Akame ga Kill is another one of those anime shows that I honestly had no idea existed. Well I did. Every time I was looking for a new anime to watch, my brother would yell at me to watch it, saying, “Have I ever got you wrong before?” Finally, I relented; and thus began my adventure in the world of Akame ga Kill. He wasn’t expecting much, in fact, he didn’t even know what it was about. All I knew is that it was supposed to have some great action scenes.

Why don’t I tell you the first episode? At first we see a couple of travelers being attacked by a monster, they are saved by a young man named Tatsumi. Now, based on how easily he dispatched the monster, we assume that Tatsumi is quite strong. He is on his way to the capital to enlist in the army and send money to his poor village. In fact, he was traveling with two friends, but they separated, so he hopes to meet them in town. It is at this point that the travelers he saved warn him of the people there, but he takes it with a grain of salt.

On his first day in the capital, Tatsumi is rejected by the army and all his money is stolen from him. It is then that a good young woman welcomes him and allows him to stay with his wealthy family. Tatsumi is finally convinced that he has found a group of people of descent in the capital; then the Night Raid attacks. Tatsumi manages to catch up with the girl and a guard outside a barn on his property, this is after the girl’s mother and father had already been killed. This is where Night Raid catches up with the group; thinking that he is doing the right thing, Tatsumi tries to defend the girl.

In two seconds, you realize that these Night Raid people are on a completely different level than Tatsumi. This is when the real surprise comes in. Since he is not their target, Night Raid decides to show Tatsumi why they are killing this family. They open the barn door to reveal a slaughterhouse. Hanging in the middle is one of Tatsumi’s friends, killed by torture. In the corner, inside a cage, is his other friend, obviously also tortured, who dies shortly after seeing Tatsumi. After seeing his friends brutally tortured to death, Tatsumi cuts the young woman himself. That’s when Night Raid decides that he must join them and practically kidnaps him.

Now I don’t know about you, but that only took a total of eighty from where I thought the story was going. He could hardly even believe it happened. The story had gone from funny and carefree to holy shit, people are being tortured and killed. That’s the kind of program this is. You think it’s all fun and games, and then, bam, something unexpected happens that makes you cry.

This program is quite unique, the only other similar program I think is Attack on Titan. Now before I say that they have nothing to do with each other, I would like to say yes. Weft of armor. You know, the mysterious thing that keeps the main characters alive? Yes, none of these programs have it. Akame ga Kill has even LESS plot armor than Attack on Titan. Which means that not even the main characters are safe. So it’s pretty hectic every time a fight starts. This is amplified by the anime explaining that every time two Imperial Arms (powerful weapon) users fight, one must die. So every time you think, oh god, is my favorite character going to die?

That being said, there are still some comedic moments. Like the whole love affair between Tatsumi and Esdeath. If you don’t know, Esdeath is an idiot who is madly in love with Tatsumi, of course she is also the deadly enemy of Night Raid. Even on a show like Akame ga Kill, they have time for a short swimsuit episode. By now, I think that’s almost mandatory on all anime shows.

However, what makes Akame ga Kill really special is the moral gray line that the show has. Enemy forces don’t really look like the enemy. In fact, the show goes out of its way to show you that they are human too. So when it comes time for the “good guys” and the “bad guys” to fight, you’re almost undecided about who you want to win. Honestly, I was saddened by almost every death on this show, plus cannon fodder, add-ons that we don’t care about.

The only bad side of this show is towards the end. They incredibly hasten the end, almost throwing kills like frag grenades just to get to the end. For example, Tatsumi’s death in the anime seemed a bit … forced. Not to mention, Mine’s death seemed a bit strange too. Either way, the ending put a damper on things, but it was still good. The final showdown between Esdeath and Akame was a truly impressive battle worthy of the titleholder of the final fight.

Overall this is a good show. Break the rule that there are good guys and bad guys. It also shows that anyone, and I mean anyone, can die at any time. It’s like an anime that has a bit of reality. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

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