Akame ga Kill! Episode 4: Kill the Teigu Users

Impression

This was a solid episode. We had some proper exposition about Teigus, which took us beyond the snippets mentioned by Mine last week – Najenda almost made them sound sentient with the way she described them as “weapons of utmost intelligence”. There exist 48 of them, often taking form as weapons or armour and made from materials collected from danger beasts or rare metals. With how rare they supposedly are, it’s a bit suspicious that Night Raid have managed to come across so many, from Akame’s Murasame to Bulat’s Incursio – presumably the others all lie with powerful people from various factions, who will no doubt appear as future enemies. And of course, some may not have been revealed or discovered yet. Akame’s caliber and experience is probably what’s telling her not to overestimate the power of Teigus – even something like a cursed, poisoned sword is not all-powerful. I’m guessing it can be countered by the protective defence that Incursio offers, as its wielder doesn’t show any open skin. But then again, I don’t think they should be underestimated as well, especially with how many of them have multiple hidden abilities – this lack of knowledge should make a lot of Teigu battles (i.e. all battles from now on) unpredictable. Which gives more excitement to us, but probably also results in a lot more deaths. I’m wondering how binding that “guaranteed victim” rule is, by the way – is it some sort of curse, or just an overwhelmingly common outcome?

Unfortunately, Tatsumi fell straight for Zank’s trap this episode – if he’d stopped to think for a moment, he’d realize that there’s no way Sayo could possibly be alive. Maybe that sort of rational thinking is hindered as part of the Teigu Spected’s ability too. That thing makes Zank more powerful than any villain we’ve seen thus far, and it took Tatsumi everything he had just to draw blood from him – though it’s probably accepted wisdom that a standard person will be heavily disadvantaged against a Teigu user, let alone one that can read thoughts and cast illusions as a result. In the end, though, I don’t think there was too much about Zank that was different from the other villains we’ve seen thus far – he’s despicable for killing random people on the street, but he’s not all that different from the corrupt people we’ve seen in the capital. Other than the fact that he’s technically no longer affiliated with the government, I suppose. I think Aria was worse in terms of being a twisted person in general.

I wouldn’t have liked it if Tatsumi had somehow ended up managing to beat Zank without a Teigu of his own, so I’m sort of glad that Akame stole the spotlight – and she did it brilliantly. We haven’t really seen her in an extended fight since the pilot episode, so I’d actually forgotten how ruthless she could be in battle – her eyes become so efficiently cold when she fights, probably in part due to the nature of her Teigu. It’s great. This fight in general was actually really good – there was no comedy halfway through like there was with Mine, and unlike last episode there was very little fanservice, aside from that one scene where Zank’s Teigu saw through Akame’s clothes. I’m not exactly sure what the whole spiel about the “voices” was about, but I’m suspecting it’s due to the Teigu itself – who knows what other things it can reveal to its user. Imagine if Zank wielded both Murasame and Spected. That would elevate him to mid-boss level at least!

We’re still continuing with a episodic format featuring a themed villain or Night Raid member for now, but there are hints of something deeper brewing – a bit of plot development, I suppose. For one, there seems to be some sort of revolution in motion that’s being orchestrated by the freedom fighters, which Night Raid will inevitably be drawn into. And next episode, Tatsumi tries on Zank’s Teigu too! I doubt he’ll keep it though – it’s a bit creepy, and it’s not something you’d think a protagonist would decide to flaunt around. Finally there’s Kurome, Akame’s little sister (?) whom she both loves and has resolved to kill for some reason. In before she’s working for the capital from the shadows. Now there’s a suitable mid-boss.