Akame ga Kill! Ep. 4: Another mission, another serial killer

Oh this? Just a couple of bros working up a sweat before breakfast. Yep, we have ourselves another wonderful of episode of Akame ga Kill!

– The episode actually kicks things off with the latest villain ripping a poor woman’s head from her body. But considering all the things I’ve heard about this show, this crime is apparently tame compared to the later shit we’ll be seeing.

– Hey guys, did you know that Akame likes to eat? Oh man, what a fresh and original anime trope.

– Our latest villain looks like he has bunny ears, but anyway, he’s a former executioner who has gone crazy from all the people he has had to kill. As a result, he’s just now killing people indiscriminately. Honestly, something about this feels kind of fillerish. I mean, Night Raid’s job is to eventually overthrow the evil Empire and achieve revolution. So doesn’t it seem like a waste of time for them to concern themselves with a serial killer?

– Tatsumi doesn’t know what the Imperial Arms are, and neither do we. Therefore, Najenda will give us a super awesome history lesson. Yay, who doesn’t love exposition?

– “Materials from legendary super-leveled Danger Beasts.” Super-leveled? What is this, a JRPG?

– “And rare metals like orichalcum.” Oh yeah, it’s definitely a JRPG.

– A…are you serious?

– Sure enough, Akame has one of those Imperial Arms, and so does the rest of the team. Well, minus Tatsumi, of course. By the way, a significant portion of this week’s episode is just the characters striking a pose for the camera.

The question, of course, is whether any of this is necessary. Haven’t we, for example, already seen what Akame’s Murasame can do? Haven’t we also seen what Mine’s Pumpkin can do just last week? So why would you not continue showing us what these weapons are capable of? Plus, aside from the Murasame, the Imperial Arms all sound dumb as hell.

– Then we have some dumb arbitrary rule where if two users with Imperial Arms ever fight against each other, one must die! Even if it’s a draw!

– Even though our assassins are on the job, Akame somehow finds herself a crepe to eat. Anime’s just gotta anime, I guess.

– So is Tatsumi dumb or what? During a bathroom break, he sees his late friend Sayo staring at him. First, can a man not get some privacy when he takes a leak? Second, Sayo’s dead. He saw her dead body himself. Why are fictional characters always written like this? If he had been distraught and depressed since the first episode, I could understand him chasing after this “Sayo.” But he hasn’t shown any signs whatsoever of mental distress or anguish. As a result, why would he just indiscriminately chase after “Sayo” when he is in the middle of a dangerous mission? There’s no reason for him to think she’s suddenly resurrected herself! This is just lazy storytelling. Let’s pick out a familiar trope and just run with it!

– “There’s no doubt about it. That’s Sayo…” Alright, he’s just unbelievably stupid. Hell, I don’t think he’s even fit to tie his own shoelaces.

– I… I think the anime is trying to be funny:

But like everything else about the show, the humor just falls flat.

– It would have been cool if, for example, there had been a cat-and-mouse game between Zank and the members of Night Raid. After all, they’re supposed to be assassins, right? But nah, we just jump straight into a fight between Zank and Tatsumi. They may as well all be brawlers.

– Zank’s special gimmick is that he can read people’s thoughts just by looking at them. Luckily, we’ve already proven that Tatsumi’s a dumbass, so all he has to do is keep it simple. Just, y’know, don’t go full retard.

– The action is standard anime fare, except with more blood, I guess. Still, that’s probably all it takes to impress people, though, when the genre is flooded with tame shounens. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do anything for me. I’m kind of bored, actually.

– “He’s looking into my heart, so I’ll keep it simple.” Oh hey, what did I say!

– After just getting a single strike in, however, Akame crashes the party. Awww, no heroics for our hero this week.

– I like how the guy’s super special vision powers can see through her clothes, but not her undergarments. So how can he be so sure she’s not hiding a secret weapon in her panties? But hey man, even a serial killer has class!

– But what can Akame do when her opponents can read her thoughts? After all, she’s not as stupid as Tatsumi. What’s the back up plan? Go zen-like, apparently:

Sadly, Zank has future sight as well.

– Again, the battle has come to a draw, so Zank’s trying to get the mental edge. How? By dredging up her personal demons, of course.The thing is, Zank’s Imperial Arms allows him to create illusions as well. Not just any illusion, but an illusion of the person most important to you. Tatsumi had seen his late friend Sayo. As for Akame, she sees some girl by the name of Kurome. One of the flashbacks pretty much confirm that Kurome is a former ally. Hell, the two girls even look kind of similar to each other, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were actually related.. In any case, I can’t help but imagine what the story would’ve been like if the story had gone with this direction from the start. I think it would’ve been a lot more interesting to watch if Zank had been an intelligent villain. Sadly, he’s just another pig-headed, assclown-looking serial killer. But what can I say? Action sells, especially if it’s as edgy as the action here.

– The dialogue is just awkward. Too many unnecessary explanations: “It’s no use. It only works on one at a time, but the hypnosis is strong. And no matter how experienced one may be, it is impossible for one to kill those they love most.” We could’ve surmised this for ourselves, but the anime assumes we’re idiots.

– In the end, Akame wins because she does want to kill the person she loves most. Whoops. But anyway, Zank’s story is over already, and after all that I’ve seen in this week’s episode, I’d still say it feels kind of fillerish. Sure, we’ve learned about the existence of this Kurome girl, but meh. Even if Kurome ends up being related to Akame, this still feels like such a minor revelation. Akame’s character is still rather underdeveloped, and the plot hasn’t really progressed whatsoever.