I’ll be honest. I walked into Akame ga Kill! blind. A few whispered warnings from the anime community, sure—but I figured, “How bad can it be?” Turns out, it’s an emotional meat grinder that left me screaming at my screen… and yet, I stuck with it to the bitter end. Why? Because this series knows how to toy with your feelings like a sadistic cat with a half-dead mouse. And maybe, just maybe, because I wanted to love it so badly.
This is my brutally honest (but fair) review of Akame ga Kill! from a guy who both raged at and cried for this series.
THE PREMISE: ASSASSIN SQUAD vs. EVIL EMPIRE
On the surface, Akame ga Kill! is about a young, optimistic country boy named Tatsumi who travels to the capital to make money and help his village. Classic shounen setup, right? Except, in his first 24 hours, he’s robbed, betrayed, and nearly sold to a bunch of sadistic nobles who torture peasants for fun. Then enters Night Raid—an assassin squad hell-bent on tearing down the rotten Empire, one gruesome hit job at a time.
Sounds epic? Oh, it is… for a while.
THE ACTION: BRUTAL, BLOODY, AND WEIRDLY SATISFYING
First off, the fights? Chef’s kiss. These aren’t your typical Saturday morning cartoon battles. Limbs fly. Blood gushes. Heads roll. No one is safe, and the anime makes sure you know that right away. The fight choreography is tight, and the weapons (Imperial Arms) are insanely creative. Want a giant pair of scissors that can slice a tank in half? Check. A dog that’s also a cannon? Yep. And then, a living suit of armor that boosts your strength? You bet. Akame ga kill offers it all.
It’s exhilarating. It’s brutal. And it keeps you on your toes because literally anyone can die.
THE CAST: SOME LEGENDS… SOME POSSUMS
Here’s where things get messy.
The MVPs:
Characters like Bulat, Mine, Sheele, Esdeath, and even Bols (yes, Bols!) are absolute standouts. They have fleshed-out backstories, clear motivations, and moments that hit you right in the feels. Bulat training Tatsumi and becoming his big brother figure? Beautiful. Mine’s slow-burn romance? Surprisingly wholesome. Sheele’s kindness, Esdeath’s madness, Bols’ unexpected family-man vibe—these characters carry the show.
Bols, in particular, deserves a shoutout. Behind the gas mask is a man who just wants to go home to his wife and daughter. His death scene, paired with the haunting track “I’ve Got to Go Home”, had me fighting back tears. And that’s when I realized Akame ga Kill wasn’t playing around.
The Possums:
And then… you’ve got characters like Sayo, Ieyasu, and even Lubbock. Sayo and Ieyasu exist purely to be fridged in Episode 1. We get a couple of half-hearted flashbacks showing they were pals with Tatsumi, but honestly? They could’ve been replaced by taxidermied possums, and the story wouldn’t change. Harsh, I know. But accurate.
Lubbock (or Lubba… whatever) had potential, but he’s reduced to comic relief and horny side comments for most of the series. His crush on their boss is mentioned a few times, but it’s barely explored. By the time his backstory does come out, it’s almost too late to care. Another possum. This one just lived longer.
THE WORLD: BEAUTIFUL BUT SOULLESS
Visuals of the Akame ga Kill world? Stunning. The landscapes, the capital, the villages—it’s all beautifully drawn and colored. But as a world worth saving? Not so much.
The capital is filled with sadists, murderers, and absolute monsters. Even the innocent people don’t get much focus. It’s as if the writers needed an excuse to blow the whole place up without feeling guilty about it. And honestly, I get it. If everyone’s a sociopath, why not root for the assassins?
But this lack of hope makes it hard to stay emotionally invested in the world Night Raid is trying to save. What exactly are they fighting for? I never quite figured that out.
Tatsumi: The Real Villain of the Show
Okay. Deep breath.
Tatsumi. This guy. I have never been so frustrated with a main character in my life. He starts off as your typical naïve shounen hero—optimistic, determined, and dumb as a rock. And he stays that way. The entire series. He never learns. Never grows. And people die because of it. Every single character, including Akame, tries to protect him for no reason.
Exhibit A: Bulat
Bulat had the fight under control. Then Tatsumi shows up, needs babysitting, and Bulat gets distracted. Dead.
Exhibit B: Mine
Mine sacrifices herself to save Tatsumi’s dumb ass because he couldn’t just be an assassin. He had to grandstand. She dies, and Tatsumi? Right back to being reckless the next day.
Exhibit C: Everyone Else
Throughout Akame ga Kill, Tatsumi’s decisions consistently get people killed. And despite all his power-ups and heroic moments, he’s never really the hero. He’s a plot device. A way for the story to hand off Imperial Arms like participation trophies.
By the end, even he dies—taking Esdeath with him in a blaze of meaninglessness. The story was never his. He was just… there.
THE STORY: ROLLERCOASTER FROM HELL
Akame ga Kill is a masterclass in emotional whiplash. One moment you’re cheering for a win; the next, your favorite character’s been cut in half. It keeps you hooked with brutal twists and high stakes—but sometimes at the expense of real narrative payoff.
Characters die not always because it’s narratively satisfying, but because the show wants to shock you. And it works… until it doesn’t. After a while, the deaths lose impact because you expect them. There’s no time to grieve before we’re onto the next mission.
THE SOUNDTRACK: A DIAMOND IN THE BLOODBATH
The music in this series is phenomenal. From the opening themes to the fight tracks, it’s consistently top-tier. But one track—“I’ve Got to Go Home”—ripped my heart out.
Played during Bols’ death, it’s haunting, tragic, and beautiful. It’s the kind of song that makes the scene. If you haven’t watched the series and think about pulling it up on YouTube—don’t. You need the full weight of Bols’ story to really feel it.
FINAL VERDICT: A LOVE-HATE TRAGEDY
I wanted to love Akame ga Kill. So much. It had the ingredients: a killer premise, great fights, complex characters (some of them), and emotional gut punches. But it’s also a series that undermines itself with frustrating writing decisions, a world not worth saving, and a protagonist who dragged the whole thing down.
If Tatsumi had grown, if the world felt alive, if they’d given every character the care they gave to Bulat, Mine, and Bols… this could have been a 10/10 masterpiece.
Instead? I give it a 5/10.
It’s a beautiful mess. A gut-wrenching, bloody, heartbreaking mess. And damn it, I’m still glad I watched it.
TL;DR
Pros: Incredible fights, heartbreaking deaths (when they hit), standout characters like Bulat, Mine, and Bols, top-tier soundtrack.
Cons: Tatsumi (seriously), inconsistent character development, nihilistic worldbuilding, deaths for shock value.
And that’s it. My soul has been exorcised. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find an anime where nobody dies for once. (But I’ll probably fail.)