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Year: 2020
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Episodes: 12
Rating: 4 out of 5
What would you give if you could have a world without crime? A world that has no murder, theft, sexual assaults, or any other worries. If there is a crime, the person is considered an outlaw with a high sentence. These fugitives are considered by a specific name and will face public execution. Wouldn’t it be a far better place if that happened? On the downside, any infraction you make could have you on the other side of the law and facing charges that could have you end up in prison. Akudama Drive is an excellent anime that explores some of the craziest and elite fugitives tasked with a mission to bring down the system.
Overview
In the distant future, the popular metropolis of Kansai will be the hub of everything cybernetic. Kansai has become a technological utopia for all. Life seems grand, and the mighty police force keeps the citizens in line. Behind the bright lights lies the criminal element of the city. Fugitives known as Akudama are the most intense and deadliest in the city. When the Kansai police hold a public execution for the crazy “Cutthroat” for killing 999 people, a mysterious message is sent out to several elite Akudama. If they free Cutthroat, they will have riches they never knew. When four respond to the offer and free Cutthroat, they get an offer for a bigger job.
Roped into the chaos is a young girl who quickly finds herself on the wrong side of the law and is named a high-level Akudama. The young girl soon has the codename Swindler. She unwittingly becomes part of the Akudama plan, hoping for a hefty payday. Still, everyone soon finds out that the Executioners, a high-level unit within the Kansai Police force, are hot on their trail and will do anything to bring them down.
Review:
I wasn’t expecting this anime to be this good. It’s only 12 episodes long but gets to the point and is highly violent. In my book, the more violence, the better, if it makes sense. The premise of this anime and the story is that it is set in a dystopian future. Think of it as a shorter version of Psycho-Pass, which is an AWESOME anime. In this anime, multiple highly skilled criminals are called Akudama. The higher the crime, the more the bounty is on an Akudama. The story starts with an ordinary girl who has no money and is accused of stealing. She becomes known as Swindler and has a bounty on her. She receives a text message along with other crazy Akudama to free a prisoner. Shit gets out of hand when they release the death row prisoner.
After freeing the prisoner, the story goes into full drive, with them getting a mission to infiltrate the Shinkansen and steal precious cargo from a vault at the front of the train. All the episodes from this point forward are entertaining and extreme. Chasing the Akudama are the Executioners, who seem to have unworldly physical strength. What I like about the story is that it doesn’t hold back. Like with many dystopian anime shows, it is to bring down the system. In this one, the primary mission is to bring two kids together who have been experimented on but also bring down the system. Swindler gives her life to show the evils and abuse of power the Executioners have against the citizens. This act sets off a full-blown riot where the chief of the Executioners meets a gruesome death.
The action is top-notch in this anime. The action picks up quickly since it is only 12 episodes long. By the second episode, everyone is fighting. The scene where the crew attacks the police headquarters is intense as Brawler is going HAM on everyone. The fighting scene between Brawler and the lead Executioner is intense but fun to watch. When the crew takes the train and crashes it, there is nothing but destruction. The ending is crazy because everyone pretty much dies. I don’t think one person lived, and the Courier uses his bike as a massive laser beam.
The biggest highlight of this anime is the animation. It had the full-on cyber-punk feel going with it. The anime used dark colors to show the world and characters. It still does the whole, using different colored eyes and hair, but I didn’t mind it in this anime because it made sense. If there was a Blade Runner anime, this would be it. The colors and some use of a little CGI made this anime seem very crisp and modern. I always praise an anime that shows the crisp movement of the characters during a fighting scene. This one was nice to look at, as the characters didn’t seem wonky.
This anime has a few characters that were fun to watch. I love how you really don’t know anyone’s name. You know what they are good at. On the Akudama side, the primary and first person is Ordinary Person aka Swindler. She is a young girl whose life quickly changes when she meets Courier. She has the most significant character development out of everyone. She goes from a shy girl confused to one that protects and kills like two dudes. Her ending is the saddest. The main male protagonist is the Courier. He is skilled at delivering any package, no matter how extreme the situation is. His motorbike is insane with a mini railgun.
Doctor is by far the most attractive but also most insane. She is a master surgeon and medical doctor who seems to have superhuman abilities with any injury she takes. She can instantly heal, but she is also quick to betray anyone. Hoodlum is like Usopp from One Piece. She has the shortest sentence but the biggest mouth. Despite his small prison sentence, he looks up and becomes friends with Brawler. Besides the Doctor, Cutthroat is by far the craziest and most mentally unstable person on death row. He has beheaded 999 victims, and when he gets his 1000th beheading, the dude goes even further into the deep end. He has a significant obsession for Swindler and will do anything for her. My first favorite character has to be Hacker. Hacker is a master hacker who can get into any system he wants. He is the brains of the operations and even downloaded his own memory. My second favorite character is Brawler. With the name Brawler, dude loves to fight anyone with his fists. The bigger the challenge, the more excited he gets. Who wouldn’t want a person like that on their side?
Akudama Drive is a fun and intense anime to watch. With only 12 episodes, it gets right to the point with the story and action. The animation is crisp and modern with that cyber-punk feel to it. You will find a character that you will like and root for them. Watch this anime along with Psycho-Pass and create chaos against the system.
