Aw, Tatsumi. It took him 11 volumes to get on the cover originally, and now he gets to make the cover again on the penultimate volume.
We all know what that means: one way or another, he’s getting wrecked.
After much stalling, Akame ga KILL! gets the final battle started. Although the rebel army is ready to fight, we all know that it really comes down to the remaining members of Night Raid. Akame and Leone are tasked with killing the government officials, Najenda will command the troops, and Tatsumi will try to guard Najenda and the others from Esdeath.
Speaking of Esdeath, if her last ultimate ability wasn’t enough to make her absurdly powerful, she gets yet another secret move here. If you’ve ever played Kingdom Hearts II, a Square Enix game, one enemy summons 100 water clones. Well, Esdeath sees Demyx’s water clones and raises him 10,000 ice soldiers. Yes, 10,000. Are we sure Esdeath isn’t some modded video game character? Because she’s just a ridiculous Boss at this point.
But she might not be the Final Boss of the story. As powerful as she is, she’s still a general following orders. Honest — the head minister who just might have the most ironic name in all of anime/manga-dom — has his own trump cards. As readers, we see how he the same cavalier cruelness that has permeated most of the villains in this series, and the young emperor just continues to blindly follows Honest’s “advice”, unsuspecting of the cruelties he has inflicted on everyone. At least Honest proves he’s not just one of the fat cats who thought he could just bribe his way out of a fight like all the other officials Akame and Leone face.
Meanwhile, Tatsumi faces the difficulty of keeping Esdeath from slaughtering everyone. Of course, while Incursio has done well so far in protecting him, it’s a race between the rebel’s victory and his succumbing to the dragon inside. Tatsumi may be on the cover and helps raise the revolutionary army’s spirit, but all three fighters have their moments. This helps keep the action moving and the annoying over-narration to a minimum. Plus, neither side has been exactly pleased with how the war is going, allowing room for a few different developments in the closing volume.
Really though, Akame ga KILL! Volume 14 is exactly what fans want: a lot of fighting, some characterization, and still more fighting. There’s a scene where Esdeath charges forward, heads literally flying as she heads toward her real battlefield. It’s not the bloodiest or most distributing scene in the series, but it’s one of the many violent reminders of war you’ll find here. The final wall standing in Night Raid’s way may be a bit disappointing since the series doesn’t seem to be building up to an epic 1v1 fight, but I think we’ve past the point of ridiculousness a long time ago. Right now, it’s all about who will survive, and I think the answer may not be as obvious as I would have thought.