Akudama Drive

It's pretty promising and it's going to get better

Akudama Drive is a dystopian, cyberpunk rollercoaster ride of hype, excitement, and edginess that raises its stakes every episode that either adds to the enjoyment or irritation while watching, depending on what kind of entertainment viewers enjoy the most.

Don't expect a drama story that sticks with you because of how it deeply impacted your emotions, because the story in this anime is fairly straight-forward. It's basically what a cyberpunk version of Suicide Squad is, except if Suicide Squad itself was actually a good movie in the first place. You get a bunch of criminals, make them a team whether they like it or not, and assign them a mission that can only be done as a team, forcing them to cooperate with each other through their unique special set of skills. Where this anime kind of diverts from Suicide Squad is with the main character, Swindler, an innocent bystander who is forced to join the team of criminals called the "Akudama." Along the way, we get to see twists and turns, crazy fights, and high-octane action that is surprisingly decently written for the most part but kind of falls a little when approaching the end, which could be expected from a series that already has a chaotic premise and of course, its crazy cast of characters.

It is near impossible to talk about this series without talking about its main "driving" point: its characters. If you're here to expect relatable characters that undergo dramatic character development that turns their lives around, then you, the viewer, might as well be the one to turn around and stay away as you're not going to find that much substance with the characters here in this anime, as most of the time, they are just characters that start off as one or two-dimensional shells that are unlikeable, which I find to be a double-edged sword in this case. On one hand, they do develop overtime, but not as deep as you might expect. On the other hand, their characters at times kind of feel lacking by the time they get the spotlight in specific episodes. Regarding the villains, they are also just doing "bad guys doing bad guy things" for the most part, except for some that do get some characterization to at least make them stand out. In short, the characters are exactly what you might expect from a series as chaotic as this, which can simultaneously be a good thing and a bad thing.

While the anime's characters certainly aren't all that amazing, I couldn't say the same for its art. Studio Pierrot, good job on you, as this anime really does capture the vibe of what a cyberpunk dystopia is. Its character design and animation is phenomenal and I feel that Studio Pierrot really outdone themselves with this anime, which makes me ask how do they pull this off while juggling two long-running series at the same time. Its music also does its job well as it helps set up the "aesthetically brutal" world that the characters are in. I'd say the production in this anime is pretty great and if the aim was to create this feeling of a dark, technology-driven world, they certainly pulled it off well.

In summary, Akudama Drive is surprisingly good for its premise that I would consider to be risky, but it certainly delivered on its strong points while still having flaws that don't really affect the overall enjoyment of the show. If you want a "turn off your brain while watching (for the most part)" kind of anime, this is definitely it. Otherwise, just skip it. (7.5/10)

I don't know why I haven't heard more about this show. It's just so well done, there's very few things to nitpick about. That being said, there are still a few things. First of all, what was with some of the gore being censored with random stuff in front of the camera? The type of person that would be watching this show wouldn't care about that stuff. Maybe it's because of some rules they have regarding anime in Japan, I don't know. Second of all, there are very few people that you want to root for, and with the exception of the main character literally everyone in this show is a bad person. I guess that's why they call them akudama, huh. I like having some people in my anime that I can root for that are good people! That being said, some of the akudama are badass, like brawler. He was definitely the character I liked the most, even if my favorite character was the main one. The ending didn't really do it for me either, but I like a certain type of ending so I can see people going either way on whether they like it or not.

Now, the good stuff. The fighting and visuals. If this show had bad action and bad visuals, every single review would be like a 6 or lower. The story is interesting enough, but those are the two things that elevate it above any other anime. GODDAMN this show is gorgeous! It's more technically impressive than most anime, and the way it handles lighting is just fantastic! The cyberpunk nature of this show lends itself really well to everything else, too.

They would usually use this awesome lighting and visuals to make the already awesome action even more awesome. They'll have blue, or pink, or yellow, or some other color lighting things from a side or two, and for some reason that just makes the aesthetic so COOL! The action is really badass, too, with lots of fluid and well-choreographed fights. It's definitely more than a little unrealistic, though, with normal people surviving things that would normally turn you into a fine mist and brushing it off.

That's not to say that people don't die, though, they die A LOT. There is a ton of death and gore in this show, so if you're not into that I wouldn't watch this. Personally, I think if that was more my thing I probably would have given this a 10, but it's more of something that I don't care one way or another for.

There isn't really any character development in anyone but the main character, a an original side character, and two side characters you meet later on. One of the side characters we meet later on doesn't really go through much development, but the other one goes through a lot in what seems like a very short time. The one person they did really well was the main character. She develops believably and her entire character feels fleshed out. The other characters, while not that deep, make fun additions to the cast that improve the show.

Oh, and the transitions and character introductions are cool too! They only really keep it up for the first few episodes, but early on there are some really cool introductions and transitions between scenes that give it a kind of comic feel.

The story is fairly interesting, staring out with a heist and turning into a sort of revolution and survival type of thing. It's not the best story in the world, but with everything else this anime did right it didn't really need to be.

Overall, this is a badass, cyberpunk, heist, survival, action, martial arts, revolution, anti-hero, just plain cool anime that should get a lot more recognition.

Akudama Drive caught my attention due to it's vivid animation and the cyberpunk setting with some great music. An original anime with 12 episodes seemed interesting.

The plot was decent, and was executed properly in the first 7-8 episodes. However, around 10th episode, the momentum shifted gears out of nowhere and the story was super rushed. The 2 characters, Swindler and Doctor were the most annoying ones with no development whatsoever.

Although the animation was superb by Studio Peirrot, the story felt short towards the latter episodes and clocking the climax within 12 episodes resulted in a bit of disappointment. I would give high marks for the animation and the funky music throughout the anime, however the story was decent with unsatisfactory execution.

Pros : Amazing animation by Studio Peirrot Cyberpunk setting and the music used was good

Cons : The climax felt short of maintaining the momentum, which was built in first 8 episodes Rushed ending with no strong development of couple of lead characters There was too much chaos in the last 2 episodes which didn't felt connecting with the main storyline.

My Rating : 6/10.

First off: that ending shook me. (Okay onto the review)

At first glance this show looks somewhat generic, I had my doubts in the beginning. It starts off with not a very clear story line with much mystery as to where it is going, but you soon see it is something else. The characters are each unique in there own way, all of them mostly follow a basic anime character trope (but without spoiling anything) they all change as the show changes. At the end of each episode I find myself on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next and how everything will be resolved. The character development is outstanding on a select few of the cast. It's gripping story line leaves me wanting the next episode every single time.

In addition the art is beautiful (I myself love art and seeing this series makes my happy so I may be biased) the animation is wonderful and includes well choreographed and animated fight scenes.

In conclusion, akudama drive has much more to it than what you think (around episode 5-6 is when the plot twists start coming). Some episodes leave me absolutely speechless (I'm talking about you episodes 9 and 10). The ending concludes the series in a shocking way that leave you wondering, what happens now? I definitely recommend giving this one a try, it will not disappoint.

It is available on Funimation and Hulu as of 2020