Akudama Drive

Lore & Background

The series originated with director Tomohisa Taguchi's positive impression of Kazutaka Kodaka's work in the Danganronpa franchise, and both agreed to work together. Inspired by Quentin Tarantino's 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, Kodaka wrote the original draft featuring similar villains who act as protagonists. After showing his ideas to Too Kyo Games, the project was greenlit and Pierrot was brought in to create appealing action scenes. The team originally intended to call the series Akudama Seven due to the cast of seven protagonists.

Reader's Guide

Set in a dystopian future where Kansai became a vassal state of Kantō, the story follows multiple highly skilled criminals called Akudama who are sent a message to free a death row prisoner named Cutthroat. The job turns out to be part of a larger scheme to infiltrate a Shinkansen and steal precious cargo. An ordinary girl arrested on a minor charge is forced to keep up the appearance of a Swindler to avoid being killed by the other Akudama. Critical response to the series was positive based on the cyberpunk setting and handling of the main cast, most notably the lead Swindler. It is widely considered to be one of the best anime of 2020. Reviewers noted that the series primarily centered around the ideals of justice. A manga adaptation has also been serialized, while a character CD soundtrack was released in Japan.

Did You Know?

• The series was first announced in 2020.
• The art director Yoshio Tanioka denied a cyberpunk comparison and instead referenced 'Japan, Kans

Creative Origins & the Tarantino Blueprint

The spark for Akudama Drive came from a simple professional admiration. Director Tomohisa Taguchi had been impressed by Kazutaka Kodaka's scripting work on the Danganronpa franchise, and the two struck up a partnership that would shape an entirely new project. Their shared love of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, along with Pulp Fiction and The Usual Suspects, became the narrative compass for the series. Kodaka drafted an original concept built around a team of villains cast as protagonists, and when he presented the pitch to Too Kyo Games, the project received the green light. Pierrot was then brought aboard specifically to craft the show's action sequences. Because the ensemble features seven central characters, the production team initially considered titling the project Akudama Seven before settling on the final name. The writing was handled by Norimitsu Kaihō, and the whole endeavor was produced jointly by Pierrot and Too Kyo Games, blending a cyberpunk aesthetic with a heist-driven plot structure that owes a clear debt to the crime films that inspired it.

A Heist Within a Heist

The story unfolds in a near-future Kansai that has been reduced to a vassal territory under the authority of Kantō. An anonymous client broadcasts a challenge to the region's most dangerous criminals—the Akudama—tasking them with breaking a death-row inmate called Cutthroat out of Kansai Police Headquarters before his execution. Four of them accept, but the raid turns out to be merely the opening act. The true objective is far more ambitious: infiltrate a Shinkansen bullet train and crack open a vault sealed at its very front. Complicating matters, an ordinary office worker from the Kansai Seal Office is dragged into the scheme after a fateful encounter with Courier, and she must now bluff her way through as a Swindler to avoid being executed by her fellow criminals. A low-ranking Hoodlum, accidentally released during the initial break-in, joins the chaos as well. The entire team must coordinate their skills while the Execution Division of the Kansai Police pursues them relentlessly across twelve episodes.

Seven Criminals, One Pursuit

The ensemble at the heart of the series is deliberately assembled so that no single member goes unremarked. Courier is a laconic delivery specialist whose customized motorbike hides a railgun in its front. Doctor is a surgeon and chemist capable of healing herself from injuries that would normally be fatal. Cutthroat, the most unsettling figure, had already beheaded nine hundred and ninety-nine victims before his capture, and his liberation by the team ironically makes the overseeing police chief his one-thousandth kill. Hacker wields a pair of drones that double as weapons or a hoverboard, while Brawler is a brash powerhouse who finds an unlikely friendship with the hapless Hoodlum. Opposing them, the Execution Division fields a ninja-like Master, a Pupil skilled with an electric jutte, a novice Junior, and an elderly Boss who commands operations from the police headquarters. Rounding out the cast are the enigmatic Brother and Sister, who operate through a robot shaped like a black cat, and the Kansai mascots Bunny and Shark.

Critical Acclaim & Extended Universe

When the twelve-episode run concluded in December 2020, the critical consensus was overwhelmingly favorable. Reviewers singled out the cyberpunk world-building and, above all, the way the show treated its central cast—particularly the lead Swindler, whose reluctant criminality became the emotional anchor of the narrative. The series was frequently cited as one of the strongest anime of that year, with critics noting that its surface-level heist structure was really an exploration of competing definitions of justice. Beyond the broadcast, the franchise expanded through a serialized manga adaptation and a character CD soundtrack released in Japan. The full series was also packaged into six DVD and Blu-ray box sets for the domestic market. The voice cast, featuring names like Tomoyo Kurosawa, Yūichirō Umehara, Megumi Ogata, Takahiro Sakurai, Shun Horie, and Shunsuke Takeuchi, lent considerable gravitas to the roles, and the English dub brought its own layer of performance to the international audience.

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