want the final boss fight already!
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Giorno Giovanna
      Reply

      1. No one is asking for quick plot progression but what i DO want is natural character development. Tatsumi’s development has hardly been natural as far as I’m concerned which is pretty much my main issue with the series. I would be able to overlook everything else if Tatsumi’s struggle in coming to terms of being a killer was properly shown. But given that three episodes in he’s already gotten over this issue with killing these people and merely wants to prove himself I don’t see that being the case.

        leatherhead333
        Reply

      2. You can argue in a sense that Tatsumi isn’t foreign to the idea of killing. His initial plan was to become a soldier and work his way up the ranks, which means he was prepared to kill others. In the first episode, he slayed a girl for killing his friends and others, so his current mindset is to kill those who deserve death. Granted, I do think he was able to assimilate a bit too easily and he’s still naive because he mainly just wants to prove himself a capable fighter, but it’s only the very beginning. Tatsumi will definitely go through a lot of development and become more hardened as the series progresses.

        chromenova
        Reply

  24. As a person who absolutely thinks that the manga of Akame ga Kill is one of the best shounen out there, and one of the very few that can give you a sense of uncertainty and tension when reading it, this adaption so far is very lacking.

    The 3rd episode was by far the most disappointing. If I didn’t have an idea of what the manga is actually about, I’d probably struggle in categorizing Akame ga Kill. It seems as if the show itself is struggling to find its identity in the midst of action, badly delivered comedy and horror through the yet, not good shocking and gory scenes and themes.

    The public execution, didn’t feel as right as it felt in the manga (http://mangafox.me/manga/akame_ga_kill/v01/c004/10.html hoping posting links to other sites isn’t against any policy), nor did the statement the Prime Minister said regarding “taking good care of that person’s beautiful wife. It’s like, deep inside you know it’s supposed to make you shiver and/or feel disgusted, but in fact it’s not giving that.

    To conclude, this whole adaption doesn’t seem to me that will be decent enough to even convey the dark atmosphere the manga does. Nonetheless, it has potential and I hope that the plot twists (in the form of red herrings) are delivered properly.

    ———————————————–
    It’s a fast-paced show that leaves me amused for half an hour and there’s always someone that dies.

    Ironic, but true, this show, even while covering not more than 2 chapters per episode, is as fast-paced as one can get. You can’t stop but think that there’s too much of material, when there’s not.

    I thought Mine’s story would’ve been a lot more tragic, but her story ended up being quite short and straightforward. We’ve all faced times some sort of discrimination (or you know… maybe not, in which case you’re lucky) and I think her reason to fight is a justified one.

    What I didn’t like is how Tatsumi thought what’s her past like and Mine suddenly decided telling him about her past, which in the end was horribly swept away by her “real intentions”.

    I realized that Akame ga Kill is a story that’s simply very plot-heavy and not necessarily a deep one. It doesn’t take itself seriously and the audience shouldn’t either.

    This should’ve been in bold. While the anime is a very bad adaption so far in terms of atmosphere, comedy delivery and some minor stuff, in general, the series shouldn’t be taken as very deep. It might have it’s own “deep” moments (further on), but it general it tries to show the bad side of the country through tortures, deaths and tragedies.

    The constant talk of torture & sadness is not phasing me anymore. #AkamegaKill needs to be less comedic for me to take it seriously.
    The WhiteFox’s folk should really take this in mind.

    Swirl9
    Reply

  25. So far, Night Raid has been invincible. The whole world are just idiots in front of them– opponents are toyed around, and ordinary people are so clueless in how to defend themselves that they have to pay for their “service.” They have not yet been shown to be wrong in their judgment. But this only makes the sense of “justice” advocated in the story look shallow and full of self-glorification. (Compare the difference in “depth” with Fate.) This show doesn’t look like promising.

    Matroid
    Reply

  26. So, some of you say it will become darker… I was wondering, do you think they will start to cut or edit scenes to be less bloody? If so, I think i’ll just go read the manga. I don’t like censorship at all.

    youkai
    Reply

    2. There has been censoring since the very first episode, though it’s very well done.
      Indeed, it gets darker, but IMO seeing as what an adaption this is so far, I’d say you’re better off reading the manga.

      Swirl9
      Reply

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