Gachiakuta’s first cour wraps with a somewhat non-“finale” episode, but nevertheless a lynchpin one. There are no huge cliffhangers here, no major character deaths or scene changes. But it’s a bit of a coming-out party for a hugely important character, and one that starts to unravel the mystery surrounding Rudo. It’s more of a table-setting cour break than a meal in itself, but that’s certainly not a bad way to go. Especially as we’re still very much in the appetizer stage at this point anyway.
The character I’m referring to is Tamsy, of whom we’ve only seen glimpses so far. He’s a major, major player in Gachiakuta and in the “tip of the iceberg” sense, we start to see why here. As things are at a bit of an impasse with Amo – only he and Zanka are unaffected by her mind control – Tamsy moves to take control of the situation in no uncertain terms. We get our first look at his Vital Instrument, “Tokushin”. It’s a distaff – a spindle used to wind cord or thread. And when Tamsy unleashes his “Net” ability, Rudo – along with Delmon, Riyo, And Follo – are wound up in thick rope and unable to escape.
Simply put, Tamsy is a serious badass – even if this were all he could do (which it’s obviously not, this is battle shounen) he’d be a force to be reckoned with. These are some powerful folks (well, three of them) he’s bound here, and they’re quite unable to escape. But that doesn’t stop them trying, and Amo shows no qualms about having them tear themselves to bits struggling to break free. So Tamsy unleashes another powerful attack – “Unspool”. He basically turns Tokushin into a giant drill, which blasts through several levels of Amo’s house and thoroughly beats the crap out of the bound quartet.
Tamsy knows that thanks to Remlin’s spell, they can heal themselves. But still – damn, that’s stone cold, and Zanka (who manages to be both very clever and rather simple) is aghast. Of course that one get out of jail free card applies to Enjin too, and he’s also a serious badass – just in a totally different way than Tamsy. He’s been healed and attentive to the situation for a while now, even as Tomme pretends to treat his wounds as part of the ruse. He relieves the girl of one of her smelly boots, which turns the tables in this showdown in decisive fashion.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, Corvus finds Semiu staring at a photo of Rudo (who we now know is “about” 15 – though that may just be their guess). As we know Semiu’s Jinki is her glasses, and her ability to see the “true essence” of a person. Corvus realizes that she’s seen something disturbing she hasn’t told him of, and presses her on it. Semiu talks of something inside Rudo – something dark and dangerous she eventually comes round to calling a curse. That’s still relatively vague, but it seems to be something Rudo is aware of himself – though perhaps not on those terms.
As if (well, literally) on cue, we see evidence of that when Amo’s ability is neutralized by the loss of her boot. There’s still a major problem here – just what do the Cleaners do with her? But Rudo, his senses returned, slowly walks up to her and delivers a ferocious right hook. He then proceeds to start pounding the crap out of Amo until Gris restrains him. One of the things he chastises the boy for is the fact that Amo is a girl – to which he replies, “So what?”. And oddly, that’s sort of refreshingly sensible for a battle shounen. She’s put the lives of he and his colleagues in serious jeopardy for what appear to be entirely selfish reasons – what does her gender have to do with it?
Of course there are other reasons why what Rudo is doing is bad, as Enjin gently points out to him. Not least that she’s already defeated, but also that they came here to get info from her. Which Tomme finally does, of a sort, catching flies with honey rather than vinegar – talk of an “angel” that moves between the Ground and the Sphere. Enjin shows his importance to Rudo here, taking him aside and showing him the error of his ways without letting it cause Rudo to give up on himself. Enjin may say he’s bad with kids, but with this one he’s assumed something very much like a father’s role – and Heaven knows, Rudo desperately needs a male role model like Enjin in his life.
Yann
September 30, 2025 at 1:13 amWith this ending, I didn’t even realize we were getting only 12 episodes. It’s funny how, if you asked me, I wouldn’t say this was the best show of the season. Yet, when the weekend comes around and I have time to catch up on anime, I always start with this one. The world building surprised me with its depth. Just the right mix of mystery, action, funky characters… Just a really fun watch! Hoping the reveals down the road don’t disappoint…
Guardian Enzo
September 30, 2025 at 9:24 amNot ending, just transitioning to the second cour. AFAIK next episode is next week.
Yann
October 1, 2025 at 1:50 amOh ok. I misunderstood. Noice! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Monymous
September 30, 2025 at 10:41 amThis will be my last episode. I don’t think a protagonist can come back from attempting to beat a helpless prisoner to death. That’s not a “teaching moment” that can be shrugged off after a pep talk.
Post mortem for why (in my subjective opinion) this series hasn’t hit as big as some of the kaiju:
1. Main character isn’t sympathetic or relatable.
2. Seems to be paced more for binging than week to week viewing.
3. Lacks the aesthetic appeal of something like Demon Slayer or the stylishness of Bleach. I think it might have looked better with a less brown color palette.
catterbu
October 1, 2025 at 3:48 amFunny. I had just about the opposite reaction. After the first episodes felt so edgelordy and had some juvenile humor not really to my taste, I was relying on Enzo’s recommendation to see it through. Finally, we see that Rudo’s pain is not just fodder for angry yelling during a fight and overcoming limits to get to the next power level and exact revenge. He is child with more pain than he can handle. I think the key is how it was handled. The beating he gave Amo was not accompanied by edgy rock music trying to make it seem cool. It was accompanied by the Semiu discussing the scary darkness inside Rudo. And the way it was handled, with the stunned silence in the room, then the conversation with Enjin after comes across as Rudo’s team recognizing just how damaged he is and then trying to help him work through it. Gachiakuta is not trying to tell us that Rudo’s pain is great fodder for epic battles, nor is it marveling in how “dark” he is. It is not being shrugged off after a pep talk. They are hanging a lantern on it and indicating that this will be a long term problem for Rudo to resolve.
1. I definitely see that as sympathetic, though relatable, not sure.
2. I think you are referring to the more deliberate pace, and I understand if one prefers binging. Not sure if I would call it “paced for binging” though. Few arcs last more than a couple episodes. To me paced for binging means arcs extend much longer, but I suppose that is just my personal preference.
3. I actually prefer the aesthetic appeal of Gachiakuta to Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer has a nice color design that makes the characters pop with their distinctive character designs, but I personally prefer the grungier aesthetic of Gachiakuta.
And for what it is worth, Gachiakuta’s linear ratings have actually been decent in the Kanto region (top 10 there). a little under One Piece and Precure. on par with Yaiba.
Kurik
October 1, 2025 at 7:31 amI am with you on this. Not the best show out there but I do like that its doing something different and looks different and the protagonist is not as cliche as the usual shonen. Re: the Amo beat down, I was surprised by it but also refreshingly surprised that they acknowledged that her gender doesn’t matter. At the time before the beat down i was thinking as they thought in the show how Amo’s power is really dangerous as the lasting effects it has on individuals. Messing with ppl psychologically like that and showing its effect. While i am not in full agreement with the beat down i do agree with the initial punch as she doesn’t seem like a person who understands consequence of her powers. Will be interesting to see how they handle her in the future. Do they let her go? Do they give her back her shoe? Does she become one of them?
I am sufficiently engrossed to see this one through. Not many shows this summer has kept my attention but this is definitely one of them.
Guardian Enzo
October 1, 2025 at 7:35 amObviously I’m more in line with this view. I think most of the series’ “flaws” are in how it doesn’t conform to expectations for modern battle shounen.
It was apparently the #1 streamed show on CR worldwide this season (or so Urana Kei tweeted anyway, ROFL). It also finished in the top 10 in Japanese animation TV ratings multiple times this season, which isn’t too common for a late-night anime. I think it’s doing fine.
sonicsenryaku
October 1, 2025 at 10:40 amThis is probably my favorite episode of Gachiakuta so far. I think I’ve said it before, but Rudo continues to be one of the greatest strengths of this show. The way the series (pun maybe intended) has unraveled his insecurities through much of the character and plot-related conflicts have felt purposeful in their handling and build-up. This episode takes that build-up to the next level by grounding Rudo’s trauma and his justification for violence in this flawed psychological premise needing to hurt others first before they get him, with the episode demonstrating gruesomely (yet also solemnly) what the consequences of that thought process looks like.
Speaking of which, the way Enjin handled his talk with Rudo is a textbook example of what healthy, nurturing parenting looks like: allow your kids to recognize their flaws not through shame, but by promoting awareness and recognition of why what they did was wrong. As Enjin put it best: awareness is a critical step for change; and by giving Rudo an environment where he can be properly nurtured, specifically through great role models and friends, he’ll be able to form a stable sense of self capable of overcoming the trauma of his abuse, which is apparently taking the form of a curse if I understood that right. I think the show is doing a good job of putting what matters most at its forefront: Rudo learning how to form a stable sense of self through his experiences with others, which is going to consist of him making a lot of mistakes; some of which might be as severe if not more so than what he did to Amo. I’m glad the show is willing to explore the nasty side of what it looks back to regress into bad habits spurred on by trauma
But speaking of Amo; yea, she definitely made her own bed and had to lie in it when she tried to harm the cleaners, but ugh; that confused “eh?” she lets out after receiving Rudo’s first punch: she sounded like an abused child puzzled as to what she did to deserve that level of wrathful violence inflicted upon her and that hit me emotionally once my mind made that connection. Amo has no concept of consequences or how her actions lend themselves to it; and the moment I felt bad for her was when it also became clear just how much of a broken girl she is. Again, she had some kind of punishment coming to her, but for it be a level of unbridled violence that probably reaffirmed how unloved she feels…..oooofff.
Anyway, Gachiakuta seems to be doing well in Japan so it’s popularity seems fine; and with the recent video confirmation that Yutaka Nakamura will be participating in a future episode, things are looking up for the series
Guardian Enzo
October 1, 2025 at 10:45 amI think it’s doing well enough for the series to continue past this season. Would like to see a bigger sales bump for the manga but it’s pretty solid as is.
Enjin is almost unrealistically good at mentoring, I have to say. But I have a soft spot for great aniki characters in shounen and he’s a great one.