English Dub Review: Romantic Killer Season One

Overview:

Anzu Hoshino is obsessed with three things: video games, chocolate, and her cat Momohiki. She doesn’t have much of a life outside of her three greatest desires. She gets a new game one day and she encounters a wizard named Riri. The game is essentially an agreement to a new project. Anzu is put in a real life dating sim situation. She gets her three greatest desires confiscated and she can only get them back by getting into a romantic relationship.

Our Take:

Dating sims and anime seems to go together like peanut butter and jelly. However, this is a unique take that brings the dating sim world to the real world. The best part is it’s not in an isekai way either, but a magical one. I’m personally getting tired of isekai, but I love magic in anime, so it’s nice to see a different method being utilized.

I’m not a big fan of the premise because I don’t like the idea of someone being forced into a relationship. The reasoning behind it is pretty weak too. It has to do with the declining birth rate and I’m not a fan of as an excuse for forcing someone into a relationship or having kids. It should be up to the individual to make that decision. However, I do understand the point of wanting Anzu to actually be more open to the idea and not drown herself in video games all the time.

Anzu is an enjoyable main character. She’s not the typical dating sim protagonist, which earns her the anti-hero moniker. She’s funny and entertaining. This show is funny in general, but Anzu is responsible for most of the comedic moments. She may be opposed to being forced into a relationship, but she’s nice to her prospects and genuinely has fun spending time with them.

Her three love interests also add a lot to the show. Tsukasa Kazuki is the strongest of the three in my opinion. Anzu first meets him by running into him and accidentally breaking his phone. One thing leads to another and he ends up living with Anzu. He’s very popular with the ladies, but he hates that. He always tries to hide his face and he gets uncomfortable when girls confess their feelings to him. Junta Hayami is Anzu’s childhood friend. He’s one of the school’s star baseball players. He also tends to get jealous when he sees Anzu and Tsukasa together. Hijiri Koganei is the weakest of the three. He’s your typical stuck-up rich kid for the most part. That being said, he does have some moments of growth and he does some things that earn my respect.

Riri is the most annoying character in the show without a doubt. They always have that stupid grin on their face and they constantly inconvenience Anzu and other people for this ridiculous project. Riri isn’t irredeemable, however, since they actually help Anzu out of some tight spots.

I briefly mentioned that this show is funny, but I want to explain why. The facial expressions in this show are gold. Anzu and Junta are the biggest examples of that. I also find Anzu’s interactions with just about every other character hilarious. She’s always saying or doing something ridiculous. My favorite gag is when the roaches are always covered with slice of cake. This is done with a beetle once too, which is even funnier because it was poorly covered with a parfait.

This show is a romantic comedy, but that doesn’t stop it from getting serious. The last three episodes take a surprising turn with an interesting mood shift, but that’s honestly what took the show up a notch for me. I love a good romcom, but I appreciate it when they take good dramatic turns as well.

I’m a fan of the art style. domerica is the studio behind Romantic Killer. That’s the same studio behind The World Ends with You The Animation, which also has an eye-catching art style. I love the vibrant colors and some of the character designs stand out to me.

Overall, there’s a lot to like with Romantic Killer. The characters are fun and likable, the visuals are eye-catching, and it has a unique take on the otome game genre to set it apart. I might not love everything about it, like certain characters or the reasoning behind the premise, but there’s so much more good here than bad.