Review for Akame Ga Kill!: Collection 2

Introduction

Six months is a little too long to leave between releases. That’s almost as long as waiting for a hospital appointment. Certainly when we used to get anime in bite-sized, single volume chunks, the monthly or bi-monthly schedule meant that it would take up to a year to release a series, but you had that regular dose of new episodes. Now that we get shows in half-season chunks, it’s better to get them spaced closer together. Part 1 of Akame ga Kill came to us in spring, and it’s only now, as autumn begins that we get part 2. If I had the time, I’d sit down with Part 1 again to reacquaint myself with the story and the characters, but alas the review pile is too high, and time is too short. I know I’ll be spending the first few episodes of this collection asking, “Who’s that?”, “Who are they?”, and “What’s going on?” It’s possible that the final review for Part 2 could very well be tainted by my initial indifference, and if that turns out to be the case, you have been forewarned.


Tatsumi’s village is in dire straits. The burden of taxation and harsh rule in the kingdom has left the community on the verge of utter failure, and so it is that the village elder sends three of the best and brightest of its young to the Imperial Capital, to become heroes, and rake in some money. The three are Tatsumi and his childhood friends Ieyasu and Sayo, although they go their separate ways. When Tatsumi gets to the capital, he’s in for a rude awakening, as corruption and abuse is rife in the city, with the rich and powerful feasting on the marrow of the poor and general citizenry. Tatsumi’s plan to join the Imperial Army comes to a quick end when he can’t afford the bribe, and what he thought was a Good Samaritan quickly relieves him of his remaining money.


When all is lost, a genuine kindly soul takes pity on him, the daughter of a rich family gives him a roof over his head, and Aria’s father even offers to help him with his military application. But Aria’s family have been targeted by assassins, none other than the lethal Night Raid group. Tatsumi’s ready to defend his new friends, but lethal assassin Akame of Night Raid is about to give Tatsumi a rude awakening to how the rich and powerful of the Imperial Capital live. Night Raid aren’t just killers. Aided by the legendary magic Imperial Arms weapons, they bring their skills against all that is dark and corrupt in society, with their ultimate goal to remove the child Emperor, and the evil Minister that pulls his strings. They’re all about revolution, and Akame is about to give Tatsumi a job interview. If he passes, he’ll be getting in way over his head.


The concluding episodes of Akame ga Kill are presented across two discs from Animatsu and the stakes get higher as the revolution draws near.

Disc 1
13. Kill the Hindrance
14. Kill the Giant Dangerous Beast
15. Kill the Religion
16. Kill the Dolls
17. Kill the Curse
18. Kill the Demons
19. Kill Fate
20. Kill Pandemonium
21. Kill Despair

Disc 2
22. Kill the Little Sister
23. Kill the Emperor
24. Akame ga Kill!

Picture

Akame ga Kill gets a 1.78:1 widescreen 1080p transfer on these Blu-ray discs. It’s pretty much par for the course for modern anime on Blu-ray, the image is clear and sharp throughout, there’s no visible sign of compression, and the animation comes across smoothly, and without significant issue. The one thing that you can’t get away from is the usual digital banding, but here it’s most striking during the opening credits. A shimmering red flag winds up looking like a weatherman’s low pressure contour map. Akame ga Kill is a great animation though, fluid, and energetic, with the trinity of great character designs, impressive world design, and striking action sequences, maintained at a high level throughout.

The images in this review were kindly supplied by Animatsu.

Sound

You have the choice between DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround English with a signs only track, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround English with closed captions (dubtitles), and DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo Japanese with a translated English subtitle track. These three audio and subtitle options are locked during playback, although you can change between them with the pop-up menu. The first thing that struck me was the show’s music. Not just the theme songs, but the incidental music is quirky, stylish, and really quite singular. It’s not the kind of music that you’d expect from a show like this, but it works brilliantly. I wasn’t surprised to see Taku Iwasaki’s name in the credits, the musician behind R.O.D. The TV, Witch Hunter Robin and Soul Eater’s music among others. The original Japanese track was fine by me, with enthusiastic, if character generic voices conforming to current fan expectations, and the action coming across well. I warily switched to English, and was surprised to find a Sentai dub which isn’t the usual Sentai dub. It’s actually good! The characters are well cast, the actors get a chance to perform as well as emote, and the translation is good too. I guess with the show broadcast on TV, Sentai couldn’t afford to phone this one in. That makes the 5.1 mix all the more special if you have a home cinema set-up to take advantage of it, as this is an action packed show.

Extras

The discs present their content with animated menu screens. Disc 1 autoplays with a trailer for Parasyte the Maxim.

Disc 2 has more Sentai trailers for Parasyte – The Maxim, Chaika the Coffin Princess, When They Cry, and The Fruit of Grisaia.

Also on the disc, you’ll find the AkaKill! Theatre, 12 short animations, around a minute each, which I expect were played after the episodes ended, to allow for some pure comedy and fan service, without being drenched in darkness and blood.

There is a Japanese Promo for the show on the disc, and you’ll also find the ubiquitous Textless Credits.

Conclusion

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Akame ga Kill is a great little show, it’s fun, entertaining, it’s action packed, and it blends comedy and drama in a way that really oughtn’t work, but it somehow pulls it off. You can always get behind a story where freedom fighters battle overwhelming odds to defeat evil, tyrannical overlords; look at Star Wars! Akame ga Kill also has some very likeable and appealing characters, on both sides of the good-evil divide, and it will handsomely reward you for time invested. Best of all, it’s a complete story. It has a beginning, middle and end, a narrative that flows naturally through the episodes, and it doesn’t leave you hanging for more, waiting in vain for a second season that probably won’t ever come, as so usually happens in anime. It doesn’t outstay its welcome either. There is a lot to recommend Akame ga Kill.


So why don’t I feel as enthusiastic about the series as that paragraph makes out? All of that glowing accolade is apt, and objectively speaking Akame ga Kill is one of the stronger offerings from the Manganimatsu gestalt this year, but I can’t help thinking of missed opportunities and niggling little flaws in the show, much of it down to its very nature.

If you recall the first season, it followed the protagonist Tatsumi as he fell in with a group of assassins looking to rid the nation of a brutal minister and his puppet child emperor. These are skilled assassins, empowered by mystical Imperial Arms that give them magical powers making light work of the average foe. It isn’t long before a similar group is assembled by their foes, Jaegers that also sport such abilities, and profess un-swaying loyalty to the regime, and the stakes get higher as the series progresses, both personal and in terms of the larger picture. And along the way, the leader of the Jaegers falls in love with Tatsumi, and Akame’s little sister Kurome also turns out to be a Jaeger who wants to kill big sis.


This second half continues the inexorable charge of the story towards its climax, the eventual revolution with both sides clashing on several occasions, facing victories and losses, fallen friends to be mourned, along with the odd comical interlude along the way, such as when Tatsumi and Esdeath wind up marooned on a desert island together.

Just as for the previous collection, it’s that juxtaposition of comedy and drama that doesn’t quite work for me, despite what I said in the opening paragraph of this conclusion. It’s a personal thing really, but this is a show that simply has to have its comic moments, Kurome and her snacks, Mine’s growing crush on Tatsumi, Esdeath’s more lethal affection for him (he develops quite the harem), Lubb’s dreams of a future with Najenda, and so on and so forth. All of these character beats have to be present, a continual reminder that we’re supposed to be laughing in between all the tragedy. And you will indeed laugh. Akame ga Kill works as it is supposed to. The problem is that it doesn’t allow for realistic character portrayals. These are people who will suffer the most heart-rending loss, seeing a close ally’s head on a pike, and they will lament, grieve, tear their heart out... for five minutes till the end of the episode, and by the next episode, they’ll have reset to their base standard character portfolio.


Emotions have no consequences in Akame ga Kill, lest they get in the way of the story that needs to be told. And that really trivialises the show, makes it frothy, light and disposable where the show could have been more memorable. When I look at the character attrition in the story, the way both sides are whittled down over time, and the potential emotional weight of the character dynamics, I really think that Akame ga Kill ought to have been played straight, without the comedy. Of course it wouldn’t have been the same show, but if events had consequences in the show, if the characters had to bear the burden of their losses, their grief, if the darkness of the story was truly reflected in how it was told, then Akame ga Kill could have been a Berserk beater.

It’s ever the way to ponder the road not travelled. What we have is at hand, and Akame ga Kill is that disposable, yes, but very entertaining, light and frothy, action-drama-comedy show. It’s very well put together and it will brighten up your day for its runtime. Animatsu are giving it the Deluxe Edition treatment alongside the Blu-ray and DVD standard editions so the choice is yours.