Why is Akame ga Kill! bad? The anime's bad reputation, explained

Akame ga Kill!, the anime adaptation of the popular manga written by Takahiro and illustrated by Tetsuya Tashiro, is widely regarded as an absolute failure in the animanga community. This is somewhat surprising, given the abundance of emotional scenes, blood and gore, and shocking betrayals.

The series centers around Tatsumi, a young villager endowed with remarkable combat prowess, who embarks on a journey to procure funds for his homeland. During his sojourn in the capital of the Empire, he crosses paths with a notorious cadre of assassins known as Night Raid.

This formidable group comprises members Akame, Leone, Mine, Sheele, Lubbock, Bulat, and Najenda. As the story unfolds, Tatsumi eventually becomes part of their ranks as they labor tirelessly to dismantle the corrupt government and reinstate justice in the land.

The premise seems strong and the dark and gritty nature should have drawn a lot of viewers. In fact, the edginess alone should, in theory, have made it a widely popular anime. One might then wonder why exactly there exists a prevailing sentiment among viewers that Akame ga Kill! is a subpar anime.

While many may wonder if it is due to the story, the characters, the narration, or something else, the answer lies in a little bit of everything.

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How did Akame ga Kill! earn its negative reputation?

Tatsumi (Image via White Fox Co., Ltd.)

Akame ga Kill!, the anime, first premiered in 2014 and ran for 24 episodes. Anime adaptations usually aim to enhance the storytelling experience through dynamic visuals, a vibrant color palette, compelling voice acting, and music that add further depth.

However, Akame ga Kill! falls in the rare minority that actually did the opposite, and managed to upset the fanbase as well as the casual viewer. This was mostly due to the storytelling and narrative pacing. The changes introduced by the creators is exactly what made Akame ga Kill! bad.

As with any anime adapted from a manga, there were expectations of a faithful adaptation. And this is where, according to many fans, the problem lies with Akame ga Kill!.

The first season of the anime covered a sizeable chunk of the manga and did an excellent job in the first half. Nevertheless, problems arose in the second half of the anime when the studio opted to skip various storylines, including the Bolic's arc, and sped through in general, not bothering to develop characters, which made everyone mad.

Mine (Image via White Fox Co., Ltd.)

Furthermore, when the studio exhausted the available manga material and had to craft its original storyline, the results were far from satisfactory. Akame ga Kill! concluded with an anime-original ending that left many upset, as most members of Night Raid met sudden deaths.

Most notably, the protagonist, Tatsumi, met his end after pushing his powers to the limit. In contrast, in the official manga, Tatsumi survives and gets married to Mine.

The deaths in the anime did not evoke strong emotions from the viewers mainly because the characters were not properly developed. Viewers simply were not invested in the characters enough to be saddened by their deaths.

Esdeath (Image via White Fox Co., Ltd.)

The quality of the show also suffered from becoming too black and white as the rushed storytelling eliminated nuance surrounding the corrupt Empire. Most disappointingly, the creators depowered Esdeath, the formidable General of the Empire.

In hindsight, had the creators chosen to halt the production and wait for the manga to progress before making their own creative decisions, Akame ga Kill! might not have turned out the way it did. However, many in the animanga community feel that the manga is not as great as it is portrayed to be.