Akame ga Kill! (Episode 22) – Kill the Little Sister
The revolution is in full swing now and Wave is starting to have doubts. These are compounded when Kurome disappears to fight her big sister, Akame. Meanwhile, Minister Honest is about to unleash his master plan!
What did you watch?
Well, there are two more episodes after this one and I’ve had a lot of fun rewatching Akame ga Kill. Episode 22 takes a little bit of a detour from the main story to close off the Akame and Kurome conflict. The teams are getting thin and even Esdeath is occupied with the revolutionary army. This is the end game so don’t expect there to be any second chances from here, although there will be spoilers. You have been warned.
What happened?
With Wave struggling to get his head around the events unfolding around the Capital, Run reveals that he joined the Jaegers so that he could enact change from within, aware that the government is corrupt and the Empire diseased. He also confirms that he knows that Kurome is dying. Kurome decides that it’s time to end things with her sister, Akame and leaves a message for her at the site of revolutionary executions.
Akame heads out to meet Kurome for the last time, but Tatsumi isn’t happy about letting her go alone. She tells him that it’s something she must do alone and he reluctantly lets her go. Kurome was waiting for her in an abandoned church. They share a snack and then head outside to fight. There’s a brief recap of the time when Akame turned her back on the Empire and we saw one of Kurome’s puppets from before.
As their fight raged on, a massive Danger Beast emerged from beneath the ground. It attacked, killing Kurome’s two remaining puppets and then almost killed Kurome. Luckily for her, Akame was fast enough to save her and together they took the monster down. Then as their fight resumed, Wave burst into the middle and demanded that Akame turn her attention toward him. Tatsumi then appeared tackling Wave and taking him out of the way. The fight resumed and Akame won. Wave took Kurome’s body and headed into the woods unsure of his resolve.
What did you think?
This was a much more sober affair than we’ve been used to, even with the deaths up until now. The visuals of the fight were amazing and even though it was just a way of closing off one of the story threads, it really had an impact on the characters. We also got to see Esdeath fighting with the revolutionary army, although fighting might not be the best term. Slaughtering is probably more appropriate. Then, Minister Honest finally played his hand and appears to have convinced the Emperor to use his Royal Imperial Arms. This episode, definitely set up a lot of things for the final confrontation.
What was your favourite moment?
This will come as no surprise, but it was the fight between Akame and Kurome. Although not the whole fight. There was a point after Tatsumi had stopped Wave from intervening and it started to rain. It was as if the entire world was crying. The steady sound of rainfall and the steely looks between sisters made for such an enthralling moment. It didn’t last much longer, however, which was a shame, but it definitely impacted the mood of the fight. I’m certain that Kurome expected to lose and as she was approaching death already, she wanted it to be at the hands of her sister.
What was your least favourite moment?
It was cool that the Danger Beast appeared and evened up the battle, but I felt like it was bit of a stretch. Maybe even a bit of a deus ex machina. We’ve definitely not seen too many Danger Beasts suddenly appearing from beneath the ground and certainly not in a giant suit of armour like that. Maybe it was one of Stylish’s secret labs, but that’s still a stretch of the imagination. I’m not entirely sure it was needed and they could have shown that they could still work together in another way.
Who was your favourite character?
In this episode it was Wave. I mentioned a while back about how Wave was the mirror of Tatsumi and how he was just on a different path. Well, we finally got to see where his path led him. He witnessed first hand how the Empire was crumbling and it broke him. After spending so long fighting to save something, he finally realised that it wasn’t what he thought it was. I thought it was a pretty powerful moment as he walked away carrying Kurome’s body, his will to fight shattered.
Who was your least favourite character?
The revolutionary army was a massive disappointment. Sure, Esdeath is insanely powerful and was cutting them down with ease, but they all just stood around waiting to be slaughtered. They must have a plan on how to deal with Esdeath, but it would appear not. Also, compared to the manga, the revolutionary army was a fraction of the size. How can you expect to take the Capital with such a small force? This really should have been building up for an epic battle like in Lord of the Rings.
What have you learnt?
I want to talk about Wave again, especially as I think showing another of the protagonist’s potential paths is incredibly interesting. As the story goes on, the protagonist is going to make choices and decisions that will steer their life in a certain direction. If they’re not, you should rethink your story, as there’s not much exciting about a story about a passenger. Anyhow, the idea of being able to explore more than one possibility is fascinating and I love how Akame ga Kill did that with Wave.
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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