There have been a ton of shows over the past year with excellent romantic pairings and comedy, but almost of all of them are happy side dishes to what is a completely different entree. Very few feature love as the main focus of the show, and even fewer of them balance with humor as well as Romantic Killer.
I admit at the start I was a bit taken aback at how loud the show was–the characters, the art, the animation–everything jumped off the screen and knocked me back a few feet. I nearly dropped the series after the first episode. But my curiosity won out, and I ended up speeding through the entire series within a few days (thanks Netflix). The main joke here is that the main character, Anzu Hoshino, actually has zero interest in love. She’d rather spend her days gaming, playing with her pet cat, and munching on her favorite chocolate snacks. The meddling of romance fairy/wizard Riri replaces her passions with nonstop romantic encounters straight out of a dating sim playbook, including staples like corner and stair accidents, storm quarantine, shared housing, and the perfect childhood friend.
As funny as all of these moments are, what really pushes Romantic Killer from good to great is the character development. When single season series like this include both a skilled display of comedy and character depth, it puts all other similar anime to shame. Yes, you can give archetypes interesting backstory and properly address their individual concerns. The heroine does not have to be some helpless victim to love or lust or circumstance. She can hate expectations and care about her friends. Romance might get killed repeatedly, but it certainly isn’t dead!
Watch on Netflix.
12 Days Blog Participants:
Anime B&B 