A.F.S.A. ~ Akame vs Esdeath

*A.F.S.A. stands for: Awesome Fight Scene Analysis*

This article is going to be the first in a new series of articles that break down some of my favorite fight scenes in movies, games, shows, and even books. The intention of these articles will be to go through the fight second by second, narrating the scene while also providing story and character context, and my opinion on why certain elements work so well (and potentially, even, why some could be improved). As a fun bonus, I’ll also try my best to link the soundtrack for each fight, so you can really heighten your immersion by giving those tracks a listen!

For this week, we’ll be taking a look at “Akame vs Esdeath”, the climactic showdown from the finale of Akame Ga Kill, my favorite fight scene in all of anime, and overall one of my favorite fight scenes of all time.

SETTING THE SCENE:

It’s all come down to this. This is the final episode of Akame Ga Kill, and the revolutionary army has fought tooth and nail to reach this point. It’s been a long and bloody war, but finally only a single obstacle stands in the way of the revolution taking down the corrupt Empire once and for all. Unfortunately, due to the revolution’s own catastrophic loses, only one able-bodied warrior is capable of keeping up the fight.

In the ruins of the destroyed Imperial palace, these two combatants face off for the fate of the country. If Akame, the revolution’s swiftest swordswoman, is able to win, then the Empire will be brought low, and a government built by and for the people can reign in its stead. If Esdeath, the Imperial general and strongest fighter in the world, is able to win, then the Empire will come crawling back out of the rubble and reestablish its cruel rule.

One last fight to end it all.

THE COMBATANTS:

In one corner we have Akame, the central female protagonist of Akame Ga Kill (I mean, her name is in the title, after all). Akame is a dedicated and extremely proficient master of the sword, who wields a cursed blade known as Murasame. Murasame inflicts any who receive even a single cut with a life-threatening curse that kills them in seconds. All the blade has to do is draw blood, and whoever Akame is doing battle with has been defeated.

To help her accomplish this, Akame has trained herself to the pinnacle of physical capability. She’s very strong, and exceptionally fast. She tends to favor a hit-and-run style of fighting, and prefers sticking to the shadows whenever possible. She possesses steadfast determination and the desire to win, not for herself but for the sake of the oppressed people.

In the other corner we have General Esdeath, one of the most terrifying villains in anime, and this show’s main antagonist. Esdeath is also a master of the sword, though that’s hardly her only ability. Her sword itself may be mundane, but Esdeath has full, frightening, destructive power over ice. She can form massive pillars of ice, shoot ice shards from her hands, freeze miles of countryside with a flick of her wrist and a gust of icy wind.

Esdeath has a fearsome reputation in the universe of Akame Ga Kill, and it is one that is demonstrated to the viewer time and time again. Esdeath fights multiple opponents through the course of the show, and wins every single time. In fact, she never gets so much as a scratch on her. Everyone in the revolution considers her unbeatable, and she thinks the same of herself. She is overwhelmingly strong, but unlike Akame, she’s not fighting for an ideal or for a group of people. She’s fighting for herself, plain and simple.

THE FIGHT ITSELF:

Here’s your listening for the first half of this fight: LINK

Esdeath begins the fight by surrounding herself and Akame inside of an impenetrable and inescapable arena of ice, to ensure that not a single soul can interfere in this battle to end all battles. With no option to (or desire to) run, Akame unsheathes Murasame, and the fight immediately kicks off into high gear.

The two trade several blows, but Esdeath is both stronger than Akame and just as fast. She’s able to shove Akame’s clashing strikes back, and slash at the girl while she’s unbalanced. On top of this, she launches a flurry of ice shards to keep Akame occupied while she closes the distance. Akame only survives a near-immediate execution by sacrificing her wrist guards to Esdeath’s lunging grab.

Using the wrist guard strategy as a distraction, Akame vaults over Esdeath and slashes down at her back, trying to secure a quick victory. However, Esdeath knows perfectly well the capabilities of Murasame, and she protects herself with a sword made of ice, using it as a shield strapped to her back to protect herself from being cut.

Akame recovers from this setback while launching another string of rapid sword slashes, but Esdeath blocks and dodges each and every one, and knocks Akame upside the head with a powerful kick. The two lock swords, and Esdeath uses the close proximity to stab an ice spear up into Akame’s chest…or she would have, had Akame not just barely blocked the sharpened point of the spear with her sword’s hilt.

With Akame preoccupied in the air, Esdeath launches a whole salvo of ice spears at her, and it takes all of Akame’s dexterity and focus to slip between them and slice them apart. However, in the frantic chaos of the ice spears, Esdeath launches up and slams her boot down onto Akame’s head, sending the younger girl crashing into the ground.

Not content to let her opponent rest, Esdeath summons a gargantuan boulder of ice and slams it towards Akame, who has to drastically roll back from her earlier rough hit in order to avoid being crushed. Yet again, Esdeath slips in while Akame is preoccupied, and she kicks Akame in the face so hard the girl flies twenty feet back and is dragged along the ground.

(While all of this is going on, the two are engaging in a back-and-forth conversation, with Akame desperate to understand her opponent’s twisted world view. Esdeath, though, is entirely set in her own ways as a product of how she was raised and the world’s made for herself, and is unable to be convinced by Akame to give up the fight. It’s great stuff, and unlike other anime, the conversation doesn’t feel forced or drag on for too long. They take natural breaks in the fighting to talk these things through.)

Akame is extremely injured, and Esdeath still has yet to suffer a single blow. When Esdeath tries pinning Akame to the ground for a finishing move, Akame uses the last of her strength to push Esdeath off and climb back to her feet. At this point, the only thing she can possibly do is also the most drastic thing she can possibly do.

Akame cuts herself with Murasame.

Instantly, the curse begins coursing through her body, and she doubles over in pain. Murasame’s curse, represented by twisting black veins, start creeping through Akame’s body and towards her face. However, the more Akame screams, her cries become less pained and more controlled. Soon, the black veins fade away, and are replaced by blood-red tattoos in swirling spiral patterns on Akame’s arms and legs. Her eyes too, are a dark crimson ringed by the black curse of Murasame.

Akame has managed to contain the curse, and is now drawing upon her power.

(Not only is this moment exceptionally shocking, but it’s also one of Akame Ga Kill‘s brilliant moments of trademark character writing. Esdeath’s incredible ice powers came from a similar circumstance with a cursed weapon, and both she and Esdeath are already great and consistent parallels of one another. The tattoos that appear on Akame’s body are exactly the same as Esdeath’s own. This moment manages to be both unexpected and well-established within the lore and writing of the universe.)

Regardless, Akame has now achieved a monumental power-up, putting her on the level of Esdeath in a truly fair match-up. Sensing her opponent’s new potential, Esdeath is not only extremely excited, but also finally begins to take things seriously instead of just toying with Akame.

This is where the real fight begins.

Here’s your listening for the second half of this fight (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED): LINK

Akame switches into a bracing stance, and then kicks off of the ground towards Esdeath, dashing forward in an attack so blisteringly fast it happens in the blink of an eye. With her cursed blade’s power coursing through her veins, Akame has doubled if not tripled her speed, finally making her faster than Esdeath, thus forcing Esdeath onto the defensive.

Esdeath is barely able to block Akame’s blows, and has to rely on both her sword and shields made of ice to keep Akame from landing the killing blow. She tries to attack back with her own slashes, but Akame moves so quickly it is almost as if she is teleporting. Esdeath even tries the same technique with the ice spears, but Akame is able to instantly slash them all to pieces.

The two combatants take the fight to the air, rising up on pillars made of ice, and clashing their swords together. Esdeath tries to psych Akame out by destroying the ground she’s standing on, but Akame retaliates by baiting Esdeath into swinging, and then slamming down on her from above. Esdeath plummets to the ground, Akame atop her, and only a thin barrier of ice is keeping Akame’s blade from puncturing Esdeath’s skin.

With a truly blood-curdling scream, Akame roars with all her might and breaks through the ice, jabbing her sword into Esdeath’s hand. Over-exerted, Akame is then easily swatted away, but in her mind the battle is already won. Even as Esdeath stands back up, Murasame’s curse begins traveling from her the wound on her hand up her arm. Death will come for her soon…

…and so, what does Esdeath do to prevent this? She slices her entire arm off, quite literally cutting off the curse from the rest of her body. Akame is stunned, and Esdeath expresses her exuberant joy at finally, after her many years of battle and bloodshed, having found an opponent who can genuinely test her. The two pause to catch their breath, and then race back at each other once more.

Somehow, a fight that was already absolutely nuts begins going even crazier. The two spin circles around each other, slashing over and over again. Esdeath demonstrates her boundless ingenuity and love for combat by blinding Akame with a spray of her own blood from her missing arm. Esdeath creates a spiked trail of ice to force Akame into the air, shoots an ice pillar out of her missing arm’s wound, and creates arced ice slashes with her sword. All the while, Akame is just barely able to keep up, dodging and parrying but unable to land the decisive attack. It’s not to say that she doesn’t get a few good kicks in, but it becomes apparently quickly that even Murasame’s huge power-up is simply not enough to best the Empire’s strongest.

(I cannot understate just how incredible the productions values are on this fight scene. Everything from the pulse-pounding soundtrack, to the fluid and engaging animation, to the cinematography, to the pitch-perfect voice acting is just a masterpiece of anime. I could watch this fight hundreds of times and not get bored.)

The most difficult thing for Akame, however, is that Esdeath is fighting at one-hundred percent capacity by now, and her strength still measures higher than Akame’s. To make matters worse, Akame’s cursed power is running out, and she knows she’ll collapse from exhaustion soon, whereas Esdeath seems poised to just keep on fighting. With no choice left, Akame pushes herself as hard as she can, and races to secure the finishing blow before all hope is lost.

Akame takes a moment to brace herself, and then switches into an offensive stance, whereas Esdeath, knowing her opponent is tiring, prepares with a defensive, almost taunting stance. The two, standing in front of the ruins and aftermath of the series-long war, rush at each other for the final time.

Esdeath tries to score a quick kill by throwing her entire sword at Akame, but Akame dodges aside and closes the distance. Esdeath keeps her at bay with a series of ice shields and barriers, but Akame’s barrage is ceaseless and relentless. After an excruciatingly nail-biting exchange, Akame finally catches Esdeath off guard, cracking through her shield and knocking her off balance.

Akame jumps towards Esdeath with a thrusting stab aimed right at the cruel woman’s heart, the final blow all but secured.

THE FINISHING BLOW:

Except, Esdeath has one final trump card up her sleeve. While Akame used her most powerful ability (utilizing the curse of Murasame) a few minutes earlier, Esdeath had yet to take advantage of her own most powerful ability. It’s an ability she demonstrated once earlier in the show, using it to kill one of Akame’s closest friends.

Esdeath can, for a very short span of time (approximately ten seconds) completely freeze time itself within a small area. Everything becomes frozen, except for her.

With a smile on her face, Esdeath unleashes her time-freezing ability, stopping Akame from plunging Murasame into her heart with mere inches to spare. There is seemingly no way to stop this ability from going off, and seemingly no defense once you are frozen in its clutches. Akame can’t do a thing but hang uselessly in the air, so tantalizingly close to ending the duel, but so frustratingly far.

Grinning, Esdeath congratulates Akame for pushing her harder than anyone foe ever has before, and then she shoves the end of her sword into Akame’s neck…

…or rather, where her neck should’ve been. See, as Esdeath pushes her sword forward and into the Akame she sees in front of her, the sword simply fades through Akame as if she isn’t there at all. It only takes Esdeath a moment to realize she’s been tricked, and what Akame has done to outmaneuver Esdeath’s time-freezing ability.

Akame, at the exact split-second that Esdeath froze time, dashed away to safety. She moved at a blinding speed at the exact nanosecond Esdeath used her special ability, blazing so fast Esdeath’s own eyes haven’t caught up yet. Akame has moved to an entirely different position, yet left a lingering afterimage behind because of how fast and precise she jumped away.

(This is such a brilliant move on Akame’s part, and a genius way for the show writer’s to explain how someone could circumvent Esdeath’s seemingly unstoppable time-freeze ability. Because Akame ahs seen Esdeath use this move before to kill a dear friend, she knows exactly how it works and was able to predict exactly when Esdeath would use it. For as well as Esdeath likes to think she’s mastered her opponent’s tricks and gimmicks, Akame has proven to be just as adept at outsmarting her foe.)

Esdeath uses the rest of her time-freezing ability’s ten-second-window to frantically scan around the environment, desperately trying to figure out where Akame has gone. As time returns to normal flow, her panic grows, until she hears the distinct sound of death coming for her from above. Jerking her head up, she is just barely able to see Akame silhouetted against sunset sky.

In the end, Akame had jumped up directly above Esdeath’s head, right into the frosty general’s blindspot.

Caught fully off-guard, Esdeath has no time to react before Akame slams down from above, slashing Murasame in a deadly arc. The sharpened blade pierces Esdeath’s skin, cutting from her left shoulder all the way down to her right thigh. Blood pours out from her body, and the curse of Murasame begins to spread. There’s no way out for Esdeath now. It’s over.

To her credit, Esdeath doesn’t throw a fit or give one last villain monologue. She merely silently acknowledges Akame’s victory, limps away off the battlefield, and collapses by the body of her earlier slain beloved. She dies moments later, cradling him in her arms.

The war is won.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

And thus ends my favorite anime fight scene of all time, and one of my overall favorite fight scenes ever. There’s genuinely not a single critique I could level at this fight or its presentation. The voice acting, animation, soundtrack, and cinematography are all perfect. The pacing is top-notch, keeping the action and intensity high while also providing realistic breaks for the fighters to catch their breath. The fighting choreography is incredible as well, and highly unique in its utilization of Esdeath’s ice powers, especially after she loses her arm.

It’s really just the perfect way to end an already almost perfect anime, and the fight stands the test of time as the benchmark that all anime fights should strive for. Cut out the added padding, keep the action fresh and exciting, and use smart character and story writing techniques to allow for satisfying narrative payoffs. Man, I just really love this fight scene!

But hey, that’s just my opinion!