One of the more anticipated series of the Summer 2014 anime season is the adaptation of Takahiro and Tetsuya Tashiro’s manga Akame ga Kill! from White Fox (Steins;Gate, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?). A couple of the reasons was due to the somewhat dark story and the brutal action scenes. While the series has garnered positive feedback, some criticisms of the series were due to the censorship of the series. This is due to the regulations and guidelines of Japanese TV. The series is also available on Japan’s largest streaming service Niconico, where it is shown uncensored. This is a little different to our usual coverage of TV and Blu-ray comparisons since we are comparing a TV version with a stream version.
We will be comparing the latest episode between the censored TV broadcast and the uncensored stream.
Note the following images contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Akame ga Kill!
The images on the left are from the censored broadcast on the Japanese TV station MX, and the images on the right are from the uncensored Niconico stream.
Click on the image for the full resolution.
In related news, the Opening theme of the anime, Skyreach by Sora Amamiya (the voice of the lead character Akame) is currently on sale on Amazon Japan for ¥3,481 (~ $34.81 USD).
Akame ga Kill! is an original manga written by Takahiro and illustrated by Tetsuya Tashiro. The manga is a dark action fantasy that launched in 2010 and is published in Square Enix’s monthly Gangan Joker magazine. To date there are 9 volumes of the manga complied. The manga has sold relatively well, with the eighth volume selling over 37,000 copies in its first week. Additionally, a prequel manga titled Akame ga Kill! Zero started serialization in October last year. It is once again written by Takahiro, but features Kei Toru as the artist.
Here is a synopsis of the series from MAL:
In a fantasy world, fighter Tatsumi sets out for the Capitol to earn money for his starving village, and finds a world of unimaginable corruption, all spreading from the depraved Prime Minister who controls the child Emperor’s ear. After nearly becoming a victim of this corruption himself, Tatsumi is recruited by Night Raid, a group of assassins dedicated to eliminating the corruption plaguing the Capitol by mercilessly killing those responsible.
Akame ga Kill! is currently airing this season on Saturday at midnight on MX. For the Niconico steams visit the following link: http://ch.nicovideo.jp/akame-tv
You can visit the anime’s official website here: http://akame.tv/
And follow them on Twitter: @akame_tv
“Akame ga Kill!”, images and all associated brands and titles © 2014 Takahiro, Tetsuya Tashiro, Square Enix, Toho Animation and White Fox