Akame ga Kill! (Episode 11) – Kill the Mad Scientist
Dr. Stylish has tracked down the Night Raid headquarters and plans on attacking it with his army of super-soldiers. Najenda is away on a recruiting mission, leaving the depleted Night Raid further undermanned.
What did you watch?
In the last episode of Akame ga Kill, Dr. Stylish had just located the Night Raid headquarters and rather than get help from Esdeath and the Jaegers, he sought to complete the mission alone, all be it with his army of super-soldiers. Well, we don’t have to wait long, as episode 11 jumps straight into the attack. There seems to be some criticism of Akame ga Kill with regards to cheap deaths and while I don’t see them that way, this episode gives you an example of exactly why those ‘cheap’ deaths were not in vain. So, with that in mind, let’s dive into the episode and as always, there will be spoilers.
What happened?
With his super-soldiers, Stylish had managed to follow Tatsumi back to Night Raid headquarters as his hunch about him paid off. With his three scout-soldiers, enhanced for hearing, sight, and smell, Stylish watched on as his super-soldiers attacked the base. Leone was attacked by a mysterious shadowy assassin who fired a blade into her eye, dropping her instantly. Lubbock ran to find the others, unsure as to how they got in undetected. Before he had a chance to really think about it, he was attacked by a super-solider that didn’t see to be fazed by having its neck snapped.
Lubbock managed to defeat it by weaving his thread Imperial Arms into a spear. Then, just as he was about to relax, an army of super-soldiers came running down the corridor. Akame found Lubbock and slaughtered them in seconds. Another enhanced soldier armed with blades, literally, and no sense of pain attacked. He was stronger than the others, but eventually, Akame took him down too. Meanwhile, Tatsumi and Mine took on another enhanced soldier who had Sheele’s Imperial Arms. Leone returned to action, healed by her Imperial Arms and killed the assassin that attacked her.
With things looking dire for Stylish, he played his trump card, a poisonous gas that rendered all of Night Raid immobile. Tatsumi was the only one not impacted by the attack thanks to Incursio, but he was vastly outnumbered. Then, Najenda returned on the back of a flying Danger Beast with two new recruits. One of them leapt off and took care of the super-soldiers. Fearing for his life, Stylish played another trump card, transforming himself into a giant mutated monster. Tatsumi carried Akame on his back and was able to get her close enough to cut Stylish with Murasame, ending his life.
What did you think?
Basically, this episode was one massive fight and I loved it. I can’t help but get pumped when the fighting music starts. It’s like Pavlov’s Dogs. I’ve been trained to get excited and now whenever I hear it, I know it’s fight time. The introduction of the flying Danger Beast was awesome too, especially to think that Najenda had tamed it. I don’t know why, but giant sea creatures flying through the air is something I can’t resist. Stylish is hilarious and I love the flamboyant nature of his super-soldiers. It’s bizarre but fits his character perfectly.
What was your favourite moment?
It has to be when Stylish played his final trump card. Seeing him mutate to be this giant creature with a huge mouth in its chest and his upper torso where the head should be was pretty disgusting, but what happened next was even worse. In an attempt to increase his strength and size, Stylish ate his three scout-soldiers and bulked up to an incredible size. Susanoo, the new recruit that jumped down to help tried to attack, but Stylish was too big.
Tatsumi was about to run in and help when Akame asked him to carry her with him. If she could just cut Stylish with Murasame, it would all be over. I loved the way the team pulled together, even Najenda helped Mine hold Pumpkin so that she could get a shot in too. Stylish was defeated fairly quickly, but it showed how the team had come together and gave us an epic fight in the process.
What was your least favourite moment?
Right at the beginning of the episode as the attack begun, Leone had gone outside to wake herself up, but the enhanced assassin threw a dagger into her face. Leone dropped to the ground and the kill was confirmed by Stylish’s listening scout. I remember reading it in the manga for the first time and being completely aghast. How could they kill Leone? You’ve got to be kidding me. I was furious. So, this is where those ‘cheap’ deaths come into play, even though I will argue that they weren’t cheap. The early deaths set are expectations that anyone can die at any time, so when something like that happens, you believe it. Luckily, Leone has a healing ability thanks to her Imperial Arms that she wears all the time, but not everyone is so lucky.
Who was your favourite character?
It’s really hard to pick a favourite in this episode as it was such a great team effort. If pressed, I would probably pick Akame as she destroyed Stylish’s super-soldiers as if they were made of paper. She also got the kill hit on Stylish thanks to Tatsumi, Susanoo, Mine, and Najenda. As I said, it was all about the team in this episode and I think it worked really well. For the most part, we’ve seen them working in pairs or very briefly as a group, so to see how they do against a real attack was awesome. It’s all progressing nicely.
Who was your least favourite character?
It has to be Stylish. For all of his flair and flamboyance, he was still just a twisted monster who experimented on people and threw them away as and when he felt like it. Even the way he ate his scout-soldiers to make himself stronger showed how his only allegiance is to himself. A moment or two ago they were willing to protect him with their lives, but he knew they didn’t have the capabilities for it, so he took them up on their offer by eating them. He also wasn’t the least bit worried about the number of soldiers getting sliced up and even had some rigged to blow up. Everyone and everything is disposable to him.
What have you learnt?
When you have all these interesting characters, it’s great to have your protagonist spend a bit of time with each of them. They all should serve a purpose and help the protagonist grow in one way or another. It’s generally easier to focus on a scene with fewer characters and people don’t end up standing around listening to two characters talk. But everyone once and a while, it’s worth throwing caution to the wind and using them all at once. It’s a great chance to really up the stakes and make life hard for the heroes. I’m thinking back to my comment about Lester Dent’s theory to pile more misery on them.
The other advantage is you can show the growth of the team. This way you can set them up for bigger and more dangerous battles, especially as Lester hasn’t added enough strife yet. Showing how the group functions together is a great way to develop more than just the protagonist, even though it’s also a way to show that their ability to work in a team has increased. It’s often said that everything in your story, should advance the plot, develop the characters, or do both. In this instance, Night Raid could be considered a character and the actual characters are pieces that fit together to make it stronger. Basically, don’t forget to treat the group as a character. It has goals and can grow, so why not?
Other posts in the series
Anime
- Season One
- Episode 1 – Kill the Darkness
- Episode 2 – Kill the Authority
- Episode 3 – Kill Your Cares
- Episode 4 – Kill the Imperial Arms User
- Episode 5 – Kill the Empty Dream
- Episode 6 – Kill the Absolute Justice
- Episode 7 – Kill the Three Beasts – Part One
- Episode 8 – Kill the Three Beasts – Part Two
- Episode 9 – Kill the Lust for Combat
- Episode 10 – Kill the Seduction
- Episode 11 – Kill the Mad Scientist
- Episode 12 – Kill the New Recruits
- Episode 13 – Kill the Hindrance
- Episode 14 – Kill the Giant Dangerous Beast
- Episode 15 – Kill the Religion
- Episode 16 – Kill the Dolls
- Episode 17 – Kill the Curse
- Episode 18 – Kill the Demons
- Episode 19 – Kill the Fate
- Episode 20 – Kill the Pandemonium
- Episode 21 – Kill the Despair
- Episode 22 – Kill the Little Sister
- Episode 23 – Kill the Emperor
- Episode 24 – Akame ga Kill!
Manga
- Volume 1
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
- Volume 4
- Volume 5
- Volume 6
- Volume 7
- Volume 8
- Volume 9
- Volume 10
- Volume 11
- Volume 12
- Volume 13
- Volume 14
- Volume 15
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