Akame ga Kill! (Volume 2)
Tatsumi is about to learn some very hard lessons about life as an assassin. Firstly, he’s not strong enough and without a Teigu, he may never be. Sheele isn’t the carefree clumsy girl he first thought. And finally, death is to be expected!
What did you read?
It’s time to take another break from the anime and jump back into the Akame ga Kill manga. This time, I’m looking at volume 2 which covers the story that was included in episodes 4 to 6. Let me just reiterate that I love these covers. I think the design is striking and minimal all at the same time. I’m definitely going to think about this when I start to work on some of my own cover art. Anyhow, that’s enough about me, let’s get back to the manga.
What happened?
Even with the switch around in order in volume 1, this volume continued exactly as the anime did. It started with Night Raid hunting down Headhunter Zanku. However, he spotted them with his Teigu and decided to hunt down Tatsumi. He managed to separate him from Akame, but Tatsumi wasn’t going down without a fight. Unfortunately, Zanku’s Teigu gave him an insurmountable advantage. Tatsumi got lucky, however, as Akame managed to track him down and take over the fight.
This reiterated the stance that when to Teigu wielders enter into combat, only one can survive. Akame showed just how deadly she is and in the end, Zanku’s reliance on his Teigu cost him his life. With the belief that he had shown Akame a vision of someone she could never fight back against, he rushed in to finish her, but Akame didn’t hesitate and struck the final blow.
Having recovered, Tatsumi tries out Zanku’s Teigu but it rejects him. He puts out the idea that there might be a Teigu that could bring people back from the dead, since they didn’t know all of them. Bulat corrects him, pointing out the Emperor would still be alive if that was the case. Tatsumi reluctantly gives up on the idea of reviving his friends and begins training with Sheele.
Now that Tatsumi is back to full health, he is assigned a mission with Leone to kill some drug lords that run a brothel. On a scouting mission, he meets Seryu Ubiquitous, a garrison soldier with a Teigu of her own. Later, Tatsumi and Leone complete their mission and head back to base.
Sheele and Mine, however, are confronted by Seryu on the way back from their mission. Using her organic Teigu, Koro. Seryu attacks with a determined ferocity but is eventually badly injured by Sheele. She activated Koro’s trump card, enabling it to capture Mine. Sheele races back to help, saving Mine, but unwittingly becoming its target. With her last breath, Sheele creates a diversion to allow Mine to escape…
How was it different from the anime?
There were actually very few differences from the anime this time around. The only noticeable one was that it was Akame that explained what a Teigu was and not Najenda. I think it almost worked better this way as it felt more natural than Najenda addressing the entire group to give an explanation of Teigu. And of course, Sheeles death was more graphic.
What was your favourite element?
I think the artwork has really improved since the first volume and it helped that we had some incredible fights. The one between Tatsumi and Zanku is still very impressive and partially because it really shows Tatsumi’s limitations. Then, the volume finished with Sheele and Mine against Seryu and Koro and that is one memorable encounter. Seriously, why can’t I just forget about it…
What was your least favourite element?
I’m really struggling to come up with something for her, so I’m just going to mention Sheele once more… That should help bring the mood down. It was a massive surprise when I saw it happening the first time and it doesn’t get any easier. I guess that’s the point behind killing a main character, so well done. I simultaneously love it and hate it.
What have you learnt?
The thing I’m taking away here is the reality check for the hero. Tatsumi went through a couple of try-fail cycles in the first volume. He came into this one understandably confident, so it makes sense to see him get knocked back. Zanku beat him. Then he lost the hope of saving his friends and finally, Sheele died. This is how to test your main character and see what they’re made of. It’s one of those things that the readers can relate to. Pretty much everyone has failed at something and knows what it’s like. The more that the reader can relate to, the more they will become invested in the story.
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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Always interesting to see the differences, as minor as they may be.
Definitely. It’s not much at the moment, but the differences get far bigger going forward. There’s whole sections that are manga only that I’m looking forward to.
I look forward to that as well then!
It’s all tied to Minister Honest’s son, who’s inclusion in the anime was pretty weak by comparison.