(SPOILERS ALERT) Although the violence and gore is graphic, the dark fantasy anime Akame Ga Kill will put readers in an excited state. The 24-episode adventure explores the assassin group Night Raid, and the severe risks of being an assassin.

The character development in this anime can add to the suspense. Flashbacks insure that the story is explained, the flashbacks also clear up any confusion between the character relationships. The personalities of the characters are special and unpredictable. There are many unique characters, like Rabac, Najenda, and Chelsea. The characters’ dark humor will appeal to many people, including me. The dark humor in the anime also also lightens the suspense in heated battles between the protagonists.

The unpredictability in the series adds to the constant emotion and pressure. The deaths of the main characters are constant. The first big death was Sheele, an assassin who uses an imperial arms much like giant scissors. Night Raid is considered ‘evil’ and ‘corrupt’, and she got executed by one of the Jaegers, Seryu. Bulat’s death was also a big one, but not as violent as Sheele’s. He had passed down his imperial arms to the main character, Tatsumi. The latest death was Chelsea, a teenage girl with the power to shapeshift. After piercing Kurome’s (a Jaeger) neck with a needle, in a nerve that is sensitive and implies death, Kurome came back. Kurome explained that she was on a drug that would make her die only if she was decapitated or stabbed through the heart. After that, Kurome violently murdered Chelsea with her puppets. The harsh realism in this anime only increases the effect of the great storyline. As explained before, assassins constantly die, showing that the anime has realistic consequences in it’s plot. The relationships between the characters also show the realism of a real-life adventure; including the sadness when a character dies.

My favorite part of this anime are the fight scenes. The group battles complicate a watcher’s expectations. One thing I love about group battle fight scenes in this anime is the quick animation; it says so much about the quality of the anime, and looks interesting to the eye. The design of the characters is phenomenal, the colors and diverse styles are creative. The art style puts off a mixture of moe and super-natural, an interesting mix for a shounen. The battle techniques are sophisticated, making the fight scenes hard to decipher. The weapon design of Murasame, for example, contains a poison that will kill a person in a tiny scratch. Matching the weapons with a characters’ personality is something that happens in Akame Ga Kill; Esdeath, the cold leader of the Jaegers (pun intended), owns the power to control ice by drinking the blood of an s-class danger beast.

Overall, Akame ga Kill is an awesome anime, filled with adventure and comedy, and worth watching for a mature audience. (Do not watch if you don’t enjoy animated gore and violence)