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Akame is just an ordinary member of Night Raid. She doesn't have an integral role in the plot, and she is not an essential character: her absence wouldn't had changed the framework of the story significantly.

Though she did fight an amazing battle, this doesn't seem like it should differentiate her from the others, because all the other members did the same thing. The only difference is that

she fought Esdeath, the primary antagonist, and ultimately survived.

However, on the other hand, the show is named after her. In addition, the opening and ending is full of portrayals of her. She takes most of the attention, but she doesn't seem to display a leading role.

Why is she emphasized so much, especially over the other characters?

Logan M
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hkBattousai
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    There may very well be a valid answer to this, but I think her being an `ordinary member of Night Raid` and `not an essential character` can be seen as somewhat opinion-based. –  Dec 15 '14 at 22:00
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    I vaguely remember hearing that Akame was originally going to be a more central character, but that that ended up changing along the way as more of the manga was written. I know of no source to support this claim, though. – senshin Dec 16 '14 at 00:39
  • About the "ordinary member" thing: At least in the manga, on missions and when Najenda is absent she´s essentially the boss (appointed by Najenda herself). And why the series name: The same thing could be asked about the manga... – deviantfan Dec 16 '14 at 19:06
  • I've heard something along the lines of what Senshin said and that the manga was going to be an h-manga before it became fully developed. Wiki listed the author's name is Takahiro and you'll find a lot of h-manga written by authors of a similar name, but I can't confirm this. – Hydromast May 03 '15 at 18:38

4 Answers4

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Very late to the party here, but as a writer, I can say that the "POV" and the "protagonist" are not the same thing, even though ~99% of the time in stories, shows, or films the POV character is in fact the protagonist.

It's hard to say for certain if it was intentional, but this makes it even more emotionally impactful when Tatsumi dies.

Gave this show additional rewatch value for me knowing that Akame is, in fact, the main character. Besides Tatsumi, she has the most character growth.

Kyle Smith
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I could be completely off base here, but honestly I think it's because

she is the one of the only ones who survive.

I think she is very central to the story, though. She just isn't your stereotypical front and center protagonist. She does have the most backstory, and they did create Akame ga KILL! Zero to further develop her character.

nhahtdh
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Christopher
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Akame, like all other Night Raid members, had a reason for joining. However, unlike the others,

she had to leave an actual relative behind on the government's side,

so she's already different from everyone else right off the bat, not to mention the fact that her sister (pretty much her past) came back later on in the series.

She had the most character development. Sure the author could've used any character to zero in on, but he chose Akame. As to why she was the center of attention, well, she was really the strongest one,

not to mention the only one who survived of nightraid.

So it's only natural that she was the center of attention.

Wouter
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Mica Chua
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Akame is the centre of attention because her role in the anime is to kill the minister or esdeath either so the story follows all of night raid however it shows akame more due to the her experiences as a imperial spy and being seperated from her sister. although tatsumi is the main protagonist and the main character its akame who has the main role of "assassin of the empire"

Kieren Ada
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  • Akame didn't kill the minister in the anime (Leone did). She only killed Esdeath. And the King was defeated by Tatsumi and later executed by Najenda. Therefore, it is a bit off to say that she is assassin of the empire from the anime. – nhahtdh May 03 '15 at 16:27
  • Guys both of you watch out for spoilers, place it in a spoiler tag or just don't mention spoiler sensitive information – Wouter Aug 07 '17 at 09:00