The Evil Justice of Akudama Drive

[@Drew.DrivesYT]

this is gonna be the one that i look back on in ten years and say "this, *this* is the anime that got me into anime". i don't care what people say, this show was excellent. it had a banging OST, great memorable characters that actually had arcs, insane art and animation quality and a tight story that took you on just the right journey of ups and downs. i imagine a lot of the die-hard anime fans might pass on this because it appears generic, but for newer folks like myself? this was like watching Reservoir Dogs for the first time.

[@tristanstebbens1358]

Even for someone who's watched anime for the last several years, its just a really tight original work. Tonally isolated episodes such as cutthroat's "The Shining" (that also harks back to the actual movie) and it's tight story that said exactly what it wanted to say, no more no less, really kept it fresh. A lot of people felt annoyed that there wasn't an epilogue like in conventional story telling, but I loved that. Any more and it would've dragged on and felt padded out because the story never was about discussing what happens after social revolution in a cyberpunk dystopia.

[@phitc4242]

the animation/visual style is SUPERB. lamest shots are pretty dope most of the time

[@glazed_waffle5629]

Akumada Drive is pretty underrated glad you made a video on it.

[@Dharengo]

Swindler earned her name in episode one. To me she is not a normal person at all. She is an individual who can affect the world around her.

[@TaigaXsenpai]

Brilliant analysis!! 07:30 this part I have a feeling that main theme of Akudama Drive is that crime is not always evil (as it still offers a way to develop certain individuality and free thinking) when blind following of law can turn democracy into tyranny. (following rules kills individuality and free thinking. Which in turn, corrupts those in control of rules) Every law is a form of brainwashing. Even the most ehtical law. Its necessary but its still dangerous. It kills free thinking and makes people influence to authority in control of those rules. --Executioner chief wasn't completely evil from the start. She was strict and ruthless but had certain sense of justice. However, as she was surrounded by people who followed her every order without question it gave her too much power. This power eventually turned her into complete monster. When Akudama still had individuality to distinguish good and evil and not get brainwashed by society. Even more evil like Doctor, despite choosing evil still had individuality to see bigger picture. When all civilians and police forces created tyranny by following law.

[@SirEvilestDeath]

This was my favorite thing to watch the season it aired. I rewatched it three times once while the English Dub was going on. It had basically everything I wanted in a show and more I even have been buying up all the merchandise from it I can. I need it on disk like yesterday already please.

[@poky4669]

Well said! I never actually realized when watching the show how Cutthroat's existence parallels Killer Killer, but as soon as you talked about his inability to form relationships suddenly the connection was clear to me!

[@projectepsilon9851]

i think it's really masterful how they wrote a normal person to be so powerful

[@SchmitzCinemaStudies]

Nice video. Akudama was one of the best anime of last year for sure.

[@ckkrzuwwhotchi1465]

This anime is just Underrated

[@sh_i_ro]

this show is a masterpiece

[@PersianSlashuur]

This anime needed more attention.

[@billyhorseleg1510]

Great video! I liked Akudama Drive and I think I like it even more after watching this

[@FlameSkull95]

As someone who didn't find much enjoyment from the show, I was still compelled by it's ideas, and this video is the capitulation of those.

[@upg5147]

May I ask why now? I thought it's first half was super bombastic and enjoyable while having enduring characters and a mystery to keep you hooked.

[@FlameSkull95]

@@upg5147 well it's due to the first half itself, while it had plenty of action and decent moments, I was personally more attached to the dynamics between the crew, and also began to gain more thematic value by the end of the entire story, plus the censorship of gore also sort of diminished my enjoyment of it. I don't particularly dislike the show (which probably sounds contradictory), but I also wasn't seeking my teeth into it that much, but I'll still give credit where it's due. I hope I got that across.

[@upg5147]

@@FlameSkull95 Hmm interesting. I personally find it dropped the ball in the final episodes from where Cutthroat goes crazy onward. I didn't like a lot of what happened then.

[@FlameSkull95]

@@upg5147 Fair enough

[@FlameSkull95]

I also wanna make this very late addendum, by saying that a lot of the Doctor stuff felt rather cheap to me, and the conclusion to her arc didn't feel very satisfying, but that's more of a complaint I have rather than an actual issue I'm pointing towards the show itself@@upg5147

[@brackets182]

About the part at 5:30, aren't the executioners controlled because they fear losing something, since their desires are kept in check by their duty to their partner? Since you said people cannot be controlled if they are driven by the things fear losing?

[@44hkt]

Your videos are honestly the best

[@Burns748]

Great anime, great analyst

[@idreadFell365]

Quite the hidden gem

[@souta79]

Doctor get killed because she wanted to control and she lastly died losing to shinkansen that people step on her she lost to the thing the ignored the faith of the people.

[@nurlindafsihotang49]

Is this anime inspired by Dovtoyevsky's "crime and punishment" and "tale of 2 cities" with hints of "I'll principe" and "Discourse" by Machiavelli?

[@murderman8578]

2nd Half felt Weaker and Rushed in terms of the Thematical Writing and the Executioner Character

[@upg5147]

100%. The series went downhill a bit with the cutthroat episode where he goes crazy.

[@murderman8578]

@@upg5147 Meant the Female Executioner incomplete character Arc which goes nowhere

[@upg5147]

@@murderman8578 Was it incomplete?

[@murderman8578]

@@upg5147There wasn't any resolution in her character

[@upg5147]

@@murderman8578 I don't remember much can you give me a breakdown?

[@rodrickcarter4793]

Hey man why don't you do one Japanese pc

[@nicholasbodo4327]

Weeaboo Club brought me here.