

As per [the wiki](http://akamegakill.wikia.com/wiki/Murasame), Murasme ...

> ... is a poisonous blade that can kill a person with only one cut. Once the
> sword pierces skin, it injects a lethal poison into the victim, killing them
> within seconds. Akame states that cleaning this weapon is very dangerous
> because of this ability.

In the anime, episode 24 to be exact, she cuts herself when fighting Esdeath
to get a massive power boost for a few minutes by supposedly using the
strength of all the people she has killed. Based on what I've seen in the
anime and the discussions around the blade, she should have died, why didn't
she?


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2014-12-16T14:53:03.737
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akame-ga-kill
Why didn't Akame die when she cut herself with Murasame?


It indeed is very confusing.

In episode 4 of the anime, Akame tells this to Tatsumi in the alley:

> Maintaining it is nerve-raking

referring to her sword. She continues and says

> If you accidentally cut your finger, you die instantly

Keeping the above in mind, I think there are three possibilities:

  1. She was not aware of the hidden power of the sword at that moment (in episode 4) and later on found that she can cut herself to get the cursed power for a short period. This behavior of an imperials arm has been seen at other places too, where Esdeath did not initially know that she can stop time, but she learned that after Tatsumi escaped her.
  2. She knew that if she cuts herself with her sword, she would get the cursed powers, but at that moment in episode 4, she wanted to signify that even an invincible looking imperial arms can have weaknesses.
  3. The last possibility is that the hidden ability of the sword cannot be simply invoked. So when she actually does not want to use the hidden ability and she gets cut by the sword, she might die.

Furthermore, in the last episode, while using the hidden ability, Akame thinks

> Even if this consumes me

which indicates that prolonged/over use of the ability might lead the user to
get consumed by the curse itself.

In any of three scenarios, I think the anime overall was really nice and it
just left some open ended questions to the imagination of the viewers.


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2014-12-25T10:30:35.160
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Many teigu (Imperial Arms) have demonstrated a deep connection with their
user, and they have shown to be very adaptable. Many teigu have a hidden
ability based on an extension of the teigu's root power:

  * [Incursio](http://akamegakill.wikia.com/wiki/Incursio)'s invisibility is derived from the Danger Beast, [Tyrant](http://akamegakill.wikia.com/wiki/Tyrant) that the armor was made from.
  * [Susanoo](http://akamegakill.wikia.com/wiki/Susanoo)'s power increases significantly by borrowing the power from its user's life force.
  * [Pumpkin](http://akamegakill.wikia.com/wiki/Pumpkin)'s power increases based on the user's emotional energy.
  * [Demon's Extract](http://akamegakill.wikia.com/wiki/Demon%27s_Extract) extends the power to freeze time and space.

Based on this, we can derive that a given teigu's "trump card" is an extension
of the original power.

It was previously stated by Lubbock that Akame couldn't use Murasame's hidden
ability for an unknown reason (chapter 52). There is no information that
alludes as to what this might be, though we can take a guess:

  * A prerequisite.

    * Killing her sister would be a likely one, as that was one big emotional hurdle for Akame.
    * Another possible prerequisite would be Akame's acceptance of those that she killed.
  * A risk.

    * Akame states "Even if this consumes me, I'll kill you." She must be aware of some risk that either drains life force (such as Susanoo) or causes some form of strain or harm to the user.
    * We also see that Akame is initially affected by the curse, but then the curse disappears. This could mean that Akame must overcome the curse in order to gain its power, whether it be a one-time event or once for each time that she activates this ability.

Until it is explained in the manga, we cannot be 100% certain the exact reason
she does not die. We already know that the poison is the key to activating
this trump card, and that she had to push back the effects of the poison to do
so. However there is no information stating why she couldn't use this ability
before, or how she is capable of using it now. However regardless of what
process she uses, she is nullifying the poison's effect and therefore won't
die from it.


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Murasame recognizes Akame as its true wielder, Murasame remembers all the
people Akame killed, and cutting herself knowing poison will go into her body
is taking responsibility for all the people Akame killed. The sword is
conscious, it can tell good from bad, you can piss it off too(the time an
enemy insulted the sword then tried to use it against Akame). Anyways,
resisting the poison, the sword gave her major power and speed boosts, fast
enough to leave an afterimage caused by Esdeaths bloodlust when she froze
time.


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SPOILER FROM MANGA!

> Whoever read the manga knows that Kurome is still alive, so how is Kurome's
> death the prerequisite to use the trump card? I think that is because the
> blade consumes the humanity of the user (I remember that Akame said that
> before) and, because of the risk and that the curse gave her a nice tattoo,
> the trump card can be only use once. So if she used that before, how she is
> supposed to face the world's strongest women?


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2016-05-13T08:34:32.657
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I had assumed it's because she has an affinity with the blade. And like
Esdeath, she overcame its curse. The reason why she mentions maintaining it is
nerve-wracking could be out of fear of harming others around her, or because
the power of cutting herself with the blade is so draining that it would
eventually kill her. So naturally she'd only ever want to do that in a life or
death situation, like the final battle.


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2019-08-15T20:52:43.020
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Akame already knew about the trump card when she first got murasame and what
will happen to her if she uses the trump card. Her father told her before she
killed him and took murasame. He said that you have to discard your own
humanity to use the trump card meaning she has to kill the person she loved
the most. The curse is slowly killing her. she will die at a young age. but
the main reason why she didn't get killed by murasame when she cut herself is
because she will carry all the lives that she took with murasame with her. you
have to kill the person you love the most and accept all the lives you took
with murasame and bring out your inner demon. thats why she didn't die. i hope
this helps you


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