Akudama Drive<\/em> is set in an 80s-themed cyberpunk future. At some point in the past, a civil war occurred and the people in Tokyo were the winners. Now, the rest of Japan work as little more than slaves to support the Tokyo utopia.<\/p>\n In the Kansai region, the subservient society has in turn given rise to the \u201cAkudama,\u201d criminals with skills that border on the supernatural. While these criminals are fiercely independent (as they\u2019re generally obsessed with reveling in their own abilities), they occasionally have cause to work together\u2014like when a time bomb is strapped around several of their necks.<\/p>\n This is exactly what happens in Akudama Drive<\/em>. Four Akudama\u2014\u201cCourier,\u201d \u201cBrawler,\u201d \u201cHacker,\u201d and \u201cDoctor\u201d\u2014are hired to break into a police station and save \u201cCutthroat\u201d from execution. Along the way, two more people are caught up in the caper: \u201cHoodlum\u201d and \u201cOrdinary Person.\u201d By the end of it, they (along with the other five) find themselves wearing bomb collars\u2014forced to help in one more caper before they\u2019ll be set free. There\u2019s just one problem, \u201cOrdinary Person\u201d is not an Akudama.<\/p>\n Ordinary Person is just a normal office worker in Kansai\u2014and a good person to a fault. When she meets Courier by coincidence before the Cutthroat Rescue operation, he drops a coin\u2014but speeds off before she is able to return it. A few minutes later she realizes she doesn\u2019t have the cash to pay for the meal she ordered (and the shop owner won\u2019t let her hit the ATM) but she can\u2019t force herself to use someone else\u2019s money to pay\u2014even though she could just pay them back later. So she is hauled off to the police station.<\/p>\n Before she is fully processed, the breakout begins and she finds herself an unwilling accomplice to it. In the end, surrounded by amoral killers, Ordinary Person realizes that to survive, she must pretend to be one of them. Thus, she makes up an Akudama name to give them, \u201cSwindler.\u201d<\/p>\n However, while Swindler may think of herself as an ordinary person, the first six episodes have proven her new name to be far more fitting than her old one. After all, she is literally \u201cswindling\u201d the group of Akudama by making them believe she is one of them.<\/p>\n But more than that, she is able to manipulate them in certain ways to get what she wants at any given moment. Now, while she wouldn\u2019t classify herself as manipulating anyone\u2014she\u2019d just say she\u2019s being a good person\u2014treating these criminals with respect and kindness is exactly the way to handle them. After all, most people treat them with only fear and aggression. Moreover, by knowing their skills (read: obsessions), she is able to phrase things in such a way as to appeal to them\u2014well, at least those most suitable for combat.<\/p>\n While \u201cHoodlum\u201d is using lies to flatter those around him for his own benefit\u2014as most of the others can clearly see\u2014Swindler is using her own heartfelt feelings to sway the emotions of those around her. Thus, her connections are so much stronger than Hoodlum\u2019s and her words carry even more weight. It\u2019s gotten to the point where Doctor is aware of the emotional manipulation on display\u2014and while she dislikes it, she still respects it as an Akudama level skill.<\/p>\n Swindler has truly become an Akudama, whether she believes she is one or not.<\/p>\n However, there is one extra wrinkle to Swindler as a character. Remember, Akudama Drive<\/em> is a Kazutaka Kodaka work (which is only halfway through airing at the time of writing) and his stories are known for directorial misdirection\u2014even when it comes to the personalities of main characters.<\/p>\n Therefore, there is a very real possibility that Swindler is not the innocent girl we saw in episode one. It could be that manipulation is her forte and everything has been a con from day one\u2014that she has been \u201cswindling\u201d both the other Akudama and the viewing audience. The funny thing is that even if that turns out to be true, her way of manipulation is still by appealing to the good in people and emotionally connecting with them. The only difference is in her intent.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t wait to see how it all turns out.<\/p>\n Akudama Drive<\/em> can be seen on Funimation<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/ElVE7_UUcAMA8a8.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u30a2\u30af\u30c0\u30de\u30c9\u30e9\u30a4\u30d6\u300f\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EjqcpHUVoAA5a5x.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u30a2\u30af\u30c0\u30de\u30c9\u30e9\u30a4\u30d6\u300f\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Ek2YYggVMAEVL_X.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u30a2\u30af\u30c0\u30de\u30c9\u30e9\u30a4\u30d6\u300f\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EjqbaxAVgAEKll_.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300e\u30a2\u30af\u30c0\u30de\u30c9\u30e9\u30a4\u30d6\u300f\u516c\u5f0f<\/a> on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n
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