Akame Ga Kill Vol 15
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
The battle for the Empire rages on, with huge losses on all sides. While the Emperor's monstrous Supreme Teigu pummels Tatsumi-and anyone else unfortunate enough to be in its path-Esdeath makes her final stand against Akame and the Revolutionary Army's last regiment of teigu wielders. Terrible sacrifices have been made to give Night Raid this chance, and more will be demanded before the battle is through. With the hopes of the people resting on Night Raid's shoulders, the future of the Empire will be decided in the final volume of Akame ga KILL!
This is it folks, it's finally here....the FINAL volume of Akame ga Kill, and it's hugely chunky! There's even some special illustrations, and honestly it's been a long road with this one and considering how the anime ended...I knew things would end differently in the manga..but I wasn't sure what was going to happen!
This volume picks up right when we left off. The Emperor has gone full psycho and honestly, I never liked the kid. I thought he was a total idiot but I didn't think he was fully capable of what he's done. Kurome however, has surprised me pleasantly this volume with her little speech to Wave, she's changed quite a bit, and I really cheered for him because I'm so here for the Tatsumi/Wave team up!
I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through as one by one, each of the bad guys was taken down and have never been more satisfied with a characters death as I was with the death of Minister Honest. He came to a brutal, bloody and well deserved end and I loved it.
Honesty this volume is action packed right up until the last chapter, with brilliantly drawn fight scenes and there's still a few twists left to keep us on our toes. The death scenes are brutally and gruesomely drawn, but you can't say the characters didn't have it coming. Well...the bad ones anyway. There's a few character deaths I was hoping we could avoid but nope. The one thing I will say, is that while there's fewer character deaths than the anime, there's still barely any of our group left, and some of them do hurt a little bit.
I enjoyed the way the series was wrapped up, we find out what happened to the characters after everything went down, and how the Empire ended up and it was actually a really satisfying end.
Volume 15 is a wild ride of a final volume, I laughed. I cheered. And I even choked up a little bit at what happened to some of my favourite characters.
Akame Ga Kill Vol 14
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Akame and her comrades enjoy a moment of calm before the impending assault against the Capital. Night Raid has lost many dear friends in their fight against the Empire and are resolved to do whatever must be done so that their comrades' sacrifices will not be in vain. But the Empire has brought more than resolve to the battlefield: Esdeath and the Minister have prepared a special "welcoming committee" to greet the approaching rebels. Battle lines are drawn as the final attack begins!!
Buckle in kiddies, you're in for a bumpy ride with this volume. In case you weren't already aware, this volume is the penultimate volume...that's right, there's only one volume left after this, and this is quite a chunky volume so you know s**** going to go down.
The final battle is here, and we switch between the big battle outside the palace and Akame and Leone's assassination mission inside the palace. This volume is full of tension and danger, and has you on the edge of your seat because at this stage...we all know no-one's safe in this volume. I was pretty pumped for this volume and the big battle...but also sad and worried at the same time because you know....death could come for any of the characters I actually like!
I have to say, I have a mighty need for Esdeath and the Minister to bite the dust, although his "rebel army scum" comment at one point made my brain go full Star Wars. While I understand the Emperor has been manipulated...he really is useless and cowardly and after his actions this volume, he's on my kill list too.
Vol 14 has an excellent pace, we build up to the final battle with a little prelude showing the night before the battle, and all the key players and the preparations being made and the mildly heartwarming moments with the Night Raid members. Which should have clued me in that one of my faves was going to die. Like I go in to this series knowing anyone could die, and to expect my faves to die...but I'm still always surprised. This death in particular had me screaming and heart broken though.
Things move fast once the actual battle starts, and there's a lot of brilliantly drawn action sequences. Things seem pretty hopeless towards the end of the volume, and I was so on edge by that point, thinking of all the characters left who could die and all the worst case scenarios for them...and now I'm kind of wondering if the manga is going to follow the anime and just kill everyone. Things have largely deviated from the anime but....you never know.
The ending leaves us on quite the cliffhanger, things aren't going to end well for Tatsumi, I think that's obvious to all of us, it's just a question of what's going to happen to him. The Minister has messed with the Emperor brats Teigu and...yeah. I mean he's probably a goner too? Basically the volume starts out mildly hopeful then throws us in to the pits of despair and leaves us with things looking hopeless.....the anticipation for the final volume has never been higher!
Akame Ga Kill! Vol 13
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
As the final battle approaches, Imperial and rebel forces take steps to wipe out their deadliest enemies in advance in hopes of minimizing losses on the battlefield. Among the rebel's targets is Kurome, whose allegiance has still not wavered. Akame is resolved to give her beloved sister one last chance to turn from the wickedness of the Empire--if she refuses, she will Rest in Pieces!
This is quite the chunky volume, in fact I think it's the chunkiest one yet! It's for good reason too as this volume seems to be focusing on wrapping a couple of plot threads up before we head on in to the final battle. It's kind of like a pregame warmup!
Tatsumi isn't looking so good at the start of the volume, and we're off the beaten path when it comes to what we know from the anime. Akame herself is off with a kill list to work her way through that ends in a confrontation with Wave. Wave himself is dealing with the fact that he's caught feelings and will do anything to prevent the face off between Akame and Kurome that finally comes about in this volume.
There's plenty of action and the usual epic battle scenes with plenty of blood and gore. It was inevitable with this series, that things would be bloody, especially considering the big confrontation we're heading towards with Akame and Kurome. Who are more than a little bloodthirsty as we know!
The tension is high, and we speed through the volume towards an equally speedy battle, the pace is brilliant for such a chunky volume! It was nice to have the volume end on an oddly heartwarming note though, considering things are going to get bloody and heartbreaking next volume when the final battle commences. This volume is like a nice little chance to breath before the inevitable blood and destruction of the next volume, relish it while you can!
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Akame Ga Kill Zero Vol 6
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Though their comrades deal a blow to the Oarburgh Clan, Akame, Kurome, and Natala remain at the mercy of Madam Mera, leader of the Oarburgh assassins. While she has no sympathy to spare for Natala--or any man, for that matter--she offers her female captives a chance to learn the truth. Recognizing Akame's doubts, Mera takes her around the Empire to see the suffering of its people firsthand, but will Akame be willing to open her eyes...?
There's action from the start as we pick up where the last volume ended, but who's going to die this time? It being an Akame volume, I know probably everyone will...that and you know...I've read Akame Ga Kill!
Baby Esdeath makes an appearance and I can't even with that glimpse of her! It was interesting to get a little bit more of her life story, and it was a nice touch overall as I'm forever curious about her. Surprisingly, Mera is the source of Akame's doubt this volume, regarding the Empire as she fills in Akame and Kurome as to what it's really like and what's really going on. I didn't see that coming. Like I know Chelsea is on her team so she can't be that bad or the bad guy or whatever but she's still pretty shady and has a villain vibe going on!
Mera opens Akame's eyes, or tries to and we finally get to see what the turning point was for Akame...or the start of the turning point was anyway. She sees what the Empire has done to her sister as well as to the people and her thoughts wrestle with it all. We ultimately know what she'll choose but it's been interesting to see Akame's life before the original series, and how dedicated she was and her mindset throughout the whole thing and the struggle she went through. It's also been interesting to see the dark side of the Empire more.
We get some nice character development too, or get to see more of how she came to develop in to the Akame we know as she's told to be calmer and so on. But we know what she ultimately ends up doing. Blanks are being filled in more and more and you're starting to get a fuller picture! There's some familiar Rakshasas faces too!
I'm kind of oddly intrigued by Mera, she seems to be about to become Akames teacher/mentor, making her a better and stronger assassin but she's so creepy. This volume is definitely the turning point in the series, as Akames doubts grow and she sees evidence and so on and scratches beneath the surface, whether willingly or not. No-one dies in this volume shockingly enough, but we all know what happens to everyone so it's just a matter of time, and I can't decide if that's better or worse than not knowing. Like in the main series I'm always on edge and worried who they'll kill if anyone. In this one I'm tense waiting to see when the characters die.
I'm intrigued to see how everything with Akame is going to play out in the next volume. Is she going to rebel straight away? Or is she going to go through with the escape and then switch sides later after something else happens...I can't tell!
Akame Ga Kill! Vol 12
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
The Night Raid faces a powerful enemy. The terrifying pair, Esdeath and Budo, block their path. Budo's lightning attacks keep the Night Raid a hair's breadth from danger... Will Tatsumi and the others survive the onslaught!?
Fiiiinaaalllly the new volume is here! The wait for the new volume has been painful after the way last volume ended! As we start volume 12, there's no time to blubber about the events of the last volume. We're straight in with the action as Night Raid are fighting to get out and away safely without losing anyone else....and they're against two of their toughest opponents which means it's time to go all out. With some adverse effects.
I've been waiting for one specific event to happen, so I was on edge for the entire volume I'm not going to lie. This volume diverges again from the anime so you still end up being surprised and there's some little bits in there that make the anime similar content even better! Especially for people who ship two specific characters! *wink wink*
I have to say, I took some savage joy in seeing Dorothea get taken out.....Wicked Witch style. I may or may not have cackled to myself. This series just goes all out with making the villains particularly dislikable.
This volume is packed full of action and we're really building up for what's promising to be an epic finale! Night Raid are down one more member and things aren't looking good for Tatsumi. Things have really broken away from the anime these past couple of volumes, some things are a bit similar but there's big differences coming in so I'm finding myself being more and more surprised and more on edge because I'm not sure how things are going to go! I'm even holding my breath at points!
Volume 12 hit me right in the feels, and with how things are ramping up, there's not a great place to pause the action that doesn't have you groaning and shouting "WHY?!", but things are definitely starting to heat up as we enter the final stretch!
Akame Ga Kill Vol 11
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
During a covert mission, Tatsumi and Lubbock are captured by Syura, who intends to make amends for his team's failures with it but the Wild Hunt is disbanded after Esdeath exposes his past crimes, and while interrogating Lubbock, he is killed by him. While attempting to escape, Lubbock is killed and after refusing to join her side, Tatsumi is sentenced to death, but when the time for his execution comes, his companions from Night Raid appear to rescue him.
Things are really starting to pick up in Akame Ga Kill, even more so than before as we start to head towards the end of the series. Everything's ramping up, there's more blood, more action and more character deaths and this volume completely broke my heart by killing one of my favourite characters.
More and more of the volumes feature content not from the anime, so we're starting to get surprised by the twists and turns again, and in this volume there's some familiar content...but it's been changed and switched up and only really bears a passing resemblance. A certain character dies in a completely different way to the anime, and we get some romance in this volume too which wasn't present in the anime that I can remember.
I ship Mine and Tatsumi so bad and they're genuinely so cute together, they provide some romance and lightness to a story that's getting heavier and heavier. Although that could all be about to come crashing down providing the manga follows the anime in regards to what happens to Mine. I'm also shipping Wave and Kurome even though I don't really like Kurome all that much as a character.
I will forever be gutted about Run, I'm not going to lie! And my poor little Lubbock, I actually got choked up! I've been so excited for Syura to die, I actually wrote on my review notes "can we just kill Syura already?" when I was at the beginning of the volume and well....job done. He and his merry band of psychopaths have been terrorising everyone and honestly...they so deserve what's coming to them. Dorthea is up to nothing good, although I'm kind of intrigued by what she's doing.
Esdeath continues to have me completely torn, I kinda like her. She protects her team, she's good to them and there for them and everything, she saved Tatsumi....sort of. And I get her, I get where she's coming from with her feelings for Tatsumi it's hard not to empathise with her on that front, even though she really doesn't get the message, but she's also one of the bad guys. I kinda want her to come over to Night Raid already. But I really don't think she will.
Akame Ga Kill Vol 11 proves that no character is safe, if we hadn't figured that out already as yet another favourite dies. There's more blood, dismemberment and general ick and everythings ramping up as we start to get ready for the finale. I am so not ready. Everytime I read Akame, I'm on edge and so tense waiting to see who's going to die next, and how it's all going to end. The thing is, I genuinely can't predict what's going to happen in this manga, so I'm always surprised by the twists and turns that pop up, except for the few familiarities from the anime...but even then I can't be sure that things are going to end the same way as the anime, or things will go the same way for the characters because things are getting more and more different!
My one gripe? This volume completely broke my heart, but then there was the cuteness that was Mine and Tatsumi and then we where settling in for some seriously badass action courtesy of the ladies of Night Raid and then....boom. End of the volume. Like...it starts to get really good and tense and then it's like "bye. See you in OCTOBER." ....you can't just leave me hanging like that!
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Akame Ga Kill! Zero, Vol 5
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Akame and her allies are on a mission to find the Revolutionary Army, but standing in their way is the leader of the Oarburgh Assassin's group! How will Akame overcome such a dangerous adversary?
I'd expand on the synopsis usually but I really don't want to spoil the volume! All I'm going to say is that we're on the trail of the Revolutionary Army and things get.....grim. Very grim. Each volume gets more and more grim/rough whatever word you want to use. This volume has the grossest of gross deaths, I'm not going to lie! In case you weren't already aware, this series is certainly not for teens and this volume illustrates why, perfectly.
The thing is.....I know what's going to happen to all of these characters from AGK, and so it makes reading some things really hard. Like scenes with Akame and her sister. And other scenes with other characters. Like as you can tell from the cover, we see Chelsea this volume and learn a smidge about her past and I was like waaaaa Chelsea! Green makes a confession and I'm like...bro...that's so not going to end well.
My point is, we all know who's going to die, and we all know what happens to these characters, but it still manages to be devastating when a character dies because throughout these volumes we're made to care about them so much and this, and this volume in particular, is why I refer to AKG and AKGZ as the Game of Thrones of the manga world. Seriously.
This volume moves at a great pace, there's some great links to the main series via Akame. Paper crafts anyone? And there are some brilliantly crazy characters to go with all the action. I kinda miss Esdeath. This volume really earned it's cellophane wrapper too. Seriously. Grossest death. *barf* and other stuff...but grossest death.
I'm so intrigued and excited for volume 6. Well....mostly excited. I mean...on the one hand there's probably going to be a lot of bloody deaths in the next volume. And by probably I mean there totally will be. But on the other hand....a certain character may or may not still be alive. Like the chances are slim. But. We'll see.....who am I kidding. This is AKGZ. They're totally dead. *sobs*
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