10 Second Anime - Akame ga Kill! - Episode 23

Akame ga Kill! - Episode 23



In the final battle for the capital, the emperor unleashes his own Emperor's Tool. Tatsumi sacrifices himself to stop the emperor's indiscriminate destruction.

Heh.

Not much to heh about after this episode.

Wave joined Night Raid's efforts to protect as many citizens as possible from the out of control emperor. So did Ran. Wave still thinks of himself as a good soldier, while Ran wanted to change the empire from the inside instead of condoning the rebels and Night Raid's guerilla and assassination tactics.

Prime Minister Onest (ha!) still insists on qualifying the young emperor's parents' deaths as "an unfortunate accident." Even with all the mayhem, he didn't die and neither did the emperor.

We still had time for one last show of Leone Mai Waifu comforting Tatsumi.



I can't believe it's the last time Leone gets to tease him like this...

No! Tatsumi! Don't think about the past this way!



That's six death flags right in a row! Aargh!

Tatsumi died in a cool way, but I can't forgive him for making Akame cry.

Hmm.

When Mine died, I had the same feeling that I got when Akame believed Tatsumi died. Denial. These are characters I've watched for almost 6 months, and even if their deaths have meaning, I still don't want to accept it. It's a feeling of regret for their futures, which is a bit selfish because I want to enjoy their presence a little longer.

I wasn't sure Mine was really dead until they confirmed it the next episode, and I'm still hoping somehow Incursio likes Tatsumi so much that it shares a bit of its living adaptability with him. Bulat explained to Tatsumi that the beast that makes up Incursio is actually still alive, so tough and stubborn is its nature. That Tatsumi called on it again to give him a new form gives me just that little bit of expectancy that Tatsumi survived. If true, I will bawl my eyes out with man tears. Not kidding.

Thematically, Tatsumi dying is satisfying. He came to the capital wide-eyed and naïve, but through the course of the series, he learned of the world's utter depravity, while keeping his core of idealism to ensure those who wish for peace have it. He fulfilled his life's goal in sacrificing himself to protect even one more civilian from the empire's unfair actions. His death also satisfies that very Japanese ending of an almost perfect resolution, but not quite. It's not Tatsumi ga Kill! as the name of the show after all. Somebody has to appreciate the bittersweet victory.

Next time is the series finale. We've got loose ends in the emperor, Prime Minister Onest, and the final showdown between Esdeath and Akame. What almost-everything-but-not-quite ending will they give Esdeath Mai Mistress? Believing her first love dead, I'm very curious to see what her state of mind will be. We've seen Esdeath's trump card, so it's time to see Akame's. Who will survive the last episode? The clue is in the name of the show.