Akame ga Kill! (Episode 7) – Kill the Three Beasts – Part One
General Esdeath is back in the capital and she’s already causing problems for Night Raid, but she’s also looking for love in between the rampant murder and chaos. However, she’s a hard person to please, so don’t get your hopes up!
What did you watch?
I forgot to mention in the last Akame ga Kill post, but General Esdeath has returned to the capital… Yeah, that Esdeath! Well, this should make things interesting, especially as she’s one of my favourite characters. Anyhow, today I shall be looking at episode 7, taking it apart to see how it works, and then offering my opinion on something of note. Admittedly, these are just my opinions and thoughts, so if you agree or disagree, feel free to let me know in the comments. Judging by the title alone, this appears to be part of a double episode. I’m looking forward to seeing how the pacing and the cliffhanger works. As always, there will be spoilers.
What happened?
Tatsumi continued to struggle with the loss of Sheele. He looked around the rest of Night Raid and couldn’t help but wonder how they handled it so well. At night, unable to sleep, Tatsumi went to get something to eat and found Akame with a plate of food. When he commented on how well Akame was taking it, she dropped the plate and showed a rare moment of emotion. She may be maintaining the appearance that she was coping, but inside it was tearing her up. Tatsumi felt terrible for not realising and made a promise to never put Akame through that.
Meanwhile, Esdeath met with the Emperor and was rewarded for her work in subduing the Northern tribe. She thanked the Emperor and said she would send the money to her army that were guarding the North. After that, she revealed that she planned on hunting down Night Raid as her next mission, but then she said something surprising. The reward she saught for accomplishing such a task was to find love, however, she has some requirements that she will provide. The Minister immediately took the chance to use Esdeath to further his grip on the nation by having her assassinate some of his rivals and pin it on Night Raid.
With Night Raid’s name getting dragged through the mud and the deaths of potential allies, they headed out to protect possible targets and hopefully stop Esdeath’s plans. Akame and Lubbock took one target, but all was quiet. Tatsumi and Bulat followed another which took them onto a cruise ship. A haunting melody put most of the passengers to sleep, but not Tatsumi who was then attacked by one of Esdeath’s Three Beasts.
What did you think?
This episode flew past in the blink of an eye and that’s a great sign, especially as it ended with a cliffhanger, although it was more of a character standing on the edge of a cliff rather than someone hanging from it. I actually prefer it that way too. It focuses on the skill of the storytelling rather than a will they survive style gimmick. Sure, I want to know what happens next, but this is more subtle in its approach. Other than that, I love Esdeath and seeing Leone realise how strong she was even from a distance should tell you all you need to know. Also, the fact that Esdeath knew that Leone was there, shows her self-confidence. There was a lot to enjoy in this episode.
What was your favourite moment?
As I said, there was a lot to enjoy, but I think my favourite moment was the night time conversation between Tatsumi and Akame. I don’t think Tatsumi was wrong to think that everyone was handling Sheele’s death so well. It certainly seemed that way. However, seeing Akame break down and drop the plate she made for Sheele was heartbreaking. We know that Akame is a caring person from the way she looks after Tatsumi and worries about him returning home, but this was the first time we see her really letting her emotions out. In a way, I’m glad Tatsumi saw it and allowed it to further strengthen his resolve to get stronger.
What was your least favourite moment?
There were a couple of odd moments in this episode that all seemed to stem around gamer language. As far as I am aware, this isn’t an Isekai. It’s a fantasy world, so having Tatsumi talk about ‘levelling up’ or Daidara constantly wanting to gain experience points felt massively out of place. It doesn’t do anything to the overall story, but it does pull you out briefly. It would be like someone in a period drama referring to an iPhone. This is something that would be easy to fix and it’s a little surprising that it got through the editing.
Who was your favourite character?
I’ve always enjoyed Bulat and the way he messes with Tatsumi, so it’s great to see them go on a mission together. Despite the mockery and constantly hitting him, Bulat has been like a real big bro to Tatsumi and that continued in this episode. Even more so when he saved Tatsumi from Daidara’s attack. Then, once that was taken care of, Bulat showed just how powerful he is with the Incarsio Imperial Arms as he knocked away two other attackers and then sliced Daidara in two with one hit. Bulat is a monster!
Who was your least favourite character?
I’ve never been a fan of the small child psychopath character and in this episode, we got just that with one of Esdeath’s Three Beasts. He was the one with the flute that put everyone on the cruise ship to sleep and also the one that tried to skin a girl alive. His name was Nyau and he also had horns and a devil’s tail as if you weren’t sure whether he really was evil or not. I get that they only had limited time to show us what a group of psychopaths they are. It could have been a little more subtle and I think Nyau would have worked better had he not been so forward about his desires.
What have you learnt?
There are two things that I’d like to mention. The first, I have already spoken about, but that was the way that the episode ended. Rather than leave us in a situation where someone may or may not die, we had a mini resolution with Bulat defeating Daidara which was unexpected and awesome, but obviously, the other Beasts are still there, which is enough for us to want to keep watching. This was far more satisfying than going with the gimmick that required you to watch the next episode to see the resolution.
The next point ties into this and has been something that I’ve enjoyed in this series. Often times fights in anime are drawn out, sometimes over several episodes. This is annoying and also not entirely realistic. Even if you’re not going for realism it hurts the impact of the fight. Most fights between skilled fighters don’t last very long, especially with weapons and that’s something that Akame ga Kill does very well. The longest fights have all involved Tatsumi as he’s the least experienced. Another minor thing was Leone backing away from Esdeath because she could tell that she couldn’t guarantee a win. People don’t just rush into battle without a good reason and saving your own life is a good reason not to.
Other reviews 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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It’s funny how anime often draws battles out so much that when they are quickly resolved it feels so… odd. And yet, it’s so much more realistic. Just switching up the lengths of fights can result in unexpected results, throwing the viewer off as they don’t know if a fight is going to end in seconds or be drawn out longer…
Definitely. I recently watched Shigurui: Death Frenzy which is all about samurai and there were matches where neither even made a move and then one would concede, having realised that there was no move that his opponent couldn’t counter from their stance. It was oddly enthrawling.
I do love the idea of mixing it up. If you follow a formula for too long, it becomes stale and repetivitive, so it’s definitely good to catch the viewer off guard.
Now that is a sales pitch. I might have to reconsider watching that one.
It’s a very stylish series with some incredible moments that will have you forgetting to breathe. You should definitely watch it.
I agree on the favorite moment of the episode. Akame can seem pretty distant at times to the point where I question if she even feels any pain. This scene brings us back to the reality that everyone hurts differently, or may not be willing to show the hurt inside them.
I wonder how much of Akame keeping it together was professionalism, training, or just generally being numb to the pain. Tatsumi and I feel the audience by extension wasn’t ready for that moment with Akame. I thought it was a great scene that brought us back to the reality that when friends die it hurts everyone.
Definitely. Escpecially after the initial reaction to the news of Sheele’s death where Bulat hit Tatsumi for wanting to go get revenge. Everyone was so calm and restrained, but this showed us that they’re all dealing with it in there own way.
It’s all too easy to forget these little moments, but I think they’re the things that really give the characters life.