Gachiakuta premiered its Episode 1 and Episode 2 at Japan Expo and Anime Expo 2025 today, and here’s a review explaining a bit about why it’s already looking like a hit. Well, it was already looking like a hit just from the trailers and global-scaled marketing, but the episodes themselves went even above that and started what really seems like the next “big thing.”
Spoilers for Gachiakuta Episode 1 and Episode 2 below.
Gachiakuta Episode 1 Review – Rudo Drops to a Path of Revenge
“It’s said that when an object is treated with care, a soul will come to inhabit it. So when trash is thrown out, what comes to inhabit it?
This is the line the first episode of Gachiakuta opens with. We are immediately introduced to two types of people. One of them is a type that resembles the World Nobles of ONE PIECE–living care-free in a functioning world. We see a little girl who damaged her doll, and her mother encourages her to throw it away and they can just buy a new one.
We get some new lines with the same sound effect of someone writing on a piece of paper, and this felt really fitting as the protagonist comes into the scene and we get the title drop. The soundtrack in general fits the artstyle perfectly, and Rudo’s introduction as a trash raider was really good. In terms of story, we immediately get some action, but he quickly manages to get away with a bullet scraping him.
As he steps out of the sewer, we hear Rudo’s voice (CV: Aoi Ichikawa), and we start following this dirty-mouthed boy who is yet to start wishing for revenge.
We learn of the tribesfolk, the people who live on the poor side of the city and are hated by the richer ones. They have “Apostles,” who are their version of police officers who can patrol the city and come down if needed. Those are also the people we saw dealing with Rudo earlier.
The first character to get introduced is Chiwa, an adorable girl that Rudo is crushing on. We learn that Rudo is always fixing trash, and he comments on how the wealthy always throw perfectly usable things. This was clearly related to the opening lines about treating objects with care, and Rudo already showed that he innately does this to a lot of things others would consider trash.
As some bullies arrive to mock Rudo, we learn a few things that will definitely be important. First, the people who live in these slums are told that they are descendants of “criminals,” and Rudo’s apparently the son of a ‘homicidal maniac’ who went on a killing spree. We also learn that Rudo has something on his hands, some that he’s hiding with his gloves.
After he scares them off, we get a wholesome moment between Chiwa and Rudo. She notices the doll Rudo fixed (the same one from the start of the episode that the little girl threw away), and Rudo makes a few childish faces as he tries to give it to her as a gift. This feels very natural for a young boy uncomfortable with his emotions, and it wasn’t overdone.
Unfortunately for him though, Chiwa’s mother comes along and interrupts him right as he was about to confess. He goes home, only to learn that the whole ordeal had been seen by Regto, who mocks him about it and tells him to be clearer. Immediately after, he moves on to the more serious topic, the trash raiding.
Regto is not his biological father, but they still consider each other family. Regto is trying to get Rudo to live a normal childish life, while Rudo respect Regto for saving and raising him. The dynamic between the two feels very natural, and I’m sure the voice acting solidified this. The fact that Regto is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa (Paul Greyrat in Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation) felt really nostalgic, especially when he called Rudo by name (versus the RudY we’re already familiar with).
The scars on Rudo’s hands have something to do with his real father, and we learn that he was thrown into the Pit, which is the ultimate punishment in their world. Regto also hates this world, and it’s clear where Rudo got his vocabulary. He goes back to mocking him at the end, encouraging him to go give Chiwa his gift, and the scene ends with a mysterious masked figure looming in front of their house.
The wholesome scene between Chiwa and Rudo was again done really well. The voice acting felt natural, and it felt like a genuine interaction between two children. Rudo catching Chiwa accidentally admitting that she ‘loves’ him was adorable, leading both to blush and bring the scene to its climax. He manages to give her the gift, and the faces he made were spot-on. As a melancholy melody starts playing, he runs excitedly to let Regto know about the development. The melody is interrupted when he bumps into an Apostle, and I immediately thought they had either come for Rudo or for Regto.
As he begins to open the door, he wonders what Regto’s reply will be. I thought he might turn away to actually say the words to Chiwa in order to avoid getting reprimanded, but he does open the door. AND IN COMES A SURPRISE [MAJOR SPOILER FOR GACHIAKUTA EPISODE 1].
“Hey, welcome back, Rudo” was done perfectly to delay the reveal for just a few seconds with the fake-out and make us drop our guard and think things might still be okay. The synopsis and marketing had already talked about Rudo getting framed for a murder, but I kept thinking it would be Chiwa. I also felt like Regto might have been the one who would actually frame him, so I did get kind of surprised here. He even goes on to drop the huge task of changing this “sh*t heap of a world” on Rudo, right before Rudo gets caught and framed for the murder.
I again have to highlight the voice acting, which I thought made the scene way more powerful. Both Rudo and Regto have actors who can perfectly express the emotions they are feeling. As he gets sentenced to dropping to the Pit, we finally see the declaration that we also saw in the trailers. Rudo is determined to take revenge on the people who’ve falsely accused him of murdering the person he cared for most, and I can’t wait to see how he ends up growing with this emotion. Will he end up being more forgiving down the line, or will he follow through on his threats all the way? Chiwa’s betrayal did feel a bit unnatural at the end. For someone who claimed she loved him just a few moments earlier, she accepted the fact that he would commit the crime way too easily.
Gachiakuta Episode 1 ends with Rudo miraculously surviving the fall. The world down there is full of trash, and we see the first CG monster appear as he proclaims it hell.
Gachiakuta Episode 2 Review – Tengen Enjin Arrives
The second episode opens with Rudo thinking back about what the Pit meant and why no one ever wondered what happened with the people who get dropped. BONES FILM manages to utilize the unique character design wonderfully, and here we get a close-up into Rudo’s eye before shifting back into a scene of him dealing with the monsters.
The monsters themselves seemed decent enough. The CGI is not an as much of an eyesore as can be the case, though I did find it clunky at a couple of moments. As Rudo starts doubting there’s a way out, we see more of the brutality of the world. The air down there is not habitable, and there’s no improvement in sight. Just as he is about to give up, he remembers Regto and his death. Then we see the first sign of the supernatural.
A red light shows from his hand, and he sees several objects highlighted in front of him. He declares he’ll beat the shit out of the guy who killed Regto, and we get the most badass moment of the anime by this point. He knocks away the monster with a single swing of the random pole he picked up, and we have to forget all logic and just be in awe of the beatdown that is about to follow. And follow it does, as he goes on to take down a couple more of the monsters in explosive fashion.
The animation felt consistent all throughout and, besides the clunkiness from the monsters, it was a fully enjoyable scene. I was wondering what the red light emanating from Rudo was and how he was unconsciously using it, but again was fine with waiting for the explanation that was likely to come later. As a new monster arrives and threatens to finish Rudo, we get a new badass introduction as Enjin just casually stays over a lying Rudo.
I know I already praised the voice acting, but damn it if they didn’t nail Enjin’s casting with Katsuyuki Konishi. His outburst and silliness after trying to tell Rudo to be quiet felt like watching Tengen Uzui all over again, and his power justified the comparison as well. We also learn of named moves in the anime as he uses “Umbreaker: Octashredder” to conclude the fight.
The animation for his power showscase was really good, and it made me want to see more as soon as possible. Afterwards he takes off the mask and explains that he is a Cleaner, getting some more silliness out when he takes off his mask.
Rudo’s falling unconscious brought a new memory of Regto talking to him about objects. I got really curious as to what the whole ‘bringing objects to life’ legend was about and why he believed it. He also explained to Rudy how he believes objects have their own souls, which felt like a random thing to preach without some experience. The fact he gave him the gloves also felt related, especially after Rudo explicitly asked about it. Rego’s reply “If you treat them with care in time, a soul will inhabit them” had me thinking that Rudo had a helper residing in his gloves, and that this was the source of his power at this point.
The dynamic between Rudo and Enjin seems like what Inosuke and Tengen would be like if they were together more often. Him dropping him off felt cold, but I also thought that it was the best thing to do for Rudo and that he had a good reason for doing so. They call him a Sphereite and get excited to meet one for the first time. This felt like the time for Rudo to finally get some love and explanation, so the new plot twist again had me surprised. “Look at the way they tied you up” seemed like a generic kind dude, and Rudo was on his way to freedom.
“There, he’s tied much tighter now.” DAMN. Why can’t Rudy catch a break? Why did Enjin leave him with these guys? At this point, it felt like they just wanted to drive him mad or straight out get him killed. Then again, Enjin could have done that himself.
The scene where the traffickers explained the situation to Rudo was eerie, especially when the apparent leader twisted his head down to tell him that they despise Sphereites for dropping their trash on them. This was obviously ironic to tell Rudo of all people, the boy who had been fixing trash up there and being known as the trash raider. At least they set up the stage for most brutal scene of the first two episodes.
When they shove some trash down Rudo’s mouth and mock him for having a refined taste, they get in for an awesome surprise. They did an incredible job at emphasizing the irony of it all and getting us as watchers to a boiling point, let alone Rudo himself. That’s why it felt really satisfying to see his ‘here comes the airplane’ culminate in him getting the skin bit off his fingers.
This boy shows why he’ll be one of the most badass MCs this season, as he coldly chews down both the skin and the trash they gave him. At the end he finally seems to awaken his power completely, and Enjin is watching it all from afar proudly, having predicted that it would happen. I still felt like there had to be a better way to check this, but I was grateful for the getting to see the following fight animated.
The people from the ground are familiar with the concept of using energy to make objects ‘come alive,’ but they seem shocked that a Sphereite can use it. I again wondered if Regto was fully aware of this ability, and why he was passing it down as a legend if so. Either way, we learn that Rudo and Enjin are Givers, people who can give life to objects to draw out their power. They aim for his chain because they know Givers are useless without their object, but Rudo the MC shocks them by being able to use more of them.
Enjin ends up stopping the bloodbath as the reasonable adult, and Rudo’s objects end up disintegrating. The episode closes as Enjin invites him to join “Cleaners,” and Rudo’s reply makes sure Enjin will get mad again.
The two episodes felt like 10 minutes, and I can’t wait to see more Givers and their abilities, as well as more behind Regto’s murder and Rudo’s past. What are those gloves? Who is the masked guy? How many Cleaners are there? Gachiakuta Episode 1 & Episode 2 premiere has me completely hooked, and I feel bad thinking that Episode 3 is about 16 days away.
All images used were from trailers and the preview, featuring scenes from Episode 1 and Episode 2. The below are also from the trailers, and they feature characters that didn’t make an appearance but I look forward to watching in the future:
If you missed the Japan Expo and Anime Expo premieres, the episode will be streaming exclusively on Crunchyroll from July 6. You will also be able to vote for it in the first week of our Summer 2025 anime polls.
Disclaimer: Anime Corner was provided an early screener of the first two episodes of Gachiakuta.
©Kei Urana, Hideyoshi Andou and KODANSHA/ “GACHIAKUTA” Production Committee
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