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Episode Review: Akame ga KILL!

I rather like the rushed pacing (largely inherited from its manga source). It's like an efficient version of the typical shonen action formula. It skips over or summarizes some of the worst parts (training sequences, tournament arcs, etc.) and gets to the point. The end result is more fun and watchable, though the dramatic gravitas does come up short at times.

So, I'd say that Night Raid, while certainly a lawless group from the viewpoint of the Empire, are not evil.

Since you guys have brought this up: in English we have two words "Just" and "Lawful", which may seem to mean the same thing, but do not. "Justice" is a very tricky word, but "Lawful" is pretty straightforward: It just means someone/thing that obeys whatever laws have been created, *regardless* of how just or good those laws are. (In D&D terms, you have Lawful Neutral and Lawful Good (et al.), for example.)

NR is *not* a lawful group. But that doesn't mean they are necessarily Unjust, let alone actually evil. They carefully select their targets and go to great lengths to avoid killing anyone else. In fact, as Bulat showed on the ship, they protect innocents who might get caught up in their fights.

So, I'd say that Night Raid, while certainly a lawless group from the viewpoint of the Empire, are not evil.

I agree with you that there are some subtle differences between the two words "lawful" and "just," but I think in this context they are fairly similar, maybe because we are talking more about "justice" in the context of the rule of law and not in a more abstract context. For example, if a murderer who raped and killed a father's kids escaped a prison sentence based on some technicality of the courts, and the father then shot him dead in front of the courthouse as he exited, we might feel like the father's actions were just, but do not represent "justice." The father would be arrested on the spot, tried and convicted for murder (though I'd imagine he wouldn't get a life prison sentence due to mitigating circumstances).

But yea, I see your point. It seems we're saying the same thing though. Night Raid is not evil, they just operate outside of any legal authority, which makes them flawed heroes like any other kind of vigilante. They're unaccountable and execute people based on their own judgments, not based on any standard accepted by the citizenry. This is why Seryu a.k.a. Justice Girl has a somewhat legitimate beef with them, even though she's loony and working for the bad guys.

Given the way General Esdeath's squad has been sort of fleshed out and given a generally sympathetic treatment, it seems we are headed for an amalgamation of Night Raid and them. I get a strong feeling that some of these so-called "enemies" will be fighting on the same side, at some point.

Either that, are they are going to wipe each other out in a bloody orgy of mutual destruction. The beauty of this show is that either option is equally viable/likely.

leatherhead333 wrote:

Do you remember the Tatsumi saying "We are not evil!" not but a few episodes ago? How is that showing that he recognizes what they are doing is wrong? Them killing their opponents without hesitation is what makes them evil. I don't see any real attempt from them to understand their opponents. Justice Girl stated directly to the night raid why she wants to kill them. Yet all they are thinking about when she comes up is REVENGE! That's NOT characters acknowledging what they are doing is wrong. That's just a bunch of killers going around doing whatever they think is right. Tokyo Ghoul had characters who acknowledged what they were doing was wrong but I have yet to see Akame ga Kill do it in a satisfying fashion.

Being evil is different from doing something that is against the law and/or not justice. When Tatsumi first joined them, he tried to say that they were on the side of justice, and they corrected him and told him they were murderers. That has nothing to do with them saying they are evil. They don't believe they are evil, they think they are doing unjust actions in the hope of bringing about a good result. This is mainly because the system of justice in this world is horribly corrupt and controlled by the real evil, but still, Night Raid acknowledged that they are not operating within what we would consider "justice."

You are sort of missing the point there. The characters admit what they are doing is unjust but they don't care WHAT their actions do to effect others. As I already pointed out none of the Night Raid members care about how their actions have effected Justice Girl and instead just wish to claim revenge. They aren't looking at what they are doing in an objective perspective which is why I brought Tokyo Ghoul which does do that. They kill bad people but don't care for the cause and effect of what they have done which could lead to their own downfall. It's why Sheele is dead afterall. It would be easier to root for them if they weren't a group of killers who don't care who they could possibly affect doing this business. There is no attempt at sympathy for their opponents. While surely not many of them have deserved it the fact that some of them did and they respond with "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" well..............it's just really lame.

Actually you are wrong about that. Kaneki IS flawed because he doesn't want to hurt anyone. Don't you remember that pretty much being the main message in the finale episode? He wants to see the good in ghouls and humans but is prone to falling for their tricks because of it.

His way of doing things isn't wrong in a moral sense but it's still a flaw in his character because it makes him incapable of taking out people who DO need to die or be taken out. Even if he isn't capable of taking them out though he STILL knows why both sides of the coin are justified in feeling the way they do.