Impression

…My heart is confused.

Fuck you, Esdeath. Fuck you.

Akame 9 Img054That was actually a pretty cool fight at the end there – it’s quite nice seeing Tatsumi overwhelm an opponent for once, especially after having struggled through his past few battles against Teigu users. Although I think he instantly dug his grave when he decided to smile innocently at the cheering crowds instead of maintaining his previous solemn glare. Now he’s going to get violently raped and turned into Esdeath-chan’s private love slave. By the way, I’m ashamed to say that I now have rather mixed feelings about Esdeath – I found her scary before, but now I can’t decide on whether she’s cute, creepy or just hilarious. I had no idea she could make that sort of expression, honest! Maybe she needs to kill someone in Night Raid to turn me against her again, just like Seryuu did.

Akame 9 Img032We learnt a couple more things about Esdeath as well, and I can tell they’re trying to flesh out her character a bit, if perhaps only subtly. When she was visiting the graves of the Three, I didn’t expect her to show them that much… well, I wouldn’t say respect, but care maybe? She treated them well either way -even in death- and it’s just such a stark contrast to the way she sadistically carries out her work for the capital. And just like how I’m gradually starting to not hate Esdeath, I can tell that the Jaegers will be pretty likeable guys as well, except for Seryuu. It felt as if they were introduced more like… people instead of being portrayed as bloodthirsty maniacs right from the start – though they may very well be like that in battle. Of course, that doesn’t stop them from being a quirky bunch of misfits – Wave and the adorable Kurome seem like the most normal ones of the bunch. Wave actually reminds me of Tatsumi a fair bit, being a guy from the country who plays the straight man all the time – maybe, if things had been different it might have been Wave whom Esdeath had fallen in love with. And then Tatsumi’s innocence could be protected.

Akame 9 Img008I don’t think things are looking too good for Night Raid, even if Mine is now back in action. They’ve been losing a lot of people lately, and now they’re adding Tatsumi and Najenda to that list – the latter of whom may or may not come back with new recruits, and definitely won’t be around to coordinate their current crisis. Mine’s been added to the wanted posters, and Sheele’s old Teigu turned out to have been confiscated by Seryuu and handed over to the capital, which are further blows. Tatsumi’s “kidnapping” might also end up posing a greater problem beyond the whole love slave thing – being sent right to the heart of the Jaegers won’t be fun if he’s exposed as a member of Night Raid, which Incursio’s presence will do fairly easily. I can see Wave and Seryuu welcoming him, but that Dr. Stylish guy not so much – he creeps me out, but I think he’s more perceptive than he looks.

But yeah, RIP Tatsumi. Nice knowing you.

This Post Has 13 Comments

  1. vergiltfs

    Esdeath best girl!

    1. Vantage

      Never! I won’t give in… I think…

  2. Morlphing

    I absolutely love Esdeath, she the best waifu (when it come to Tatsumi , wait for a little development later on, i bet you will see the reason why she is the best girl of this series and the biggest ship with Tatsumi.
    Also, tatsumi have a love- hate relationship with her too.
    Wave and the masked guy is my favorite of the Jaegua. Guess what Teigu Wave use( hint: did the black sword he have reminded you with something else ? )

    1. Vantage

      You’d think the biggest ship would be Tatsumi x Akame, purely because that’s how it always seems to roll, so it’s definitely gives off a different “feel” regardless of what one may think of Esdeath. And oddly enough, there hasn’t actually been any indication at all that Akame might be romantically interested in Tatsumi.

      I have an inkling, but I’ll wait and see.

  3. I.D. nameless

    Come on, come over to the dark side. Accept your new evil overlord, General Esdeath.
    Well, actually, I don’t like her THAT much either, but, the more you find about her, the more interesting she’ll become.
    Kurome reminded me of Akame when she refused to share her food (without being asked).

    1. Vantage

      Are they offering cookies? Or Kurome’s candy, rather 😀 It’s worrying when the evil overlord suddenly doesn’t seem so evil after all.

      inb4 that confrontation when Esdeath finds out about Tatsumi being in Night Raid.

      1. I.D. nameless

        Milk and cookies. Kurome’s candy only after you earned her absolute trust. And she used her teigu on you.

        1. Vantage

          I have a feeling that getting slashed by her Teigu would result in bad, bad things happening. I won’t be alive to eat that candy ;_;

  4. tsuruhami

    Well… Esdeath is villain, so it’s perfectly understable why you have mixed feelings about her. It is quite rare to see female villains who is pure evil (I’m not talking about typical bullies in school). Usually they turned into anti/heroine or fall in love with heroes because women cannot stay evilz in media. Hope Esdeath can subverted this trope like… stay evil forever.

    1. Vantage

      There’s also a third outcome, which is that they die 😀 But yeah, they’ve built her up as someone who’s super evil and arguably sort of hot, and now they’re trying to rein the rest of us in by making her all lovestruck at times. That’s partially torn down her previous image, but I have a feeling she can be both sadistic and lovey-dovey, uncomfortably enough. I’d hate it if she turned full dere, that’d be terrible.

  5. Vange Chandran

    Personally I hate Esdese–even though she was pretty funny/cute today–because I can’t overlook her cruelty. They had a flashback of her days with Najenda in this episode, and in the manga it was more explicit:
    Anime version – “Destroy this town to your hearts’ content.”
    Manga version – “I want you all to violate this town until you are satisfied.”
    And many women were raped until they died. And then Esdese taunted the captured men, as their wives and children were being raped and killed before their eyes.

    So, yeah. I don’t see myself ever forgiving her. >.> Then again, she has a huuuuuge fanbase, so maybe the following episodes will make you like her too. (That also depends on whether you like fanservice, because there clearly will be a lot next week.)

    I’m really excited that the Jaegers are finally here! They’re all very endearing (minus Seryuu), and they’re a lot of fun. You noticed this already, but the Jaegers have people very similar to the Night Raid! (Wave –> Tatsumi, Dr. Stylish –> Braht, Kurome –> Akame, Bors –> Schere) It’s almost hilarious how similar they are, and yet somehow they’re working on opposite sides. o.O

    1. Vantage

      Seems like White Fox chose to heavily gloss over the rape scenes. I won’t say that it would have been nice to see it (there are probably restrictions on what can and can’t be shown on TV, even in Japan) but I’d have liked a bit more than just a split-second frame. It might be because I’ve never been fully exposed to the sort of stuff Esdeath has done that I’m wavering over her. Although for some reason I can’t get the possibility out of my mind that Tatsumi might end up like that poor guy from the northern lands she “subjugated”.

      I definitely get Wave/Tatsumi and Kurome/Akame, but even if Dr. Stylish is supposed to be Bulat’s counterpart (is it because they initially both come off as odd homos?) Bulat was in a class way above 😀 He was cool and sort of endearing, you know? Dr. Stylish just seems really creepy for some reason.

      1. Vange Chandran

        Hahah true, Braht >>>> Dr. Stylish! I guess they’re both similar in that they’re both gay and somewhat attracted to Tatsumi/Wave (in their respective groups). xD But Braht was certainly more endearing. Dr. Stylish is more mad-scientist-y. ^_^

Comments are closed.