Akame ga Kiru

I like how Akame just straight bitched Wave.

And yup, we're going full Anime now...

edited 3rd Sep '15 1:52:06 PM by BlackYakuzu94

How?

He thinks we're going to follow what happened in the anime as far as Kurome getting killed by Akame is concerned. They talked about how that hot spring existed that could extend one's life and work as a decent rehab place, but (s)he's more or less resigned to the idea that Kurome is going to be offed and Wave is going to remain forever single. All I know is that someone out there is praying that what happened to Kurome in the anime was just a case of Death by Adaptation.

edited 3rd Sep '15 6:16:33 PM by InkyJay

See, this is what AGK does best. This probably should've been called Kill The Loyalty.

We learn exactly why Kurome is so fucked up (the drugs), we see who saved Wave, and we get a pretty intense argument between Akame and Wave over Kurome.

Akame wants to Mercy Kill Kurome (which she says will honor Kurome's loyalty to her teammates and their cause), Wave wants to bring Kurome to the hot springs Akame talked about, and Kurome is a perv who is honestly fine with dying by her sisters hand. Wave thinks they're both fucking crazy. I think Wave's being naive, but he clearly doesn't want the sisters to kill each other, and he'll at least try to keep them away. Maybe even bring Kurome to the hot spring first.

We already know Akame is a Defector from Decadence, we already know Kurome didn't wanna abandon her teammates, we get Akame admitting she didn't have the heart to tell her to leave, we see Wave finally challenged on his view of the empire's fate (he still thinks it can change for the better), and we are guaranteed to see Akame vs Kurome next chapter.

And Leone is a perv too. I know I'll be saving those shots of her massaging Akame. I'm worried her participation means she might very well die, but it could also mean she fights Wave (who never kills anyone).

Oh, and I noticed the lack of Tatsumi. It was centered around Akame and Kurome, only the female assassins were shown, Wave took Tatsumi's place as a viewpoint character, and other than a brief mention towards the end, Tatsumi was pretty irrelevant.

Nothing against Tatsumi, but it does show how, Esdeath and Incursio aside, Tatsumi isn't really needed to be the protagonist (hell, Wave is probably more qualified to be the male lead). If anything, Tatsumi bogs the plot down; many people complained about Akame not having enough screentime in her own series, and that's squarely on Tatsumi's shoulders.

edited 3rd Sep '15 10:31:25 PM by Serocco

I do like Akame's feelings here... early times Akame would have just killed everyone in the empire no feelings or empathy for their ideals or beliefs.

Well, Akame does get more emotive when she's around her best friend (Leone)...

Also, I saw that Toonami ad with Esdeath's English voice.... okay, so, it fits, but she sounds a little too old.

edited 3rd Sep '15 8:43:04 PM by Serocco

I wouldn't say Tatsumi bogs the plot down necessarily. Its just like you said, shifting focus away from him for once to focus on Akame is a very welcome change.

But yea, we know Wave isn't going to succeed in keeping the sisters from their Duel to the Death, its an inevitability at this point. The question now tho, how is it going to go down.

This chapter actually fits very well with what I like most about AGK - an actual gray side.

So Dark Squad are they elites, very dangerous last resort people, or some shadowy people who have their own ambitions...

You know, I can't help but feel a bit bad for Wave in the manga. At times, it makes me think that if Night Raid wanted to be assholes about it, they would probably say something to him along the lines of this:

"What makes you think you can save anyone with your strength. You couldn't save our targets; you couldn't save Bols; you couldn't save his family; you couldn't save Seryuu; you couldn't save Ran; and you certainly aren't going to save Kurome. You're just another naive soldier who thinks he can be a hero in an Empire where assassins like us are a necessary evil."

And now that I give it some thought, Kurome has been the only named character that Wave has really been able to protect. I didn't think it bothered him too much if it happened to her in the anime, but if we're talking about the manga, if Kurome really were to die, I have no doubts that Wave would be broken completely. He's just really been the Harry Hardluck in this manga series.

edited 4th Sep '15 11:02:35 AM by InkyJay

Great post. I feel sad for him and the sisters. They are the best part of the story.

Wave is pretty much in the position that Akame was in Zero. A talented but inexperienced and naive warrior for the empire.

Funny, that in another site I saw people complaining of him not changing sides after hearing Akame. Yeah, let's toss my views in the trash and make a significant life changing decision after a 5-minutes talk. Still, his ideals took a major crash and he won't be able to stay the course he is in.

edited 4th Sep '15 11:30:50 AM by grahav

If they really wanted to be jerks they would force him to join Night Raid keeping him a prisoner until he said yes.

edited 4th Sep '15 11:31:45 AM by Mizerous

He really is kinda powerless in this situation.

I can't see him having success in saving Kurome.

You hink Wave would commit suicide if Kurome died

Oh Wave, it's too late, mate.

He's too damn loyal for his own good.

Oh, Wave, you naive little fool. Do you really think you can change such a messed up Empire from the inside or save a girl that has been drugged into insanity?

Also, he may think that Akame and Kurome are just crazy, but what do you expect from two girls that have been raised to kill? The bond that united them was to kill side by side, so when Akame left after gaining a new ideology the only way they can think to deal with the problem is to kill each other. It's twisted, but I understand.

edited 4th Sep '15 3:26:30 PM by sorako

Wave is starting to seriously annoy me. He goes beyond mere naiveté and into covering his ears and singing "lalala I can't hear you" range of rejecting reality. How dares he talk about changing the empire from the inside when all this time he was nothing but the Prime Minister attack dog. He condemns the rebels but his head is up his ass about what happened to those who tried to change things peacefully. He talks shit, but when it comes down to it, he has nothing to back it up.

Wave self-righteousnesses may not be as psychotic as Seryuu's but it's getting almost as annoying. He simply rejects everything that doesn't fit his self-serving vision of the world.

On the good side, it was nice seeing Akame school him like the noob he is. Also, dat ass.

edited 4th Sep '15 3:09:55 PM by Shlugo_the_great

Frankly the only reason people wanted to jump on the Wave for MC wagon was he punched out Syura and his character interaction tend to be less removed then Tatsumi's -that and we had like 5 chapters of Jeagar focus-

but when it comes down to it... Wave is still where Tatsumi was at the START of the series before Aniki died.

I mean... HE knows how Broken Kurome is... thats what stops him from rebuffing Akame cause He knows he can't defend Kurome's actions when she's running around with Run's Corpse as a puppet.

but the sad thing is... He started to rebuff her to begin with.

When Wave tries using Run's word's to justify his position... Akame sees right through him... and hits him with a question he isn't cold blooded enough to answer or most likely Wave has spent more time worrying about Kurome then trying to accomplish Run's goal.

Run on the other had would fully accept that PM and Co would need to die -he probably would have a project valkyrie plan written up and even though Run shows a like of Esdeath... He still acknowledges that She is part of the problem and would be needed to be dealt with.

Wave probably can't stomach the idea of turning on Esdeath...

I Think... we're heading toward Wave doing something... We, Him and others will come to regret

edited 4th Sep '15 3:26:12 PM by FrozenWolf2

I wanted Wave to join Night Raid true, but I didn't care for him becoming the main character of the series.

I think Wave's problem is that he's too blinded by his loyalty to the man who saved him and his comrades, especially Kurome. He KNOWS they are all fucked in the head, but he still chooses to protect them and cling on the naive idea that he can change the things from the inside when he should know he can't. Akame was once in his same position, but she chose to try to change things for real and punish the real bad guys instead of protect her sister, that is clearly beyond salvation in both mind and body.

Wave was just being a hypocrite when talking to Akame, saying that he's changing things when he's just obeying the evil minister and protecting his yandere girlfriend that for all he knows could turn him into a corpse puppet if she feels like it. Also, Run was trying to change things from inside too, and Wave SAW how that ended up for him. He's merely refusing to acknowledge that he's not right and that the rebels' way may be better than his own, labeling them as evil criminals when he's the one figthing for the bad guys.

edited 4th Sep '15 7:31:39 PM by sorako

I honestly don't have trouble believing that Wave would be so pig-headed about his ideals. He has a similar background to Seryuu in that he was trained in the Imperial Army and is indebted to it and the Empire because of the few soldiers, good, bad, or otherwise, he was trained under. He recognizes that the Empire is more twisted than Twizzlers in a taffy factory, but abstains from doing what Night Raid does because of his debt to his teacher and the need to honor the wishes of his fallen comrades (it's more than just some Batman logic where taking a bullet to brain approach to solving problems would cause a slippery slope and set a bad precedent).

Wave's carrying a lot of things on his shoulder's too. Guilt over letting Bols die and his wife and kid getting raped and mutilated; Ran's long-shot goal of cleaning the empire from the inside-out; all the targets he was charged to protect getting offed so easily; living up to the expectations of Esdeath; and let's not forget to mention budding feelings for a psychotic junkie close to her expiration date that feed a self-imposed responsibility to protect her no matter what. He's caught in the ultimate catch-22. He can't babysit Akame's suicidal sister and burden himself with the wishes and regrets of his fallen brothers and sisters in arms at the same time.

Kurome can't quit because of a similar, yet more twisted, obligation to her comrades, dead, alive, and undead, as well as the threat of death for the sake of preserving secrets. At times like these, it makes me wish that Kurome's corpse puppets could communicate with her and demonstrate just how non-expendable she is. Wave obviously can't convince her on his own, and the only other person that could persuade her to stop chasing after her sister is a corpse puppet. It really makes me wish Ran could do something to stop a catastrophe that would potentially lead Wave to self-destructing.

Wave is like suzaku, he think he can change acorrupt empire just by trying hard enough but he ignores just how corrupt it actually is.

The difference between Tatsumi and Wave, the former knew he was going to hVe Toscanini his hands in order to succeed and he deaths of his comrades helped him realize what's at stake.

Wave however fails to do something about an obvious problem and it's going to bite him in the ass .

Tatsumi was luckier in not having any bonds with imperial people before seeing its corruption.

Edit: Yep, Wave's plot is about trying to save what cannot be saved (the Empire and Kurome). Poor fool, I like him, but he is going to suffer for his naivety.

edited 4th Sep '15 6:44:45 PM by grahav

Looks like we're all on the same page here regarding Wave. He wants to save the Empire, and at the same time, he wants to save Kurome. Realistically, I think there's a sliver of a chance that he can manage to do both, but what's killing him is that he's trying to pull this off without the bloodshed. He's trying to keep a "Batman" mentality in a world where a "Punisher" approach is currently more necessary for the task at hand.

So now let's all play a game. Let's all think of ways that Kurome could be saved without getting "disposed of" by the residential undertaker squad or compromising her ideals about honoring her fallen comrades, all without creating a scenario people will call complete BS on.