So, one thing I will immediately say about this show - it does some stuff really well. The characters, animations, action scenes and most of the story stretches from good to great. However, having an ending that feels conflicted (and made me conflicted about this whole show) and a few 'drama over logic'-things present throws the show away from the Anime Hall of Fame and into a basket of 'yeah sure, it's good, but it disappoints'.
Spoiler: 8 out of 10 main characters die. Brutally. And the main character is one of them. All of these deaths are well executed (no pun intended) except for the main character's, which is rather ironic. But it doesn't hide the fact that a few were completely unnecessary, or just served to further the plot or remove plot elements such as romantic interests, probably to keep the viewer guessing.
That's one of the major faults - the treatment of the wonderful characters. Most of them are killed, at appropriate and logical points, which creates a good sense of continuity as their 'Imperial Arms' are inherited by other members of the team or even by enemies.
But then one of the assassins are killed in an episode that basically screams it out a good while before it happens (having the stereotypical 'what are you gonna do when this is over'-talk with the main character) and it just goes downhill from there, with the main character dying by the next-to-last episode, being dead in the finale (wtf) and another lovable character dying tragically for no other reason than the creator's wanting Akame and the forgettable 'Boss' left standing. Akame for the sake of the show's symbolism and an after-credits scene.
There's the issue of the tone as well, with the show being extremely brutal and gory but also very, very childish in it's humor. Many of the shonen-anime clichées are there. Harem, nosebleeds, chibi faces. Honestly, I wouldn't be able to stand the crap if it weren't for the fact that the humor is decent. But it really doesn't sit well when people are killed left and right. Especially one character only got mentioned TWICE after he died awfully, despite being an integral part of the team. It was simply poorly written out of a logical standpoint.
With that said, if you're looking for a complete story arc, some awesome fights and some stereotypical shonen anime with a couple of flaws, I recommend this.
Though I'll never forgive the creators unless there's some sort of sequel series with Akame as the main character...
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