What anime destroyed you emotionally?
Full disclosure, I find it takes me five episodes before I get hooked to a show. After that, I bond with the characters and the world. There have been a few that have left me feeling numb for some time after, but the one that hit me really hard was Akame ga Kill.
Why was that?
In a strange twist of normality, I read the manga first. Often, I’ll watch a show and then go read all the manga to fill in the world. Not only did I read the manga first, but I breezed through the fourteen volumes in little over a week. Then I discovered that the fifteenth volume would be the last in the series and it wasn’t due to be released for another month.
I was already, terrified of what would go down in that final book. I had my suspicions and it had all the warning signs of being pretty tragic. So with a month to wait, I bought all of the anime on iTunes and started watching. I watched all twenty-four episodes in the next twenty-four hours.
The thing with this series is that there are a lot of deaths. Pretty much every episode someone significant is killed off. One of the things I really enjoyed was that the bad guys were given motivations and backstories, making their deaths just as significant as the heroes.
Since then, I have read the final volume of the manga. For the first half, the anime followed the books quite closely, then I would assume some creative license was allowed to complete the series before the manga had finished. I enjoyed both endings, although the anime hit me much harder than the manga.
Why do you think it got to you?
Another aspect I really enjoyed was the unrequited love story between Tatsumi and Esdeath. It had funny and sincere moments. She really did love him. She was crazy, but she loved him. Having them fight in the end would have been too much, so I’m glad it didn’t come to that.
Then, Leone said her farewells and I just sat there, staring at the screen as the credits rolled by. Numb and breathless. I think this series really got to me because of how much I threw myself into it, but then I wouldn’t have done that if there wasn’t a connection.
Anything else you’d like to say?
No. I’m drained just thinking about it again. I have an unusual gift. It’s like a photographic memory but for video. So, I’ve just relived the whole thing from start to finish in about half an hour…
Other Posts in the Challenge
- What was your very first anime?
- Who was your first anime crush?
- Do you prefer Subs or Dubs?
- What anime deserves more love?
- What is your guilty pleasure anime?
- What anime recommendation have you tried this year?
- Who or what was the most annoying anime character?
- What is your favourite anime so far?
- What anime series will you never watch?
- What anime destroyed you emotionally?
- Who is your favourite female anime character?
- Who is your favourite male anime character?
- Who is your favourite anime couple?
- What is your favourite anime opening or ending?
- What anime has the best soundtrack?
- What is the last anime you watched?
- What is an anime you want to watch but haven’t yet?
- What is the weirdest anime you enjoyed?
- What anime would make a great video game?
- What video game would make a great anime?
- Share your favourite anime quote!
- What anime has the saddest death scene?
- What anime do you wish never ended?
- What anime had a big emotional impact on you?
- What is your comfort anime?
- Who is your favourite anime villain?
- What anime character are you most like?
- What anime has the best fight scene?
- What anime scared the crap out of you?
- What anime did you think you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving?
