Written by: Hannah Dang
DISCLAIMER: The following blog post contains spoilers for Kei Urana’s Gachiakuta manga series and the anime series. I caution you to read at your own risk.
Materialism. Commercialism. Consumerism. Capitalism. Pollution. We’re all guilty of it.
Translated to mean “Legit Trash,” Kei Urana’s manga, Gachiakuta, is an ongoing dark fantasy and dystopian manga written to criticize the “wasteful” nature of humans, providing a commentary on the consequences of social divides. The first chapter was released in February 2022 in Kondansha’s Weekly Shounen Magazine. The manga was picked up by animation studio Studio Bones and was released with critical acclaim in July 2025. A second season was confirmed to be released either in late 2026 or early 2027. For fans in Japan and worldwide, the story became a hit sensation for its striking art style, a unique cast of characters, and the immersive “grunge aesthetic” of the worldbuilding.
The premise has humanity living in a floating country called the “Sphere.” The country is separated into two classes: the wealthy Spherites – the “Nobility” – live in the interior, and the poor Spherites – the “Tribesfolk” – live in the slums. Our protagonist, Rudo Surebrec, is a fifteen-year-old boy who loves collecting and repurposing discarded objects. Since he is the son of an executed murderer, Rudo Surebrec has been ostracized by the other Tribesfolk. He was adopted by a kindly man named Regto, and he makes a living illegally trespassing in the Sphere’s interior to rob dumpsters belonging to the Nobility and repair broken objects to sell.
One day, Rudo comes home only to find Regto murdered. Labelled by the other Spherites as the prime suspect, he is charged with murder without trial. As punishment, he is dropped into a bottomless abyss called the “Pit,” only to wake up in a wasteland known as the “Ground.” He is then rescued by a man named Enjin, and is brought in to the “Cleaners,” an organization responsible for defeating “Trash Beasts” composed of garbage. As the story continues, Rudo joins Enjin’s combat team, Akuta, composed of two other Cleaners: Zanka Nijiku and Riyo Reaper. While on the Ground, Rudo meets other dwellers (both friend and foe), fends off an enemy organization called the “Raiders,” and learns to unlock the power hiding in his gloves, 3R, to return to the Sphere and uncover the truth behind Regto’s death.
There’s so much I love about Gachiakuta: the fast-paced plot is gripping, the relationships between the characters are cathartic, and the animation and musical score are nothing short of gorgeous. Above all else, my favorite part of the story is the unique power system in the context of worldbuilding.
On the Ground, there is an invisible power source known to Grounders as “Anima.” As Anima accumulates, it causes various phenomena to occur, one of which is the creation of “Vital Instruments” and “Givers.” A Vital Instrument forms after a user experiences an “Awakening” through exposure to Anima, and Givers are the terms given to people who have a Vital Instrument. Anima uses the love and care a person has for an object as a conduit for blessing the object with power. The more love and care someone expresses to their object, the more the “quality” of the object improves. Vital Instruments can even be passed down from generation to generation. During the Canvas Town Arc, the characters visit the City of Graffiti, a town held in high regard for nurturing a legacy of Givers.
Because of their abilities, Givers have a mixed reputation. For the most part, the Givers in the Cleaners are respected for their work in making sure Trash Beasts don’t attack any towns, but there are some people (ex. the Hell Guard, the people responsible for capturing criminals on the Ground) who view the Givers with disdain for cherishing an object to the point of co-dependence. And then there are the Raiders, an organization of criminals on the Ground with Giver abilities. Their leader, Zodyl Typhon, is obsessed with destroying the Sphere and with Rudo because of his status as a Sphereite and his ownership of an object from the “Watchman Series.”
Because of the show’s popularity, it’s even become a growing silly trend in the anime community to post everyone’s own “Vital Instrument.” From musical instruments to fidget spinners, people from all around the world have willingly jumped down the Gachiakuta rabbit hole (haha, get it?), joining a community inspired by the call for artistic expression and rebellion in the face of oppression.
In the rising action, Rudo experiences an Awakening immediately upon reaching the Ground, which transforms his gloves, a precious gift he received from Regto, into a Vital Instrument. Rudo is considered a prodigy among Givers, especially after we’re told his gloves are a part of the Watchman Series, a collection of objects belonging to a legendary Giver who lived 200 years ago. Due to the powerful nature of his gloves, Rudo is given the power to transform up to three broken and discarded objects of his choosing into more Vital Instruments depending on the “worth” he sees in an object. I believe it was fitting to give Rudo a power as versatile as the one 3R gives because Rudo sees the full, priceless “worth” of anyone and anything.
Through this power system, Urana is able to harness her creativity to create some of the coolest characters and weaponry designs known to manga. Some of my favorites are Enjin’s umbrella, Umbreaker, which allows Enjin to float in the air and use it as a drill; Zanka’s wooden stick transforms into a Sasumata named “Lovely Assistaff” or “Aibo” in the original Japanese; and Raider Jabber’s Mankira has a set of ten silver rings with the power to change into steel claws containing poison.
Back when I was watching the first episode, I was interested in the anime’s portrayal of the Nobility and the Tribesfolk. Up in the Sphere’s interior, Urana depicts the Nobility’s city to be full of skyscrapers without color or sustenance, and the Tribesfolk’s slums as muted or in neutrals, implying the Spherites live in a falsehood of pretension. Because the Sphere is a floating mobile island, the Spherites believe their race is symbolically above everyone else. Through Rudo’s interactions with Enjin and the other Ground dwellers, color is reintroduced into the story in more ways than one. Placing us in Rudo’s perspective allows the viewers to indirectly engage with the detailed worldbuilding, character interactions, and societal power struggles. For example, the Sphere is run by the “Apostles,” the people who sentenced Rudo to be dropped in the Pit. The role of the Apostles, protectors of the Sphere, is paralleled to the Cleaners, who take Rudo in under their wings and protect his Spherite status from Ground dwellers. As the show goes on, like Rudo, we feel a sense of community and comradery amongst the Cleaners.
The world of Gachiakuta is something truly special, and it’s only going to expand more from here. Trust me, it’s something you will want to experience for yourself. I promise, it’s worth it.
Featured Image Caption: From left to right features four characters from the anime Gachiakuta against a bright yellow and red background: Rudo, Enjin, Zanka, and Riyo.
