What does 'Akame ga Kill' mean and why is it called that?


Just what the title says, why is the show called **_Akame ga Kill!_** and what
does it even mean? Akame was just an ordinary member of _Night Raid_ , yet the
show is named after her. She wasn't the main Protagonist, she wasn't even the
main _Waifu_! And as this **unanswered** [question mentions
here](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/16761/why-is-akame-the-center-
of-attention), the only difference was:

> She fought Esdeath, the primary antagonist, and ultimately survived.

I googled a bit and came across [this
link](http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/2000121-anime-and-manga-other-
titles/69737130), according to which **_Akame ga Kill!_** literally means:

> Akame _is_ kill

So what does that even mean? Does it mean that Akame is Death itself, or Akame
is Dead (Not physically, but mentally - that she is dead inside). But I doubt
that either of these interpretations are correct since she acts all cutesy
from time to time.

As another user points out, a general translation would be _Akame Kills_ , but
that would be a very stupid name, wouldn't it? So can anyone help clear this
up?

* * *

**Edit:** Even Akame knows something's not right (from _AkaKILL Theater
Episode 24 - END_ ).

![Something's up](https://i.stack.imgur.com/07akr.png)




To reiterate, アカメが斬る ( _Akame ga Kiru_ ) means "Akame cuts/slices/kills".
_Kiru_ also has another meaning: "to perform surgical incision", though the
kanji is 切る in the case of this definition. This aligns well with the settings
of the series: the goal of Akame and her group is to perform the necessary
surgery on the corrupted empire by eliminating the tumors.

What is missing in the title are the objects, the targets that Akame kills. In
episode 1, Tatsumi said 「俺が斬る」 ( _Ore ga Kiru_ ), which means "let me kill
(her)" or "I'll kill (her)". Even though there was no object specified, we
could infer whom Tatsumi would kill. As for whom and what Akame kills,
アカメが(Xを)斬る, the object X can be [any of those in the chapter
titles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Akame_ga_Kill!_chapters#Akame_ga_Kill.21).
Granted, it wasn't always Akame who did the killings, but she is actually a
personification of Death (see explanation below) because her lethal and
efficient one-cut-kill is befitting of Reaper's Scythe.

> Does it mean that Akame is Death itself, or Akame is Dead (Not physically,
> but mentally - that she is dead inside).

Actually, that is my thought exactly. In episode 24,

> Esdeath remarked that Akame is no longer human. It makes sense because
> Murasame's one-cut-kill doesn't work on non-human beings, or more precisely,
> beings without a beating heart, which is why Akame didn't die after cutting
> herself with it because she became Death. Also at the end, Akame said "I can
> only kill" because that is her newly acquired job as Death. Najenda and
> Akame, the only two survivors of Night Raid in the anime, actually symbolize
> Life and Death, as shown by them wearing [capes of opposite
> colors](https://i.stack.imgur.com/oKIjE.jpg) and carrying out opposite roles
> of constructing and destroying for the new empire.

> Akame was just an ordinary member of Night Raid, yet the show is named after
> her. She wasn't the main Protagonist, she wasn't even the main Waifu!

[Princess
Mononoke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke#Production) is also
named after San who is not the main protagonist, even though Hayao Miyazaki
had originally preferred the title _The Legend of Ashitaka_ and even went as
far as to create a new kanji for _legend_ (sekki). Although Akame is not the
main protagonist, like San, she is still indispensable to the plot, especially
in a symbolic way.

Why not name the series _Ore ga Kiru_ or _Tatsumi ga Kiru_? Well, because it
wouldn't be as intriguing as _Akame ga Kiru_. The readers would get hooked on
who is Akame and why does she have [red
eyes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedEyesTakeWarning), the
literal meaning of _akame_. (In Chinese, it so happens that there is a phrase
殺紅了眼 to describe a person who goes berserk from killing too many people that
his eyes turn red.) It's red eyes and not black eyes because the story is full
of the so-called "[leftist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics)"
ideas, hence the oft regarded [color of the
left](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_colour). Subjectivity aside, the
ordering also matters: _a_ is both the first letter in the English alphabet
and the first character in
[Gojuuon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goj%C5%ABon), so _Akame ga Kiru_ will
pop up earlier in searches than the alternatives.




To reiterate, アカメが斬る ( _Akame ga Kiru_ ) means "Akame cuts/slices/kills".
_Kiru_ also has another meaning: "to perform surgical incision", though the
kanji is 切る in the case of this definition. This aligns well with the settings
of the series: the goal of Akame and her group is to perform the necessary
surgery on the corrupted empire by eliminating the tumors.

What is missing in the title are the objects, the targets that Akame kills. In
episode 1, Tatsumi said 「俺が斬る」 ( _Ore ga Kiru_ ), which means "let me kill
(her)" or "I'll kill (her)". Even though there was no object specified, we
could infer whom Tatsumi would kill. As for whom and what Akame kills,
アカメが(Xを)斬る, the object X can be [any of those in the chapter
titles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Akame_ga_Kill!_chapters#Akame_ga_Kill.21).
Granted, it wasn't always Akame who did the killings, but she is actually a
personification of Death (see explanation below) because her lethal and
efficient one-cut-kill is befitting of Reaper's Scythe.

> Does it mean that Akame is Death itself, or Akame is Dead (Not physically,
> but mentally - that she is dead inside).

Actually, that is my thought exactly. In episode 24,

> Esdeath remarked that Akame is no longer human. It makes sense because
> Murasame's one-cut-kill doesn't work on non-human beings, or more precisely,
> beings without a beating heart, which is why Akame didn't die after cutting
> herself with it because she became Death. Also at the end, Akame said "I can
> only kill" because that is her newly acquired job as Death. Najenda and
> Akame, the only two survivors of Night Raid in the anime, actually symbolize
> Life and Death, as shown by them wearing [capes of opposite
> colors](https://i.stack.imgur.com/oKIjE.jpg) and carrying out opposite roles
> of constructing and destroying for the new empire.

> Akame was just an ordinary member of Night Raid, yet the show is named after
> her. She wasn't the main Protagonist, she wasn't even the main Waifu!

[Princess
Mononoke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke#Production) is also
named after San who is not the main protagonist, even though Hayao Miyazaki
had originally preferred the title _The Legend of Ashitaka_ and even went as
far as to create a new kanji for _legend_ (sekki). Although Akame is not the
main protagonist, like San, she is still indispensable to the plot, especially
in a symbolic way.

Why not name the series _Ore ga Kiru_ or _Tatsumi ga Kiru_? Well, because it
wouldn't be as intriguing as _Akame ga Kiru_. The readers would get hooked on
who is Akame and why does she have [red
eyes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedEyesTakeWarning), the
literal meaning of _akame_. (In Chinese, it so happens that there is a phrase
殺紅了眼 to describe a person who goes berserk from killing too many people that
his eyes turn red.) It's red eyes and not black eyes because the story is full
of the so-called "[leftist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics)"
ideas, hence the oft regarded [color of the
left](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_colour). Subjectivity aside, the
ordering also matters: _a_ is both the first letter in the English alphabet
and the first character in
[Gojuuon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goj%C5%ABon), so _Akame ga Kiru_ will
pop up earlier in searches than the alternatives.

