Gachiakuta is a stylish anime with one of the coolest power systems I've seen in a while. However, these are not the reasons why it stands out. Gachiakuta tells one of the most visceral stories I've seen in a shonen show. This anime is not about the struggle for a better future, but about the feelings of those who survive in a merciless world.
Main character Gachiakuta Rudo, a boy who, after witnessing the murder of his adoptive father, was thrown off the edge of a floating island called the Sphere (ironically called Heaven) to die for a crime he did not commit. Social segregation is especially noticeable in the field. The island's wealthy citizens live in luxury in glowing white buildings in the center of the island. There are slums around them. Under the Sphere, Rudo discovers a new world at the bottom of the “Pit”, a devastated land polluted by endless streams of garbage dumped by the citizens of the upper world.
Unlike other shonen, it is difficult to find a source of hope in them. Gachiakuta. While the citizens of Heaven are cruel and unfair to those they consider lesser, the ethics of the Pit (known as “earth” by its inhabitants) are based on survival. There are good places on the surface, such as Canvas Town, where only those with virtuous intentions can enter. But these are flickering lights in a dark ocean of evil and danger.
Even the characters in Gachiakuta this is not your average shonen gang, although the story does use some of the genre's conventions. There's a cute girl who could be Rudo's love interest, and a hot-tempered dude who's actually a good guy. Despite this, the relationship between the Purifiers (a group of people with special abilities that Rudo joins) never develops into a beautiful friendship. It's more like camaraderie between colleagues. No “Naruto fights Sasuko at the waterfallThey respect and protect each other, but there is no deep intimacy between them.
When we first meet Rudo, he seems like an ordinary shonen hero. Like Naruto, he is an orphan who is turned off by being different from others. Much like Midoriya, Naruto, and Luffy, Rudo's power proves to be one of the most powerful abilities in the series. But Rudo's anger belongs only to him. The boy has a sweet side – he cares about the girl he likes and gets mad when he tries candy for the first time – but his goal is to return to the Sphere and take revenge. Rudo is driven not by a romantic sense of justice or an idealized dream of a better world, but by anger that burns and consumes him.
Cruel and sad reality Gachiakuta is introduced slowly throughout the first 11 episodes, but it is episode 12 where the series' darkest colors are painted with merciless brushstrokes.
The Cleaners are searching for a girl who claims to have seen an angel descend from heaven, which could lead to important information about the way to get to Heaven. In the middle of the desert, they meet Amo Empul, a seemingly harmless girl who does not carry a weapon or wear a mask to protect herself from the poisonous air of the area. Once at Amo's house, the group members become bewitched by her ability to control others, bringing back their most cherished memories.
Once the situation was resolved and Amo was under control, I expected the Purifiers to simply get the information they needed and move on. But instead of being a benevolent protagonist, Rudo reveals that he is as cruel as the world around him. Enraged by what Amo did to them, he punches her in the face several times until the other members restrain him.
As if Rudo's brutal response wasn't enough, Amo begins to share his story with the group. We learn that her mother sold her to an elderly merchant, who turned Amo into his sex slave. As a child, she coped by accepting the man's gifts and his explanation that what he did to her was an act of love. These flashback scenes are drawn by a small child using a few crayons, using erratic movements to convey his pain. Amo knew what was happening was bad, but instead of fighting, she did everything she could to survive.
Watching a story about sexual abuse come from a child's perspective is scary, but Rudo's behavior and Amo's story are just a few small examples of how ruthlessly Gachiakuta is. In a cruel world where there is no justice, violence becomes the only acceptable language.
This violence represents every bit Gachiakutafrom the thrash punk style to the guttural singing of the opening song. Closer in tone and spirit to Man with a chainsaw how My Hero Academia, Gachiakuta tells a story not about heroes, but about ordinary people faced with a world of injustice.
