Romantic Killer 12 episodes
Anzu’s greatest loves of her life are chocolates, video games, and cats. Then one day the wizard Riri confiscates all three and turns her life into an otome game. She must fall in love for her life to go back to normal.
I haven’t had this fun in a reverse harem anime since My Next Life as a Villainess but it’s more fitting to group this with other highschool comedy Ouran High School Host Club and Kiss Him, Not Me. There’s a lot of slapstick humor for my liking but Anzu’s non-heroine comical forms will make you chuckle. All the forced encounters with the ikemen end up as hilarious. It went away with the usual isekai otome game that is all the rage right now. No villainess reincarnation too. In fact, the reverse happened. It brought the otome game elements into Anzu’s life and ditched the isekai part. There’s no invisible hand of the game. It’s just Riri magically manipulating things much to Anzu’s annoyance.
Although the reason for turning her life into an otome game is kinda lame, I don’t mind the excuse for a reverse harem. There are three love interests. There is the main guy, Tsukasa. Their personalities are such a good jive as friends that for the first time I’m really okay with them staying as friends. But even then I can’t help for my heart to go aww with the second lead, Junta. The third guy, Hijiri, is the weakest link. Maybe it is because he was going for the character stereotype which we have seen countless times already in anime and dramas. There is another guy or two who’s also crushing on her and might be another love interest. The supporting characters quickly oh just casually make you love them.
The conflict of the story was totally unexpected. You’ll think it’s just a silly, entertaining anime, but it hits you out of nowhere. And I love Anzu. I do. But the ending left me wondering if there was character development for her. Yes, she realized now there’s more to life than chocolates, video games, and cats but…
This brings me to the shojo and shonen discourse. It came out originally on Shonen Jump in Japan but was licensed under Shojo Beat in the west. And then it was also released on Viz Media’s Shonen Jump site. The style feels shonen but the story ‘seems’ shojo that in the end, I’m second guessing myself if I even know the difference between the two. After watching What is Shoujo Manga by Colleen’s Manga Recs, I am more inclined to think it is shonen. But one thing’s for sure is that I love this anime and it has a universal appeal for all.
This is not our first rodeo to shonen, there’s Pretty Boy Detective Club and Code: Breaker. There’s also World’s End Harem: Britannia Lumiére spin-off on Mangaplus. (The review is on the other blog) I’ve been seeing Witch Watch and Ghost Reaper Girl tagged as reverse harem which are also on Mangaplus but I have yet to read them.
Let me know your thoughts on Romantic Killer. And if you haven’t binged this yet, it’s now on Netflix. Go!
Purchase titles/ related to the titles mentioned: (as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases):
Ghost Reaper Girl, Vol. 1 (manga) https://amzn.to/3NJPVVA
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