The fall 2020 anime season is one of the best seasons that has bestowed us in a while; many great anime has aired this season such as JJK, Dragon quest, and Haikyuu; and AOT has come back to secure its throne with its much-anticipated final season.
However, there is one anime that is everyone is sleeping on. AKA akudma drive. Akudama drive has been getting more attention each week because of the quality of the show increasing each episode. Akudama drive has very stylish cyberpunk setting, with a suicide squad type of plot. At first it may seem very generic, but it’s actually filled with multiple crazy plot twist, and an insane entertaining bunch of characters to keep you invested.
Now let’s dissect why you should be watching akudama drive shall we!
Stylish cyberpunk setting
Akudama drive takes place in a futuristic japan, where kantou and western kansei divided after kantou dropped a nuke on kansai. We follow a group criminal from Kansai called akudama. They are a bunch of randoms who have been incarcerated for major crimes.
The setting of akudama drive’s Kansai is brimming with cyberpunk aesthetics, with a fake disguise of paradise masking a stench of dystopian propaganda bloated with an abundance of neon lights and corporate commercials plaguing the environment. The citizens of Kansai watch live exactions of akudama for entertainment; similar to psycho pass where the citizens cheer as someone is being brutally murdered on the street.
As the plot develops, the stark contrast between the corruption of Kansai, the nuclear wasteland between both regions and the shallow utopian world of Kantou adds an extra layer of mystery to akaudams bizarre setting. This is a very common theme in dystopian cyberpunk stories; the seemingly beautiful utopia ripe with corruption contrasting with the run-down forgotten abyss of poverty. Most notably with psycho pass, ghost in the shell, and akira.
The creator of akudama drive; aka known as the creators of daganronpda states they were inspired by Hollywood films of the 80s and 90s, such as the iconic blade runner, and Quentin tarantino films. Apparently, every episode is even based on famous movies such as reservoir dogs and mission: impossible, so if you enjoy those movies, akudama drive seems like a perfect watch for you!
The characters; generic yet unique
Akudama drive features a large cast of characters that don’t have real names. They go by codenames listed by their criminal charges; such as swindler, doctor, hacker, hoodlum etc... Very similar to your avid spy movie, such as james bond or spy kids.
The characters in akudama drive are very generic, following their tropes to the book. Hell, we have yet to see a single backstory! However, most of that is excused because of how entertaining these characters are! Their entire personality is defined by their codenames. The brute is an idiot who loves to fight, the hacker is a nerd that is excellent at hacking, the doctor is well a doctor, but with a slutty side lol. I don’t know where doctors being slutty came from, but hey I'm not complaining!
The only sane person is the swindler. She has no weird quirks, she’s just your avid normal girl put in a bad situation. To be honest, I don’t even recall her stealing things in the first place. Well, I guess hoodlum could be considered normal, but he’s too much of an edgelord for me to label him as that.
None of these guys are complex, they are all extremely one note and simple and that’s ok because of two reasons!
For one, they feel more real than your average anime character. Even with their limited personalities, their emotions, their goals, their relationships feel realistic.
And for my second reasoning, they all mesh well together in a weird way. Similar to suicide squad, where a unique bunch of individuals who would never hang out with each other, are forced to cooperate. Unlike suicide squad however, the group is actually fun to watch!
The Story
The story seems just as generic as the characters at first glance. It’s your typical dystopian cyberpunk sci-fi show, where the good guys are accused of being villains, so they stand up to the tyrannical govt for freedom. STOP YOU ARE WRONG! (Spoilers ahead, skip if you care) Akudama drive is filled with an abundance of insane plot twist that will wring your brain dry if you’re not prepared!
If you’re a fan of the creators most popular work, Daganronpa then these major plot twist should come to no surpise, as the twist of the mystery is what Danganronpa is beloved for.
Around the half way mark of the series, the plot changes from a suicide squad heist, to a thriller following swindler aka the MC protecting a little girl, as they try to survive and save her brother from the tyrannical govt, as they’re being targeted by the govt led by the partner of a fallen executioner who wants revenge.
While also being hunted down by cutthroat because he’s a male yandere who wants to see her guts; and the doctor targeting the twins to dissect them for her search for immortality. JUST WOW, AND THIS IS NOT EVEN HALF OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS INSANE STORY!
If this doesn’t sound intriguing to you, then I don’t know what to tell you! Akudama drive is the most underrated show of the season and will most likely go down as a dark horse cult classic!
