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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)


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japanese-language akame-ga-kill
What does 'Akame ga Kill' mean and why is it called that?


According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akame_ga_Kill!), _Akame
ga Kill!_ translates to _Red-Eye Kill!_ :

> _**Akame ga Kill!**_ (Japanese: アカメが斬る! Hepburn: _Akame ga Kiru!_ ,
> literally meaning "Red-Eye Kill!")

There is basis for that, Red = Aka 赤 (アカ) and Eye = Me 目 (メ)

As you can see, the katakana for Akame is used rather than the hiragana since
it's used for a character's name so it's describing her perfectly: she has red
eyes.

As for the last part, kiru (斬る), while one could just pass it off as a crappy
translation to English because it sounds like kill, it apparently does mean
kill:

> to kill (a human) using a blade (sword, machete, knife, etc.), to slice
> (off), to lop (off), to cut (off)
>
> Kanji in this word
>
> 斬: beheading, kill, murder

Source: [japandict](http://www.japandict.com/%E6%96%AC%E3%82%8B). Alternated
sources to support:
[wiktionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%96%AC%E3%82%8B),
[Glosbe](https://glosbe.com/ja/en/%E6%96%AC%E3%82%8B).

All of these definitions seem to point to a sword being used, which is what is
depreciated on the cover of volume 1:

![Volume 1 Cover](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8jIg6.jpg)

As for why that name, I haven't watched/read the series and can't answer, but
I dare say your linked question
[here](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/16761/1587) asking why she's the
title character may explain that part (when it gets an answer), however I
posted this answer (while incomplete) hoping that it would help someone
complete the answer.


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This is straightforward if you know Japanese. 斬る _kiru_ is a verb meaning "to
cut", with the specific nuance of "to kill with a blade". Which is what Akame
does, which is why the show is named "Akame ga Kiru", which means "Akame cuts"
or "Akame kills with a blade".

The English title "Akame ga Kill" is a fortuitous coincidence owing to the
fact that the Japanese pronunciation of English "kill" is also _kiru_ , and
"kill" means more or less the same thing as 斬る _kiru_.

> 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

No, that guy was wrong (or perhaps [a master
ruseman](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/john-is-kill)). There isn't any
interpretation of the title under which it could mean "Akame is kill".

> As another user points out, a general translation would be _Akame Kills_ ,
> but that would be a very stupid name, wouldn't it?

What's stupid about it? That's what the whole bloody story is about - Akame
(and the rest of Night Raid) killing.

* * *

Now, as for why Akame specifically is the title character, that I don't know.
But it is the case that she is the one most wont to killing with a blade (as
opposed to, say, a gun or a fist or whatever). Would the title make as much
sense if it were "Tatsumi cuts" / "Tatsumi kills with a blade"? No, because he
doesn't do that all that much.

Given that they lampoon Akame's lack-of-main-character-ness in the show, I
don't know that there's too much to read into this. Maybe she's the title
character because the artist liked drawing her on the manga covers or
something. It's not like the reason for her being the title character needs to
be particularly deep.


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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.


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Well, actually I wouldn't go so far as to relate this to some person she has
killed or whatever. I rather think that the sentence "Akame ga kill" could
loosely be translated to:

> Akame has killed.

Following this thought, one could say that it just means all kills and bad
things the Night Raid did were pinned on Akame, as Akame in episode 24
suggested. She could be the symbol for all sins committed by the Night Raid.
Instead of making the title "The Night Raid has killed", the title refers to
the future and reflects the impression of the uninvolved people such as the
villagers from the hometown who still think Tatsumi is alive; they aren't as
informed as the soldiers or the revolutionaries and so it would be possible to
make them believe all crimes had been committed by the sole Akame.

Well that's how I interpret the title.


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Akame ga Kill, is a dark thriller with a male protagonist, that being said, a
lot of media regarding dark emotions doesn't have the main character's
attributes in the title. The title references the theme, and is in third
person from the protagonist's point of reference (They don't necessarily need
to say the title out loud in the media).

In the title "Death becomes her" Bruce Willis is the protagonist, kinda dark.
"She lives!" is about a cancer patient with the BF as the main character and
he tries to make her life meaningful in the short time. These types of stories
almost always have the main character identify with the titular character and
at some point accept them for who they are.

"Akame Ga Kill" is the main Character's Tatsumi's statement at sometime in
this series which ultimately came from his experiences living with a family of
assassins; it also can reference to the point that his main inspiration
kills/cuts/incises(as in surgery). Tatsumi has to redeem his friends as well
as the innocents killed by the evil empire, Akame kills the evil empire, so
killing the evil empire has become normal. It is to reference the main theme,
and is a clever enough title to reference many themes in the story.


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Simple. You say Akame isn't the main female character. To me she is. Maybe the
mangaka felt about it like this as well but just didn't want to put too much
attention on her either since Tatsumi is the main character overall. Think
about it for a second. Akame gets the most in depth background story of all
the female characters in the anime. She's by far the most interesting one as
well. Also, the anime ends with her standing at the end dealing the final
fight. Not Tatsumi. Not Mine. Not Sheele. Not Leo. No. Akame. So therefore,
Akame ga Kill.


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