Julien Neaves, Editor
I describe myself as a casual anime fan. I enjoy the medium but I’m no expert (if you want the expert, Wayne is your man). And whenever I want to watch more anime I am intimidated by series with hundreds of episodes like Bleach, Naruto/Naruto Shippuden, or One Piece.
Maybe one day I will carve out the time to check out one of these. But today is not that day. Tomorrow is not looking good either. But give me a great anime series with a manageable run and I will scarf that down like an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. Which brings me to the topic of this article, anime series Akame ga Kill! which has just one season of 24 episodes and is available on Netflix.
The series begins with a young fighter named Tatsumi who journeys to the Capital with two friends to earn money for their poverty-stricken. But when tragedy strikes Tatsumi ends up falling in with a colourful group of assassin revolutionaries called “Night Raid” who are on a mission to take down the corrupt government. Night Raid’s members include: stoic swordswoman Akame; cheery, beast-like fighter Leone; sniper Mine; sweet, giant scissors-wielding Sheele; crafty string manipulator Lubbock; cool armoured warrior Bulat; and the hardened leader and former imperial general Najenda.
I absolutely adore this series. The characters are all unique and have some really cool abilities. But don’t get too attached to them though. There are many, many heart-wrenching deaths in this series. Imagine four seasons of The Walking Dead rolled into one. I read that the anime actually killed more characters than the manga did. Talk about overkill. It’s rough watching but it does give a sense of danger and unpredictability to this world. At the very least it will keep the viewer on their toes.
Also quite excellent is the action set pieces. The brutal, bloody fights here are simply brilliant with swift animation and deft blocking. And because all of the fighters are so varied no two fights ever feel the same. It is riveting stuff. And there is a climactic battle featuring the main villain General Esdeath, who is as coldly beautiful as she is deadly, that is, in a word, legendary!
If you haven’t seen the series I really don’t want to spoil anything. Just watch it and let the greatness and heartbreak wash over you. And then come back and thank me later.
Editor Jules’s Review: 9.5 out of 10
So are you a fan of Akame ga Kill!? Gimme a shout in the comments. And you can check out more anime-zing posts below:
Julien “Editor Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”. Read more.