Akame ga Kill! (Volume 14)

The Rebel Army has surrounded the Capitol and is ready to launch their attack. Of course, Honest isn’t about to go down easy and has more than a couple of tricks left up his sleeve. It’s do or die!

What did you read?

This is the penultimate volume of Akame ga Kill. That’s right volume 14. When I first discovered Akame ga Kill it was through the manga. I spotted a copy of volume 3 in my local library with Leone on the cover and decided there and then that I would read it. Very quickly, I devoured everything I could get my hands on. In the space of two weeks, I arrived at volume 14 and then… I had caught up with the manga. There was one volume yet to be released and I had a month before it was even released, let alone translated and available at my library… It was a tough couple of months!

What happened?

With the Capitol surrounded by more than one million soldiers, Honest discussed the battle plan with Esdeath. She had been working on something special and, as you might expect, so had the Minister. Neither seemed that worried. If anything they were relishing the possibilities. Honest had one last trick up his sleeve and it involved the Emperor.

Najenda gave Akame and Leone a list of the top targets for the battle and sent them into the Capitol. Anything short of killing all targets would count as a loss. Regardless of the odds, both were ready. Tatsumi, however, would accompany Najenda ready to fend of Esdeath should she get involved.

The Rebel Army attacked the Capitol and were met by a firm resistance from the guards. Of course, Esdeath was there too and so was her Ice Cavalry. Since her last fight with Tatsumi, she had been working on a new trick and the Ice Cavalry was it. It was an army of soldiers made out of ice with the legs of a horse and torso of a man. What’s worse is she could let them go off on their own.

Eventually, Esdeath grew tired of watching from the side and charged into battle. She appeared determined to cause as much havoc as possible, but then Tatsumi raced forward and met her in combat. He threw everything he had at her and it still wasn’t enough. However, a gong sounded and Esdeath retreated to the city walls.

The Rebels cheered their victory, especially as the gate on the opposite side of the city had been breached. That was when they saw it. A giant figure marched towards them and then unleashed a truly monstrous weapon. The Emperor had activated the Supreme Teigu and was attacking with reckless abandon.

Akame ga Kill Volume 14 Tatsumi and Esdeath fighting

How was it different from the anime?

This is what the final battle should have been like. Admittedly, it would have made the series at least another cour longer, but that just makes it sound even better. With all the action and build-up of the series, it felt like it was heading towards a Lord of the Rings-style epic battle and it was, only in the anime we got a handful of soldiers and it really wasn’t that special.

On top of that, Leone and Akame were busy running around the palace executing all the top targets and that in itself was great too. There were many more than the anime which had distilled it down to Esdeath and Honest. This volume was epic and I remember it blowing me away the first time, and not to mention the way it ended. It was a tough couple of months for sure.

What was your favourite element?

The Surpreme Teigu came out of nowhere and it was the most amazing development in the story. I don’t even care that it hadn’t barely been foreshadowed because it was exactly what the series needed. The battle was epic to begin with and then when you throw a hundred foot tall giant mecha into things, it can only get better. But wait, why not have Tatsumi punch it in the face and knock it back? This is just incredible.

Akame ga Kill Volume 14 Tatsumi hits the Supreme Teigu

What was your least favourite element?

I literally couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Leone had tracked down Honest and was going in for the kill. Unfortunately, Honest was actually an excellent martial artist and even then had more tricks up his sleeve. When he used his Teigu to cancel Leone’s and shot her, I almost died. Not Leone! What the hell! Of course, Akame then got into some trouble in the passageways beneath the Capitol and Tatsumi was fighting the Supreme Teigu that had been enhanced by Dorothea. I honestly thought that no one was going to get out of this alive.

What have you learnt?

The final act of a story should be a series of events that constantly increase the stakes and the tension as you approach the conclusion. It feels very much like the ideas of Lester Dent where he makes everything that can go wrong do so. This volume did an insane job of raising the stakes and left us with almost everyone in a precarious position. I finished this volume and seriously started to wonder if Honest was going to win. It seemed almost unthinkable, but that’s what I was seeing and given this series ability to kill anyone at any time, it was a real possibility.