Akame ga Kill! (Volume 3)

With Esdeath back in the Capital, Tatsumi and Bulat will have to face off against her Three Beasts, a team of loyal Teigu wielders with sadistic tendencies. Can they stop them from killing off all of the Minister’s competition?

What did you read?

After just two more episodes of the anime, it’s time to jump back into the manga. This time, I’ll be looking at volume 3 which covers the events of episode 7 and 8 which was a two-parter. I mentioned that the covers were the things that drew me into this series and it was actually this one with Leone. I would love to blow up the image and make it into a poster. Also, I should mention that I took these photos of the covers with the panels in the background and I’m very happy with how they’ve come out. Anyhow, let’s talk about the manga.

What happened?

This volume opened with Tatsumi and Leone going on a mission to assassinate two of Minister Honest’s men. They were both abusing their power and benefiting from the current state of affairs. It was a quick mission, but then after it was complete, Tatsumi heard a child calling for his father… We got to see a little heart to heart between Tatsumi and Leone in which she revealed her back story, which was pretty funny and incredibly straightforward.

General Esdeath returned to the Capital and immediately checked in on the torture chamber which is some sort of medieval nightmare. She scolded the jailers for not doing it right, for one the boiling vat was too hot and killing people far too quickly. Once she’d finished her inspection, she was thanked by the Emperor for her work with the Northern Tribes. He rewarded her with gold, which she sent to her soldiers. Then, he asked her to take care of Night Raid and would offer her whatever she wanted as a reward. Esdeath said that she would like to find love…

Honest asked Esdeath to take out some of his political rivals as a ruse to draw out Night Raid, which she was all too happy to do. She assigned her Three Beasts to the task and asked Honest to get her six more Teigu wielders for her personal team.

As the bodies of public servants with sympathies with the rebels started to pile up and fliers confessing that the kills were by Night Raid, the real Night Raid had to step into the trap and stop them. They identified the most likely targets and sat in wait. Tatsumi and Bulat guarded one politician aboard a luxury cruise ship. Once the ship was far enough from the city, the Three Beasts attacked.

How was it different from the anime?

So, this volume was very similar to the anime. The only real changes were the assassination at the beginning with Tatsumi and Leone and Esdeath visiting the torture chamber. Otherwise, it was almost entirely like for like. The action was insane as always and there were some really nicely drawn panels.

What was your favourite element?

Once more it was the artwork in the fights. It’s improving across the board, but the fights are on another level, often taking up double-page spreads. Bulat versus the Three Beast was excellent and it got even better as Tatsumi took on Incursio to fight against Nyau. I think it also did a better job of showing Tatsumi’s pain after Bulat died.

Akame ga Kill Volume 3 Bulat fighting the Three Beasts

What was your least favourite element?

There’s not that much I can fault with this one. It’s hard to see yet another member of Night Raid die and so soon after Sheele. I certainly didn’t expect it the first time I read it and it doesn’t get any easier with subsequent reads. Bulat was a cool character and I loved how he took so much pride in Tatsumi.

Akame ga Kill Volume 3 Tatsumi Crying over Bulat

What have you learnt?

I think that the anime would have really benefited from the early scene with Tatsumi and Leone. It showed that while they may be doing what’s best for the people on mass, they are still murderers and there will be people affected by their missions, be it children, families, or colleagues. Not everyone is evil and even those that are, they may not be surrounded by evil. I love how this series is not as black and white as it may appear.