History YMMV / AkameGaKill

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: One of the darkest ''shonen'' manga series ever released. The main characters, while likable, are assassins, which is a very shady occupation for a protagonist. Some of the antagonists can be likable and because AnyoneCanDie prepare for several TearJerker. Then in the manga's second arc the apathy is taken UpToEleven with the appearance of villains who are pure evil. Killing off major characters also loses its shock value as the series goes on.

** As if just to defy everything [[NoYay Aria X Sayo]].

** Esdeath is extremely popular for her PetTheDog moments (regardless of how contrived they are), her feelings for Tatsumi, and her loyalty towards her subordinates which leads many people to respect her even more than the heroes. As a result, some fans feel she's redeemable, or see her simply a product of her environment. What these people forget is that Esdeath is a brutal, sadistic SocialDarwinist who simply has no comprehension of mercy or empathy towards those she deems as weak, considers ColdBloodedTorture a hobby, and whose sadism is more a product of her own innate nature since even her father found her willingness to kill unnerving. She's also one of the root causes of the Empire's corruption, supporting the evil Prime Minister simply because his atrocious reign causes perpetual rebellion which provide her with endless opportunities for slaughter and bloodshed.

** Esdeath is an evil person who has a SocialDarwinist philosophy, is very brutal when it comes to fighting her enemies, has no empathy towards those she deems as weak, loves torturing innocent people and considers it to be a hobby. She is one of the reasons why the Empire is so corrupt because she supports the evil Prime Minister, which provides her an endless opportunities to slaughter any rebels she comes across. Despite this, many fans see her as the poster girl of this trope, mainly because fans are attracted by her beauty and design (wearing a fanservice army-like costume and how huge her boobs are) and several factors, such as her tenacious demeanor, her great powers, some of her PetTheDog moments (regardless of how contrived they are) and her loyalty towards her subordinates contribute to the attractiveness of the character herself.

** If fan reaction is anything to go by, some of the villains, such as [[KnightTemplar Seryu]] and [[MadScientist Dr. Stylish]], certainly qualify, while others such as [[MonsterClown Champ]] do not and are just unenjoyably hateable.

** Prime Minister Honest is such a laughably bad villain that some fans enjoy hating him for all of the over the top ways Takahiro tries to make him come off as despicable.

** Chelsea falls under this category. Her comment on how she believes Sheele and Bulat were "terrible assassins" and killing the AntiVillain [[spoiler: Bols]] certainly won her some dislike from the fan base. In the most extreme cases, many actually rejoiced when she faced her [[spoiler: KarmicDeath]]. However, despite all this, Chelsea manages to be one of the most popular characters, winning 2nd place in the official character poll for the Japanese fan base. There are also those who would argue that Chelsea's [[spoiler: death]] wasn't at all justified, pointing out some of the series more irredeemable characters had [[spoiler: deaths]] that were nowhere nears as undignified, [[spoiler: or painful]], as hers. Additional, many of Chelsea's claims do have [[JerkassHasAPoint valid points to them]], as most of them do in fact come true in later chapters.

** [[spoiler:Chelsea]] gained some hate after [[spoiler:killing off fan favorite Bols]], but the [[CruelAndUnusualDeath absolutely brutal and horrendous]] nature behind [[spoiler:her]] death garnered [[spoiler:her]] some of said-haters' sympathies.

** Akame ga Lives [[spoiler: and everyone else dies.]] Due the ending of the anime where [[spoiler: practically all the characters (except Akame, Najenda, Run and Wave) dies[[note]]And Najenda has a terminal condition so she'll die too eventually[[/note]],]] this phrase become quite popular during some time.

** "Wild Hunt in general (except arguably Dorothea) is this. They were hyped as the Jaegers' substitutes and as hard opponents for Night Raid, but they received very cheap deaths; [[spoiler: Champ and Enshin died with ease in the same chapter in their first serious battle onscreen, Syura dies by a cheap trick, Izou is dispatched in seconds by Akame, and Cosmina was killed by Tatsumi without many problems.]]

** Esdeath's Father, from what little we see in her flashback. Is he a well-meaning father, lacking a maternal understanding, trying to rein in his daughter's unnaturally sadistic impulses and unintentionally gave her even more of an excuse to be sadistic though the justifications of survival of the fittest? A callous man who knew of his daughter's inherent sadism, but chose not to do anything about it as her skills were useful to him and the tribe? Or [[InTheBlood did Esdeath inherit his evil]], but [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic enough to repress those tendencies in order to appear a man with higher standards]]? Was he always this way? Or did the death of his wife make him more jaded and by proxy, the lack of mother figure make Esdeath more openly evil than she would be without her influence?

** Esdeath have been shipped with Bismarck from ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'', due to their similar appearances and German-motif.

** Leone [[spoiler: ChoosingDeath instead of seeing if the rebellion doctor can heal her injuries during the final chapter]] came out of nowhere and made no sense. The series has established that Dr. Stylish's Perfector allows him to "heal any injury short of death", so it wouldn't be a stretch to think that the current owner could do the same. Akame even pointed out that the doctor was able to heal Tatsumi, who was pretty much in the same situation as Leone. Both Leone and Tatsumi were [[spoiler: gravely injured during their final fights. However, both were able to survive their injuries due to absorbing the the power of their teigu and turning into danger beasts with a HealingFactor, but Tatsumi still need the doctor to heal him]]. So it's very likely he would have been able to do the same for Leone. Additionally, Leone gave no indication of being a [[spoiler: DeathSeeker]] and stated she wanted to travel the world with Akame when the war was over, which completely contradicts her [[spoiler: decision to go off and die without at first checking with the doctor]]. This is made even worse by the fact Leone seemly was able to stay [[spoiler: alive for what seems to be several hours, meaning she had plenty of time see if she can be healed]]. Ultimately, it just make the whole thing feels like an extremely forced way to [[spoiler: kill Leone off]].

* OvertookTheManga: Episode 19 onwards, to a... ''[[FanonDiscontinuity mixed]]'' reception, some people hated it and some people liked it.

** During the Three Beast mini arc, Nyau deciding not kill Tatsumi and Bulat right way, and allowing Tatsumi to activate Incursio, simply because Nyau thought Tatsumi would be killed if he tried to use Bulat's teigu. Not only is this BondVillainStupidity at its finest, but it almost seem out of character for Nyau to do this, [[WeHardlyKnewYe from what little we seen of his personality]]. Nyau is sadist that likes to torture his opponents to death, painfully and slowly. He even kept Tatsumi alive during their battle just so he can have the pleasure of skinning him alive after the fight. So it would seem out of place for Nyau to stand aside allowing Tatsumi to either power up, or die a far more quicker death than the one he intended and losing a possible "candidate" for his collection.

** In ''Zero'' we have Merraid Oarburgh, as fans either love her or hate her, with little room in-between. Merraid is often seem as the prequel series equivalent of Esdeath (despite Esdeath herself making a few appearances in ''Zero''), being an attractive, powerful fighter that is in love with the main protagonist of the their story, and tries to get them to join there side. Some fans love Merraid due to her [[MsFanservice appearance]], the fact that she is [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a lesbian with a lot of "interactions" with other girls, like Akame]], being one of the most interesting opponents that Akame and Elite Seven have to face, and she is the first person to reveal the Empire's true color to Akame. That said, there are fans that dislike her since she is a sexist, PsychoLesbian that regularly forces herself on other girls, whether they are willing or not, and is never called out for it since the story uses DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnFemale.

** [[spoiler:Chelsea]] gained some hate after [[spoiler:killing off fan favorite Bols]], but the [[CruelAndUnusualDeath absolutely brutal and horrendous]] nature behind [[spoiler:her]] death garnered [[spoiler:her]] some of said-haters' sympathies.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Honest's reaction to [[spoiler: Syura's death]]. Was his moment of sorrow before quickly getting over it an attempt to make himself seem human to his underlings, or was he genuinely distraught and acted like he didn't care to maintain his fearsome image?

** Fans of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' have shipped Leone with Yang Xiao Long.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Pretty much any antagonist after [[spoiler: Seryu's death]] can be considered as this. This includes[[spoiler: Syura, Budo, Kurome, Run, Honest, and (arguable) the emperor.]] Despite all being established as powerful threats and major players in the series, they all were defeated [[spoiler: (with the exception of Run, whose fight was dropped altogether)]] in less than one episode. While some of their fights are fairly decent, they ultimately fall short of the antagonist's creditability and built up. The worst offender of this in the anime is:

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Just like with the manga, for much the same reasons.

** Bols is very much a PunchClockVillain, being one of the nicest and well-adjusted members of the Jaegers along with Wave and Run. He's also unquestionably a war criminal who burns innocent citizens alive due to their loose suspicion of being connected to the Night Raid. [[spoler: The series plays up the fact that he is a loving father and husband to increase the tragedy of his death, but a number of people came out siding with Chelsea when she coldly tells him his FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse as she kills him.]]

* UintentionallySympathetic: The series rather plainly portrays Chelsea as the most ruthless of the Night Raid due to her views on the war and dismissing Tatsumi for his idealism. [[spoiler: Even her killing of Bols is considered ruthless, despite his killing of multiple innocents, and Chelsea gets arguably the most brutal and mean-spirited death in the series shortly after. To a number of readers though they found themselves siding with Chelsea's viewpoint.]]

** [[EvilChancellor Prime Minister Honest]] is a bloated, grotesque glutton who, [[TheManBehindTheMan manipulating the young Emperor from behind the scenes]], is the [[BigBad source]] of [[Characters/AkameGaKillTheEmpire the Empire]]'s corruption. Honest is [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduced]] having a man loyal to the young Emperor executed while promising Honest will "care for" the man's wife. Throughout the series, Honest allows murders, rapes, tortures and helps to grow the monstrosity of corruption in the capital so nobles do whatever they want at the expense of the lives of those beneath them. Honest has the military launch brutal campaigns of conquest and expansion and when his evil son Syura returns to the capital, Honest gives him a group of evil criminals, [[Characters/AkameGaKillWildHunt the Wild Hunt]], to attack civilians in the guise of "justice". Aware of his own mortality, {{the hedonist}}ic Honest plans to [[TheCorrupter corrupt the Emperor]] so that even after his own death, the corruption of the empire will go on. By the end of the series, Honest manipulates the Emperor into using the Supreme Teigu and warps his mind so he indiscriminately attacks the enemy troops and his own civilians, killing countless innocents as Honest gloats over the death and destruction. When he fights--and [[spoiler:supposedly]] kills--Leone, Honest reveals that his ultimate goal is simply to live to 130, indulging in the good life all the way, before trying to rape and possibly eat her. After the Emperor is defeated, Honest simply abandons him and attempts to flee.
** [[WellDoneSonGuy Syura]], the [[OverlordJr twisted son]] of Prime Minister Honest, is driven by a desire to surpass his successful father, and puts together the group of vicious psychos known as the Wild Hunt in order to hunt down the Night Raid. Syura wastes no time [[RapePillageAndBurn terrorizing the populace in attacks]] where innocent people are butchered and men, women and children alike are raped by him and his squad. Syura himself treats his "playthings" horribly with a tendency to kill them, all the while daring someone to challenge him as he is the son of the Prime Minister and thus [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections untouchable]]. When he actually captures a member of Night Raid, Syura subjects him to hideous torture, including [[CripplingCastration crushing one of his testicles]], to get him to speak. When he encounters the widow of a genuine Imperial war hero, Syura wastes no time raping and murdering her while one of his men has her young daughter right on top of the husband's grave. Spoiled, selfish, and monstrous, Syura is consumed with nothing more than a need to satisfy his own desires and cruelty.
** [[MonsterClown Champ]], a [[WouldHurtAChild pedophile]] and one of the Wild Hunt, was imprisoned for being a SerialRapist and SerialKiller. During an early raid of the Wild Hunt, Champ notices a little boy and kills a woman trying to stop him from raping him. Champ comments how he enjoys killing the children before they can become "filthy adults", and later rapes and murders the daughter of a dead imperial war hero right on top of her father's grave while Syura handles her mother. It is revealed that a member of another Imperial Squad, the Jaegers, named Run, has joined simply to get revenge on Champ for slaughtering his class from the days when he was a teacher. When confronted with this, Champ comments [[ButForMeItWasTuesday he's violated and killed so many kids he can't even remember the class]] until his memory is jogged. His only emotion is disappointment that them screaming for Run to save them ruined his fun.

** [[WellDoneSonGuy Syura]], the [[OverlordJr twisted son]] of Prime Minister Honest, is driven by a desire to surpass his successful father, and puts together the aforementioned group of vicious psychos known as the Wild Hunt in order to hunt down the Night Raid. Syura wastes no time [[RapePillageAndBurn terrorizing the populace in attacks]] where innocent people are butchered and men, women and children alike are raped by him and his squad. Syura himself treats his "playthings" horribly with a tendency to kill them, all the while daring someone to challenge him as he is the son of the Prime Minister and thus [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections untouchable]]. When he actually captures a member of Night Raid, Syura subjects him to hideous torture, including [[CripplingCastration crushing one of his testicles]], to get him to speak. When he encounters the widow of a genuine Imperial war hero, Syura wastes no time raping and murdering her while one of his men has her young daughter right on top of the husband's grave. Spoiled, selfish, and monstrous, Syura is consumed with nothing more than a need to satisfy his own desires and cruelty.
** [[MonsterClown Champ]], a [[WouldHurtAChild pedophile]] and one of the aforementioned Wild Hunt, was imprisoned for being a SerialRapist and SerialKiller. During an early raid of the Wild Hunt, Champ notices a little boy and kills a woman trying to stop him from raping him. Champ comments how he enjoys killing the children before they can become "filthy adults", and later rapes and murders the daughter of a dead imperial war hero right on top of her father's grave while Syura handles her mother. It is revealed that a member of another Imperial Squad, the Jaegers, named Run, has joined simply to get revenge on Champ for slaughtering his class from the days when he was a teacher. When confronted with this, Champ comments [[ButForMeItWasTuesday he's violated and killed so many kids he can't even remember the class]] until his memory is jogged. His only emotion is disappointment that them screaming for Run to save them ruined his fun.

** To say nothing of [[BadassGay Bulat]]. Introduced as one of the stronger members of Night Raid, Bulat got hit hard by MentorOccupationalHazard, getting killed off [[TooCoolToLive by chapter 14]]. Despite his rather short lived role, he was beloved both in and out of universe to the point of ranking in the Top 10 characters in both of the Popularity Polls. In the Fan Data book, another popularity poll was held to determine the most requested "Dream Fights" that never occurred in the manga in Bulat comprised 5 out the top 10.

* ReplacementScrappy: While no one particularly dislikes him, there are some readers who saw Susanoo as an inferior replacement for Bulat. Since Susanoo appeared immediately after [[spoiler: Bulat's death]] some thought that his only purpose in the story was to [[TheAce give Night Raid another ace]] since like Bulat he was immediately established as a strong member of Night Raid. However he lacked what made Bulat an EnsembleDarkhorse and felt more like a recurring gag character than a fully realized supporting character. He's also the only major character in which we learn nothing about his past. More baffling was that he was introduced in the same chapter as Chelsea who despite [[spoiler: dying quickly after her introduction]] had more screen time than him. It didn't really help that Susanoo's role ended up falling short of the bargain when [[spoiler: he was killed off quickly after Chelsea]] making people question why he was even introduce to replace Bulat in the first place.

* ShipToShipCombat: Between the fans of Tatsumi x Mine vs Esdeath x Tatsumi shippers. One side accuses the other of being a pairing that came out of nowhere and with zero development. The other says that Tatsumi never wanted to be with Esdeath, as he is disgusted with her sadistic nature and her willingness to help Honest's corruption and depravity just for her desires, plus indicating that Mine at least has some short of sane relationship with Tatsumi. The pairing wars however seems to end in chapter 56, [[spoiler: when Mine falls into a coma and stays out of the series]].

** When Seryu was introduced, it seemed like she would add a good deal of ambiguity to Night Raid's actions, showing that their methods can also result in good, innocent people suffering, spawning a tragic CycleOfVengeance. She seemed like a good person, with perhaps a bit too much of a BlackAndWhiteMorality perception of the world, but after several chapters of just HateSink villains, it was genuinely refreshing to have a likeable character outside of the heroes. Instead, she turned out to be one of the biggest psychopaths in the series, and she becomes one of the largest HateSinks in the series.

** When Seryu was introduced, it seemed like she would add a good deal of ambiguity to Night Raid's actions, showing that their methods can also result in good, innocent people suffering, spawning a tragic CycleOfVengeance. She seemed like a good person, with perhaps a bit too much of a BlackAndWhiteMorality perception of the world, but after several chapters of just HateSink villains, it was genuinely refreshing to have a likeable character outside of the heroes. Instead, she turned out to be one of the biggest psychopaths in the series, and she becomes one of the largest HateSink in the series.

** Chelsea's opinion that Night Raid shouldn't get involved with Danger Beast attacks is meant to be portrayed as cold since this might lead to more innocent citizen getting killed. However, Chelsea does point out that Jaegers the will eventually take care, so there was no need to risk their lives and the chance of possible exposure. Sure enough, Tatsumi had a run-in with Esdeath and was spotted by Syura. Also, as soon the Danger Beast threat was taken care of the Jaeger quickly turned their attention to Night Raid.

** For a couple fans, Kurome being able to survive [[spoiler: the fatal injury she received from Chelsea]]. While the initial concept of Kurome having the ability to survive nearly all injuries, unless her hearts is destroy or her head cut off, due to the drugs she was taking wasn't so bad when it was introduced, later on this ability feels like a DiabolusExMachina as it was ever again utilized or mentioned. It was only used in that one instance so that [[spoiler: Kurome would survive and be able to kill Chelsea]]. Even before the ability was introduced, it was only hinted at within 2 chapters. There is also the fact that Akame was conveniently unaware of Kurome's new abilities, as the Empire switched out the drugs ''shortly'' after Akame left. Furthermore, Kylie and the Dark Squad didn't seem to display this ability despite taking the same drugs as Kurome.