Classic story elements reimagined with unique animation, heavy social symbolism, and diverse characters
Imagine a world with extreme class stratifications and aggressive indifference to the environment, where policing is extreme and justice is arbitrary. Gachiakuta brings viewers a new allegory for society’s shortcomings by using a fantastical concept to deal with real life issues. With heavy symbolism and archetypal characters, a gray world of trash, treasure, graffiti, and monsters becomes the dystopian setting for an angry child’s coming-of-age story.
Young Rudo lives in an elevated world called the Sphere, where society is divided into two geographically separate classes: the wealthy, snobbish elite and the poor, struggling working class that is despised by the elite. The community is policed by white-uniformed officers known as the Apostles. Rudo is an angry antisocial orphan being raised by his compassionate and thoughtful foster father. His biological father was executed by the elite’s police system, and the fate of his biological mother is not explained. His only connection is a pair of unusual gloves inherited from his biological father.
Rudo is an outcast even in his outcast community. He is obsessed with secretly repairing discarded items from the garbage, although doing so is not allowed in their society. In a moment of courage, he gifts a carefully repaired toy stuffed animal to a young girl who is his only friend in the Sphere.
Rudo’s poverty-stricken outcast existence is upended when he comes home to find his beloved adoptive father murdered. In the Sphere, those believed to be criminals are hung over an abyss and publicly dropped to their deaths as the preferred form of execution. Rudo is quickly blamed for the death, despite opposing evidence, and is sentenced to public execution even though he is only a child. No one supports him or comes to his defense, not even the girl he befriended. However, he somehow survives the very far fall to the hellish surface world below, which is covered with the bones of other victims, dangerous garbage, toxic air, and lethal monsters.
He is rescued by Enjin, a charismatic masked young man who helps Rudo survive in his new world. Enjin is part of a group called the Cleaners, specially gifted people who destroy the monsters in the wasteland and allow semi-safe communities to be created in other areas of the dismal surface world. The Cleaners use spiritually infused objects to channel their powers into individual weapons called vital instruments. Rudo’s special fighting prowess, through a series of unfortunate events, alerts Enjin that Rudo also has the power to be a Cleaner. However, Rudo just wants to find a way to return to the Sphere to kill those who wrongfully condemned him and those who murdered his adoptive father.
Throughout his time on the surface world, Rudo hones his fighting skills and reluctantly builds friendships with an eclectic team of fighters, support workers, and artists in the grungy Cleaner community. He also encounters various antagonists, all with unique motivations and some with disturbing and upsetting backstories.
Gachiakuta initially seems like a traditional coming-of-age shonen, drawing on elements of classic stories such as Naruto, Black Clover, and My Hero Academia. However, the show subverts the trope of the idealistic, determined hero by giving us Rudo as a protagonist who is (understandably) angry, cynical, distrustful, and violent. Rudo is the hero we would get if we let Naruto’s Sasuke or My Hero Academia’s Bakugo take the lead role. Rudo is also intensely immature. On the surface world he is dazzled by sweets (which he had never tasted before) and embarrassed to have a girl in his room. However, his true nature is anger. In one unexpected scene he loses control and beats a defeated opponent almost to death with his fists. In addition, his wrongful execution and the disturbing backstory of antagonists such as the child-like Amo, along with the surreal landscape of garbage-based monsters, make Gachiakuta seem closer to more mature and violent stories such as Hell’s Paradise.
Gachiakuta also stands out for its distinctive art style and character design. The intense facial features fit the cynical, fantastic vibe of people building a life out of decay and garbage. The characters are drawn with stylishly grunge clothes that fit the apocalyptic background. If aspects of the anime experience feel vaguely familiar, it may be because Gachiakuta is from the amazing Kei Urana. She worked with Atushi Ohkubo on Fire Force, and some of the story’s elements and design style resonate in a way that almost makes the two shows seem like different parts of the same larger universe.
The story of Gachiakuta also leans into very strong use of symbolism. Rudo is cast off by society and treated like garbage, but is saved and mentored by his foster father. In the same way, Rudo is obsessed with saving and repairing physical items that have been cast away as garbage. In the Sphere, the separation of the elite and the working class is symbolic of racism and classism. In the surface world, art, runes, tattoos, and graffiti are sacred expressions with physical power, and artists are essential to their society’s survival. Community is another strong theme, with Rudo building bonds with the confident Enjin, cynical Zanka, and cheerful Riyo. There is also a nice exploration of community, with the Cleaner team being made up of not just fighters but also equally important statisticians, support workers, and artists. The anime also has several distinctly Black characters in key roles, including the Cleaner’s team leader Corvus, the intellectual Semiu, and the antagonist raider Jabber.
Beyond the engaging art style and thoughtful social symbolism, Gachiakuta also has plenty of the usual shonen fighting and action, with dramatic monsters in the wastelands and lethal human antagonists trying to steal the weapons (vital instruments) owned by others. However, the show also delves into difficult subjects, including a particularly unexpected and heart-rending episode about sexual abuse.
With so many thoughtful visual and emotional elements, Gachiakuta is a unique storytelling experience that continues to build as each episode progresses. The worldbuilding is intense and sometimes slows down the narrative pace, but the overall effect of the symbolism and social commentary is unexpectedly powerful and fascinating as viewers follow Rudo through his resurrection into a world of outcasts and rejects who, despite society’s hierarchy, turn out to be the real heroes.
Nerd Coefficient: 7/10.
Highlights:
- Unique art style and heavy social symbolism
- Antihero energy
- Diverse characters and mature topics
POSTED BY: Ann Michelle Harris – Multitasking, fiction writing Trekkie currently dreaming of her next beach vacation.
