Gachiakuta

As time passes, it gets harder and harder for any shonen series to really make an impact on the world of anime. The genre is home to some of the most iconic anime shows of all time, but in recent years, has also been churning out some real, for lack of a better word, slop. Gachiakuta had caught my eye since the day that its anime adaptation was announced, with its interesting premise, and gritty art style, but I would be lying if I said my hopes were astronomically high for this series. Thankfully though, by the end of its first season, Gachiakuta had proven me wrong.

Today, we’re reviewing Gachiakuta, and spoilers do lie ahead! If you want to check out the show for yourself before reading on, make sure you do so! I think this series is definitely worth a watch if you’re a shonen fan, so keep that in mind before spoiling it for yourself! With that being said, let’s get into this review!

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Gachiakuta Review

Image by Bones Film

The premise of Gachiakuta is unique from the jump – a young boy living in the slums of The Sphere is falsely accused of murdering his adoptive father, and is sentenced to live out his life in The Pit, a massive dump site below The Sphere. Where the plot goes from here isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it’s a solid and distinctive concept to work from, allowing all of your typical shonen goodness to unfold. With this in mind, I think the worldbuilding in Gachiakuta is easily one of my favourite aspects of the series. Throughout this first, 24-episode season, our characters travel around several distinct locations within The Pit, and all of them feel pretty well fleshed-out, like these areas are actually being lived in, as opposed to just used as plot devices.

The worldbuilding in Gachiakuta also helps to complement the series’ cast of characters. Though this first season hasn’t dived too far into many of these characters backstories, with the exception of Rudo and Zanka, it’ll be interesting to see how these characters are placed within the world that Gachiakuta is actively building as the anime moves forward. With an abundance of characters and locations, Gachiakuta has a lot of moving parts to it, and somehow, they all fit together extraordinarily well, never feeling too rushed or cramped at any point. It would be easy for such a large cast, and such a diverse landscape, to quickly spiral out of control, but I think that Kei Urana, the author of the Gachiakuta manga, holds everything together in one of my personal favourite ways – character design.

I could talk for hours about the character design in Gachiakuta. For a show that takes place in a literal land of garbage and filth, the world and its characters are bursting with life and colour. Almost all of the characters in this show were seared into my brain from their very first appearance, thanks to how stunningly designed they are. Kyouka Nijiku showed up for approximately ten minutes in the very last episode of the season, and her design is instantly iconic to me. Whether it’s Enjin, with his bright yellow aura and undeniable charm, Riyo, with her illuminous-green scissors and scissor-shaped hair to match, or Rudo himself, with his scrawny build and bright red eyes, each and every character is designed so distinctively from each other, possessing a uniqueness that shonen anime often only afford to their protagonist. This grace is extended to the first season’s antagonists, with Jabber, Amo, and Noerde all looking extremely memorable. Some characters, such as Bundus, and even the main antagonist thus far, Zodyl, do fall flat a little in this department, but the rest of the series’ characters more than make up for their relative drabness.

Image by Bones Film

Something that really helps the cast of Gachiakuta stand out is the show’s diversity, and while I don’t feel the need to state the obvious, I do feel that having a female author helps the series thrive in this regard (as a quick aside, I’m aware that Kei Urana used to use gender-neutral pronouns, but now appears to go by female pronouns, so I’ll be using ‘she’ going forward). Urana’s identity certainly gives Gachiakuta a unique feel, in an otherwise often male-dominated space. Not only are the female characters in this show a far cry from how women are often represented in this genre, but the anime also contains strong representation from a racial perspective, with characters like Semiu and Arkha standing out as some of the most memorable, and respectfully-depicted black anime characters in years.

The series’ diversity when it comes to its cast is also reflected in how the story of Gachiakuta is written. At times, it does fall in line with your typical shonen tropes and storytelling, but often enough, the series actually breaks tradition in very effective ways. Whether it’s our main character, Rudo, slipping into a blind rage and unabashedly attacking Amo, or Riyo recognising that her enemy has her on the ropes, and simply whipping out a gun to finish the fight, Gachiakuta so often diverts the flow of its episodes in thrilling and disarming ways. The show also does feature some fanservice, particularly with Amo, but quickly reroutes the nature of her sexualisation when Episode 13 dives into her tragic, and shocking backstory, which was easily one of the most disturbing episodes of anime I’ve seen all year. In short, Gachiakuta does things differently, and its refusal to conform from a narrative perspective perfectly suits its punk-infused aesthetic.

Thankfully, the shonen essentials are still covered here, so I think the net that Gachiakuta is casting for its fanbase is still pretty wide. The action sequences here are very well-animated, and though the occasional use of some janky CGI does throw off the smoothness of the experience, the production quality of the show remains polished, which is especially impressive considering this anime is coming from Bones Film, who only recently released the action-packed extravaganza that was the final season of My Hero Academia. The fights in this series are flashy and filled with personality, helped by villains such as Jabber, Noerde, and Cthoni, who would deliver unique and compelling battles, even if the animation was a complete disaster. The show is also pretty funny, with some genuinely hilarious moments coming from Rudo’s awkward personality, and the antics of side characters like Remlin Tysark and August Stilza.

Image by Bones Film

As much as I adored Gachiakuta for the most part, it would be wrong of me to ignore some of the show’s flaws, so let’s talk about them now. Funnily enough, when the action takes to the forefront of this anime in its second half, I actually think it falters a little. The fights are entertaining for sure, but I think that focusing solely on one-on-one battles for most of this season’s back half was a mistake. The most memorable moments from Gachiakuta’s second half actually came about when the fighting was put on pause, and characters were given moments to speak and interact with each other. It’s not hard to see why a shonen naysayer would have some trouble with this series when it comes to its second half, whereas I think anyone could find at least something to enjoy about the first 13 or so episodes.

I also need to talk a little about The Sphere, aka the one element of Gachiakuta that feels woefully underdeveloped, which may be owed to how quickly we are rushed out of it in the first episode. As of now, the plot of this series hinges on Rudo wanting to return to his hometown, above The Pit in The Sphere. Unfortunately, we spend so little time there, and Rudo seems to be having such a good time down in The Pit with his gang of friends, it feels almost pointless for him to want to get back up there, with the exception of him carrying out some sort of revenge. His one tie to The Sphere, Regto, is dead, so Rudo’s goal feels a little misinformed. This wasn’t really an issue in this first season, because there was so much else going on. However, if Gachiakuta Season 2 decides to take a closer look at Rudo’s return to The Sphere, we may be in for some rocky and half-baked storytelling. Only time will tell!

So ultimately, I thought that Gachiakuta was an anime that far exceeded my expectations, and carved out a spot for itself in the shonen world through its unique premise, diverse cast of characters, and killer aesthetic. Whether the storytelling and worldbuilding will fall apart in the future is a question that only time, and a second season, can answer, but for now, I’m loving this show, and can’t wait to see it return. What do you think of this series? Be sure to let us know, and thanks for reading!

See also: Ranma ½ Season 2 Review

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Where to Watch Gachiakuta?

Image by Bones Film

You can stream all episodes of Gachiakuta now on Crunchyroll. A second season has been officially confirmed by Bones Film as of the airing of the season finale, however details are scarce. Hopefully we don’t have to wait too long to return to The Pit!

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