Title: Akame ga Kill Vol. 10
Author: Takahiro (Story), Tetsuya Tashiro (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Publication Date: April 18, 2017
The Story
Volume ten of Akame ga Kill was one of the most emotionally charged volumes I have read in the series thus far. Not only that, but it was one of the most emotionally charged volumes of manga I have ever read, period! We get a time skip after the assassination of Bolic. Shula has returned to the capital and has reported to Minister Honest, his father, about his travels. Shula states that he has assembled a team that ends up becoming a “secret police force.” They are anything but that.
They are known as Wild Hunt and they abuse their position to murder innocent civilians, pinning false crimes on them as justification for their murders. They even go as far as to rape women and children for their own enjoyment. The acts of the group are among some of the sickest I have seen and after you see them commit these unspeakable acts, you begin to feel your hatred begin to boil.
The citizens call upon Night Raid to come save them, but Night Raid isn’t the only enemy of the Wild Hunt. The Jaegers themselves decide to take matters into their own hands as well when Wave discovered that Wild Hunt murdered Bols’ family right on top of his grave! This lead to a conflict in which one would believe Night Raid and The Jaegers would team up, but even though they both took out three members of Wild Hunt, their own conflict took center stage once again! Kurome and Run fled due to injuries sustained when fighting Wild Hunt so part three of the eternal battle between these two factions will have to wait for another day.
Of course, hated wasn’t the only emotion we were given in this volume, but I will detail that in the characters section!
Characters
First off, this may be a spoiler to those who hadn’t seen the anime, but Mine died in the anime adaptation. Here, she ended up living and became Tatsumi’s girlfriend! Even though I could see Mine’s feelings develop over the course of this series, I didn’t think she would have been the one to end up with Tatsumi (although she also showed her feelings in the anime which was kind of a dead giveaway as well.) I would have thought that Tatsumi would have ended up with Akame in the end, but I’m perfectly happy with Mine. I like it when a tsundere gets her shell cracked and ends up becoming someone you can love… kind of like Taiga from Toradora, but let’s face it. Mine has nothing on Taiga in the tsundere department! Still, really happy to see this development!
Shula.. I thought he was just crazy when we were first introduced to him, but now I understand just how much of a sick human being he is. This also ties in to Wave’s development in this volume as well. Wave showed just how strong he was by taking Shula on in a fist fight and winning! In fact, he knocked Shula out cold! You can’t even imagine my elation and joy when I saw that happen! Not only do I enjoy Wave as a character, but to have him be the one to put Shula in his place… I don’t think you can ask for better character development!
Once again, the volume introduces new characters and kills them off all in the same volume. Three members of Wild Hunt are already dead. I really dislike it because it just makes every villain seem like the flavor of the week. In fact, I’m shocked Shula has lasted as long as he has! Then again, this is something you have to come to expect with Akame ga Kill so after ten volumes, short character lifespans have become something I’m used to with this series.
Also, where is Suzuka? She was shown to still be alive at the end of volume nine and now… poof! Nowhere to be seen!
Final Thoughts
This has been a PHENOMENAL edition of Akame ga Kill and is, hands down, not only the best entry in the series, but it’s also one of the best volumes of manga I’ve read in quite a long time. The emotional roller coaster of happiness, anger, sadness, and joy that this volume takes you through is pulled off with perfection. The character development was solid and the ending was pretty shocking! I’ve spoiled enough in this review so I’ll save the ending for those who haven’t read the volume yet. There was also a mixture of story, character development and action that seemed to be perfectly balanced! This volume offered everything it possibly could to its audience and did so in a grand way!
Here at The Outerhaven, we do not use the rating system for manga reviews because we do not think that rating one volume a three or another volume a four is fair because these volumes are part of an overall series and giving different volumes different ratings doesn’t speak to the overall quality of the series as a whole.
Well… today, I’m breaking my own reviewing rules. This volume gets a 5/5. It was that good.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @TheAnimePulse
You can also check out other The Outerhaven reviews on your favorite social media networks:
Subscribe to us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theouterhaven
Subscribe to us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOuterHaven
Subscribe to us on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/theouterhavennet
**This item was provided for review by Yen Press
Akame ga Kill Vol. 10
The first time I have given a volume of manga an individual star rating. For it’s great balance in all three phases of story, characters and action… for its ability to pull readers in and make you care about some of these characters… for the ability to invoke a bevvy of emotions, I give vol. 10 of Akame ga Kill the honor of not only being the first rated volume of manga on the site, but the first to get a perfect 5 stars! Well deserved!
-
Witty sentence here and the score. remember to use the star system!
