Even though Tanaka had an inkling of what was coming after seeing Seryu's actions and portrayal, when the moment actually arrived.
When Sheele died in battle—he still found it hard to accept.
Sure, she didn't have that many appearances, but she was still a member of the protagonist's team! And not just that—she was a beautiful, kind-hearted girl!
And now, just like that… she was gone. It was heartbreaking.
Tanaka understood that this was meant to intensify the conflict between the two sides, but the way it happened still made him feel awful.
Especially when he thought back to why Sheele had joined Night Raid in the first place, and what she had been fighting for.
But could he really say that Seryu was at fault? Not really.
With the way she had been raised by her parents and teachers, it was only natural for her to see Night Raid as enemies.
After all, people's perspectives are shaped by the world they live in.
As a member of the Imperial Guard, she had never truly seen the darkness that engulfed the Empire.
To her, everything seemed perfectly normal. Even though her understanding of "justice" was twisted and one-sided, she was simply a product of the world she was born into.
At that moment, Tanaka finally understood the fundamental conflict between Night Raid and the Empire—it wasn't just about power or politics.
It was a clash of completely different worldviews. And in such a battle, there was only one possible outcome: in the end, only one side could survive.
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When the second volume of Akame ga Kill was being released, Akifumi had already finished drawing the third.
After reviewing the previous volumes, he decisively removed the ambiguous romantic subplot between Sheele and Tatsumi.
Why? Because it was unnecessary.
There was no way such a short story arc could genuinely make readers fall in love with Sheele, only to then feel devastated by her death.
At least, that's what Akifumi thought.
Rather than wasting precious pages on pointless romance, it was better to develop the characters themselves—to make the audience care about them for who they were, not for their relationships.
And when it came to this battle, Akifumi chose to make it as intense as possible, highlighting not just the physical fight but also the ideological conflict between the Empire and Night Raid.
After a year of drawing manga and countless revisions, making these kinds of refinements was second nature to him.
That's why, even though he knew Akame ga Kill had its flaws, he still wanted to create it.
At the very least, he was determined to avoid cheap, forced tragedies or nonsensical plot twists.
If he was going to make readers feel pain, it had to be in a way that made sense.
Thanks to these adjustments, when readers finished this volume of Akame ga Kill, no one felt that Sheele's death was unreasonable.
In fact, some fans—especially those who had a soft spot for characters like her—felt genuinely heartbroken.
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"Sheele! My Sheele!! Why did she have to die so soon?! My heart can't take it!!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! This is only volume three!! If characters are already dying now, are you planning a full-on massacre like Madoka Magica by the end!?"
"Given how the story is progressing, someone was bound to die this chapter. I just didn't expect it to be Sheele. I really liked her character design."
"By the way, Esdeath is such a badass. She's amazing!"
"I love this dominant queen vibe~"
"Say what you want about Warrior of Love and Hope-sensei, but his character designs never disappoint."
"Akame ga Kill is getting better and better! Can't wait for the next volume!"
"Sigh… Another school break means these kids are full of energy again. It's impossible to get my hands on Warrior of Love and Hope-sensei's manga. So frustrating."
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The comments made it clear—readers were more than satisfied with this volume.
But as much as Akame ga Kill was getting attention, it was nothing compared to the overwhelming success of CLANNAD.
Because it had been featured in a major storytelling contest, CLANNAD had already reached mainstream audiences.
Even people who had never paid attention to manga before were now eagerly anticipating the story.
Unfortunately…
Just like the last comment above suggested, it was impossible to buy a copy.
New readers had no idea just how popular Warrior of Love and Hope-sensei's works were.
So when they finally decided to check it out and rushed to bookstores, they were met with empty shelves.
Frustrated, they flooded Akifumi's account with comments:
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"Wasn't CLANNAD supposed to be released today? Why isn't it in stores?!"
"Did they announce the wrong release date?"
"I went to the store full of excitement, only to leave disappointed."
"I heard about this from the storytelling contest and was looking forward to seeing the full story today. But was that just a lie?"
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Seeing these complaints, longtime fans of Akifumi jumped in to "help" clear things up.
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"Yeah, yeah! This Mangaka is always spreading false release dates! So frustrating!!"
"Don't get your hopes up. Every time he announces a new book release, you usually have to wait at least a week before you can actually buy it."
"Calm down, everyone. This is just how he operates. The release date and the actual date you can get the book are never the same."
"Once you get used to it, you become more zen about the whole thing."
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Reading these responses, the new fans were completely bewildered.
"Wait… What??"
This Mangaka kept giving out false release dates… and people were just okay with that?!
Since when were manga artists allowed to be this reckless?!
Finally, a more reasonable veteran fan stepped in with a logical explanation.
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"Has anyone considered the possibility that CLANNAD really was released today, but you all just showed up too late? Maybe it sold out already."
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That comment made the new fans pause.
Sold out? By noon?!
Was it because the mangaka was too unpopular, and they printed too few copies?
Or was the series just that popular—so popular that all the copies were gone within a few hours?!
They hesitated, then checked Akifumi's account again… and saw his follower count had already surpassed a million.
It had to be the latter.
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"…Whoa."
"This guy is seriously that big of a deal?!"
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At that moment, the new fans finally realized just how powerful this Mangaka was.
Sure, follower counts could be artificially inflated. But active, engaged fans—ones who actually bought books and left comments—were a different story.
At first, they thought they had just stumbled upon some average manga artist.
But now?
They understood.
This guy was the real deal.