Akudama Drive is pure madness. It has all the action-packed mayhem of a 1980s B-movie, taken to ludicrous extremes with orgasmic animation and insane characters. It uses the classic cyberpunk aesthetic to tell a story saturated with razor-sharp social criticism and vibrant neon lights.

This anime is a combination of Blade Runner and Psycho-Pass, lovingly brought to life by Kodaka, the creator of Danganronpa. It shouldn't work, but it does.

And it's god damn amazing.

The story follows an ordinary person, a girl mistakenly labeled as an Akudama; One of the most dangerous and highly skilled criminals in the city of Kansai. She becomes known as "Swindler" for being falsely accused of a petty thief. Along with six other Akudama, she must evade the militarized police pursuing them. If they manage to escape alive and retrieve a package for a mysterious bidder, they'll each earn 10 million dollars.

All seven Akudama are wildly entertaining; each has such a unique character design and a distinctive persona, they could lead their own shows. It might seem strange at first, but we only know them by their criminal labels: Swindler, Cutthroat, Courier, Hacker, Brawler, Hoodlum, and Doctor. Their faces are plastered on billboards with these names. They only matter because there's a bounty on their heads. Real names are irrelevant in this world. In Kansai, a person's life is worth less than a candy bar; human life is a commodity, just like in real life. People fight, buy, and sell human beings. One of this anime's clear messages is, human dignity is gone, alluding to a very plausible future.

Watching these unstoppable badasses fend off executioners and deliver surprisingly hilarious one-liners is always exhilarating. Wisely, the anime ups the stakes by pairing its merciless and seemingly impenetrable Akudama with Swindler, an empathetic and innocent bystander. The action is easy to follow, with a violent neon visual spectacle overflowing with sakuga and impressive visual effects unseen in modern anime.

Once you become an Akudama, you no longer have human rights. The police will mercilessly execute you without trial. Kansai's government isn't a democracy; it is a world owned by the top 1%. Anyone, even innocent people, can be declared a criminal; It's eerily similar to how the police abuse their power every day. That's how Swindler gets wrapped up in everything. She's our window into this crazy world—like the audience's avatar. Rarely are blank slate characters done right, but Swindler's is one of the lucky few. Her hollow personality is like a sponge; she absorbs all of the fucked up things happening around her and develops into an entirely new person. A lot of people have criticized her for lacking characterization, but they're missing the point. She is you, and she's everyone. She's relatable in the sense that she also has no idea what the fuck is happening. As she learns about the world, so do we. Often, she comments aloud on what's happening, like a narrator. Her commentary is helpful when the action gets intense. Then there are times when it feels like the show is holding our hand, which is fine. The pacing is so fast that it helps to have someone fill in the blanks. We're smart enough to figure things out.

Misguided critics have said that this anime is unrealistic, too stupid, and comical. No shit, sherlock. This show is self-aware. From the beginning, it's clear the only logic it adheres to is the rule of cool. Courier rides his motorcycle on the sides of buildings, equipped with a massive railgun and grappling hook. Brawler can catch bullets with his teeth and shoot them like a gun. The logical consistency of Akudama Drive is in its themes: Capitalism, policing, colonialism, the death penalty, and fascism. I can't overstate how bloody this anime is. It is cartoonish, and the color palette is straight out of a comic book. I can't say it's realistic, but it's impactful—blood sprays everywhere like fountains, guts, and gore spill out in plain sight. It might be humorous at times, but this is intentional. Death is meaningless to the police in this world—not even the main characters are safe. Every death is impactful and serves a purpose in the story.

Every criminal and citizen is disposable; if they disobey the executioners, then they are labeled a criminal and killed on sight. The reason why criminals exist in this world is to justify execution—not to protect people. This anime makes a great point at saying none of the Akudama deserve to die: Brawler simply likes fighting with other super-strong people, Swindler saves cats and would never hurt a fly, Hoodlum is an average joe with great hair, Courier just does his job, and Hacker never hurt an innocent person. They're all fine people: except for Doctor and Cutthroat, who are abusers, manipulators, and traitors to the real Akudama. The writers make a point to give the abusers exactly what they deserve. Throughout the show Swindler and Hoodlum especially endure abuse, however, they are the focus. We enter their headspace and they get a chance to seek revenge. It's magnificent how they handle abuse 100 times better than your average anime.

Purely as a sci-fi action show, it's brilliant; Incredible tension, animation, and visuals. Akudama Drive achieves its visual excellence through the marriage of 2D art and CGI. Not the overreliance on one or the other. The kinetic action sequences are dazzlingly realized with digital compositing by Kazuhiro Yamada. He was responsible for Attack on Titan's excellent action sequences blending 3D background art with 2D action animation. He also worked with the animators to render all the holographic neon effects, beautifully enhancing the background art and every action sequence. Similar to Danganronpa, the background art transitions piece by piece as if a stage is gets rearranged. All of its visual idiosyncrasies culminate in one unique aesthetic.

Like all great sci-fi thrillers, Akudama Drive uses over-the-top action to tell a story about social inequities in modern society. Cyberpunk settings are hard to make unique. Yet Akudama Drive provides a brilliant new interpretation of the genre—this is a show that pokes fun of our modern-day police system and the corrupt government. Kansai is quite literally a militarized police state. It's a frighteningly believable totalitarian state controlled by a politically motivated police force that watches the citizens' every move. In this world, resistance equals death. If you protest the government, you won't just be pepper-sprayed and arrested—the police will mercilessly slaughter you. The Executioners live in a tower right beside upscale hotels. The wealthy and privileged overlook the smog-filled city. Citizens live in slums below, a neon-lit wasteland covered in advertisements, garbage, and populated by the middle-class and homeless people. Kansai's version of a sporting event is public executions where the worst criminals get beheaded. Hundreds of bloodthirsty citizens fill a stadium to watch.

The two executioners who pursue the Akudama squad are multilayered villains—consumed by nationalism, all they have is a desire to serve their fascist state. In this world, police officers craft their plans to kill criminals. Their only purpose is to punish rather than rehabilitate. Their duty is to "Remove the dregs of society," which means anyone who opposes their fascist control. They destroyed their political opposition in a war and then rebuilt their land as a paradise for the ultra-wealthy. These two characters are the personification of a failed justice system. A system that focuses on crime after it happens. Instead, they should focus on preventing crime by creating a better quality of life so people wouldn't need to turn to theft and murder in the first place. The anime uses its corrupt justice system to tell a potent message: If we treat people like animals, they'll act like animals.

Barely any time is wasted on pesky exposition. Thank god it doesn't bother explaining sci-fi technology, unlike most modern anime. It follows the "Show-don't-tell" rule very well. If you care about stuff like world-building, there's plenty of visual story-telling in the background art. However, it may take multiple viewings to pick up on everything. We also get pieces of info for each episode in a diegetic puppet show. It plays out like a kids educational TV show with slapstick humor. I found it to be an excellent way to transition between settings while explaining introducing new concepts.

People have plenty of minor critiques of this show, some deserved, but most are nitpicks. It has its fair share of contrived situations and plot conveniences. You could wonder, "Why didn't the woman at the food stand ask for Swindler to give the food back? If she was so serious about being paid, why wouldn't she ask for payment before giving her the food?" But at the end of the day, all of those critiques would be nitpicks. The sheer bombast and messages it tells alone are enough for me to forgive these flaws. If fast pacing will put you off, this isn't going to be for you. It purposefully moves quickly, but I was always able to follow it. The plot itself is procedural. Though it is sometimes cliche, you can never guess where it'll go. The twists feel earned rather than shoehorned. There are clues throughout the show to build up the mystery. This attention to fine details gives the show so much heart. You can rewatch the show and pick up on new things you didn't realize the first time. Minor lines of dialogue and subtle details in the background art contribute significantly to the rewatch value.

Akudama Drive is a love letter to every Sci-fi classic of the 20th century. It waves its inspiration like a flag while providing a fresh and culturally relevant critique: It released at the best time in history. It's not without its flaws, but I love everything about it. Although the premise is simple, it has more thought-provoking story beats than you'd expect. With only a 12 episode show, it managed to tell a fantastic complete story, with one of the best endings in recent memory. You owe it to yourself to watch this underrated gem; this is one I'll be returning to in the future.