Gachiakuta (ガチアクタ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kei Urana. It began serialization in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in February 2022. As of June 2024, the series' individual chapters have been collected in 11 tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Bones is set to premiere in 2025.
Living in the slums of a wealthy society are a population of "tribesfolk", who are descended from criminals exiled from society. Living amongst the tribesfolk is a young boy named Rudo, who detests the upper class' wastefulness. They often dump anything deemed trash, including criminals, into a massive dump site below the town known as "The Pit". Rudo was told by his foster father, Regto, that his biological father was dumped into The Pit for a crime before he was born. One day, after rummaging through a dump site, Rudo returns home to find Regto killed. Apprehended at the scene, Rudo is immediately charged with murder despite his innocence, due to his status as a tribesman. Unable to escape his fate, Rudo swears revenge upon the people, and is dumped into The Pit.
After being dumped into The Pit, Rudo awakens to find himself disoriented in a foul-smelling, endless landscape of trash. Rudo is then attacked by large beasts made of trash, and fends them off until he is rescued by a man named Enjin. The man explains to Rudo that he is in fact not underground, but has fallen to the surface from "The Sphere". After testing him and awakening his power as a "Giver", Enjin invites Rudo to join him as a "Cleaner". Enjin explains that the Cleaners are an organization of Givers who use the power of unique weapons known as "vital instruments" to hunt the trash beasts which attacked him. Rudo reluctantly accepts Enjin's offer to join the Cleaners, so long as it helps accomplish his goal of returning to The Sphere and enacting revenge on those who dumped him into The Pit.
A former Sphereite as well as Regto's adopted son whose false convictions led to him being sentenced to The Pit. After being saved from a group of trash beasts, he joins the Cleaners as part of a plan to enact murderous vengeance on his accusers. His vital instrument consists of 3R, a pair of gloves from the Watchman series, which were given to him by Regto before his death.
Enjin (エンジン)
A fellow member of the Cleaners who saves Rudo from a horde of trash beasts. He carries a vital instrument called Umbreaker, which takes the form of an umbrella.
Zanka Nijiku (ザンカ・ニジク)
A warrior Cleaner and master combatant, of whom Engine proclaims as the youngest member of the organization. His vital instrument is a staff-like weapon named the Lovely Assistaff.
Riyo Reaper (リヨ・リーパー)
A carefree, energetic, and outgoing member of the Cleaners whose vital instrument comes in the form of a pair of scissors called The Ripper.
Semiu (セミュ, Semyu)
The receptionist at the Cleaners' headquarters. Using her vital instrument, Eyes, which takes the form of a pair of glasses, she can examine the overall capacities of a giver, which gives them the efficiency needed to join the organization. However, this ability does not work in combat.
Urana credits experiences in her childhood as the main inspiration for Gachiakuta. She explains that the story's premise, where actions and feelings are imbued into personal belongings as "Anima," developed after she broke a belonging of her own as a child, "I had a pen that I really loved, and I broke it in two. Along with the sense of loss, I had a feeling like the pen was pleading with me."[2] Urana's experience is reflected in Gachiakuta as the story focuses on many characters, particularly Rudo, who explore strong, personal connections to Anima-imbued objects called "Vital Instruments," and in Rudo's case, even trash thrown away by others. The idea for Vital Instruments also originated in Urana's youth with observations of the hangers that came with her grandmother's dry cleaning, a testament to Gachiakuta's theme of seeing value and potential in seemingly mundane and discarded things.[2]
Gachiakuta's iconic art-style is due to illustrations by Urana, complimented by graffiti designs from Ando Hideyoshi. Graffiti and street art provides not only avenues for expression, distinction, and safety for the story's characters, but also narrative significance for readers due to its use in storytelling. As for character design, Urana states that her process involved unexpected changes for Gachiakuta's characters, "I create them to be decent people, but then I actually draw them and for some reason, they turn out to be freaky weirdos. I've given up, realizing that this is who they truly are."[2]
Written and illustrated by Kei Urana with graffiti designs by Ando Hideyoshi, the series began serialization in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine on February 16, 2022.[3][4] As of June 2024, the series' individual chapters have been collected in 11 tankōbon volumes.[5]
In August 2022, Urana stated an "overseas version" was in production.[6] In March 2023, Kodansha USA announced that they licensed the series for English publication.[7]
The columnist for Real Sound [ja] liked the world building, action, and dark fantasy elements of the story, as well as the main protagonist.[1] Masaki Endo from Tsutaya News liked the artwork and the main protagonist of the series.[25]Atsushi Ohkubo recommended the series.[26]
In the 2022 Next Manga Award, the series ranked 13th in the print manga category. It was also the most popular choice among English voters, even though the series had not been released in English at the time.[27] The series ranked 14th in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023.[28] It was nominated for the 47th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category in 2023;[29] it was also nominated for the 48th edition in the same category in 2024.[30]
