Akame ga Kill! – 17
He was probably an ikemen the whole time.
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Finally!!! And not just one death, but two~. This kind of makes up for Suma getting all of the other deaths. |
Well, Bols is dead. I’m sure a lot of you were expecting him dead after the explosion in the last episode, but no. They had to play with the emotional aspect first and remind us that he was indeed part of the empire, but he wasn’t totally a bad guy. Chelsea almost looked like the villain for a moment, since she almost heartlessly tricked Bols with the loli act, but throwing in that part where she was disguised as a girl he once burned to death served as a reminder that he was indeed kind of on the “wrong” side of things. Really, most people probably saw this tragic death coming the moment that his loving wife and adorable child were introduced. Night Raid isn’t the only side that can trigger obvious death flags.
But hey, look, Chelsea died too. Yet another death everyone probably saw coming. That’s just what you get when you hang out with Tatsumi too often. And it seems like it’s indirectly his fault for her death, since the plot has put a lot of emphasis on how Chelsea softened a bit because of him. If she was still about “smart” assassination, maybe she wouldn’t have gone after Kurome and been satisfied with just Bols’s death. However, she made the wrong choice and paid for it pretty dearly. Pretty much everything about her death was brutal, and ending with having her head displayed so openly was probably one of the most graphic additions to the body count thus far (or at least, one of Night Raid’s most brutal deaths). They kind of made it classy though, by having her die in the same flowers (hydrengeas?) as her first real assassination. …Or at least I think those are the same flowers.
Chelsea’s reasons for coming into assassination was kind of unique (compared to everyone else, who have all seemed to have unique reasons) and she came into it despite not exactly being harmed by what her master was doing. If she was a different person, she probably could have just ignored what was going on and carried on with her life, but that’s not the kind of attitude that gets people into Night Raid. She managed to do quite a bit in her brief stay with Night Raid. The death of evil rich guy #2164 in episode 15 aside, Bols was a pretty big accomplishment. She almost got Kurome as well, if only the capital didn’t indulge in doping its soldiers.
Though maybe it’s questionable as to why Chelsea wasn’t added to Kurome’s collection. That probably would have been a big psychological blow to Night Raid in a fight, and Kurome had just lost a lot of her puppets, so she probably could have made Chelsea one easily. However, Kurome wasn’t exactly at the best physical condition at the time, so maybe that was a factor. Also, Chelsea wasn’t exactly the best in a fight (which seemed to be a big factor with Kurome’s other puppets before). Maybe Chelsea’s relic’s powers could have come in handy for Kurome, but that was also destroyed by Kurome for some reason, so without it, she was kind of useless.
Kurome’s past was revealed a bit, which might have thrown people off on whether she would actually die or not, but even if she didn’t, they revealed that despite being loyal to the capital, she wasn’t exactly treated the best. So it’s a little baffling as to why she wouldn’t defect with Akame or leave on her own if she ever had the chance. Especially since they were reluctant to be parted as children and obviously supported each other rather efficiently. Maybe it’s because of the drugs Kurome has had over the years (like, if she’s become dependant on them), but it’s interesting to think that maybe Akame and Kurome might have been in opposite places if the capital had decided to place Kurome where Akame was. …Or maybe the capital decided to drug Kurome for a specific reason over Akame (I don’t remember if they’ve ever said anything about this in Akame ga Kill! Zero, the prequel manga to this, or Akame ga Kill!), since Akame did seem more efficient with killing when they were in that forest. Still, Kurome hasn’t exactly had the best life with the capital and knows how brutal it can be, so it’s a bit of a mystery as to why she’s staying with them and so set on killing Akame.
Well, this was a fun episode. I’ll miss Chelsea (…mostly her character design, if I was really being honest) and Bols leaving behind his family was pretty tragic, but things were accomplished by Night Raid, so there’s something. Probably. The characters that died didn’t really meet their ends too unexpectedly, considering that they’ve had death flags for a few weeks now. Maybe what’s surprising is that more characters didn’t die. Leone looked like she was close to it for a bit, Kurome had her past revealed, and Lubbock has been asking for it the moment he confessed that he has a thing for Najenda. There was also a bit of a scare with the possibility of Esdeath showing up, but Night Raid seems to be recovering from their encounter with a small portion of the Jaegers, so it looks like the fight is mostly over for now. They probably won’t go after them again so soon, considering that Mine is injured and Leone is kind of missing a limb.
Have fun with the next episode, Suma!
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Congratulations on your first blood and double kill, Kara!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
For a while, I thought she’d never get her due. About time.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
I told you! This anime has some weird fetish of cutting people’s arms. Aaaah, kuso. Chelsea’s death was so horrible. And there was the rain again.
If you see a cloudy sky before a fight, that probably means there will be some death.
Kurome is more the front line fighter, so Chelsea wouldn’t be of much use, even with her Imperial Arms. And even if she did have use, Kurome did something I really didn’t expect there, which was to kill with revenge in mind. She probably didn’t even think about adding Chelsea to her collection because she was so angry she killed Bols.
Well, this was a tough episode. And Tatsumi will never marry because everyone who likes him dies but Esdeath.
Can I say my guess of the next who’s going to die? I think it will be Lub. He had this death flag hanging on his head for a while already. Mine would be the next on the list. Leone already had her fair share of sufferring though both of them had this almost death experience…
Aaaaah the future looks so cloudy… Lots of rain ahead.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I think we can’t discount Stockholm Syndrome playing a part in Kurome’s loyalty towards the empire. Plus for years she had to have been subjected to having loyalty towards it drilled into her.
And her hatred of Akame could stem from feeling betrayed that her sister left her (even though they were forcibly separated) and didn’t come for her, leaving her alone amongst some very nasty strangers. Remember, it was shown that when they were children she depended upon her older sister. That’s the kind of betrayal a child would find hard to get over.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Not just Stockholm Syndrome as a theory. That drug she unwillingly received probably also has mind altering properties and behavioral control to go along with increased strength and stamina. Radiating a dense dark aura and acquiring a deepened tone of voice are not good signs. The empire’s already shown it’s rotten to core and liabilities likes emotions from their assassins are likely to be stamped out.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Congrats on finally getting your due, Kara, with not one but two deaths!! See? Good things come to those who wait. Patience is a virtue.
But boy did this episode leave me bitter and sad with its depressing events. Losses on both sides at the same time, it seems. One was Bols whom I respected though he’s on the enemies side. Even tougher to swallow when his last thoughts were geared towards his family while crying about not meeting them again. Chelsea killing him wasn’t entirely wrong. He’s done terrible things but had to as they were direct orders. Bols turned out to be a victim of circumstances. I wish we could’ve seen his face, though.
Hitting me harder was Chelsea’s end. This got to me because she proved very likeable. All of a sudden, I’m thinking back to Petra from Attack on Titan. Next to Akame and Leone, she made for a subtle third place. Her death was barbaric and displaying her remains for all to see was added insult to injury. Tatsumi’s state of shock and horror upon looking is easily understandle. I admired how she became an assassin. Not out of revenge or anything basic like that but a primal sense of right and wrong, punishing those who had it coming. Like that bastard hunting people for sport. That guy defined the word “cruel” and really had to go.
Something is terribly wrong here. As it stands, Night Raid has succumbed to three heavy losses and of those, only two suffered very gruesome fates and they’re both girls. Sheele got dismembered around the waist and eaten, Chelsea had fingers and a forearm severed before ultimately getting beheaded. All Bulat got was simple poisoning. If that’s not one sided, then I don’t know what is.