REVIEW: ‘Romantic Killer’ Season 1 Is A Fun Messy Rom Com

Romantic Killer Season 1 is an anime romantic comedy produced by Domerica. Anzu’s three greatest desires in life are playing games, eating chocolate, and cuddling with her cat. But there is an organization that is convinced everyone should find romantic love. To help Anzu find this love, it has dispatched the wizard Riri to give Anzu a jump start in her romantic pursuits. However, Anzu has other plans.

Let’s start with the single best aspect of this series, Anzu. I love this character. She is strong, determined, and takes absolutely zero crap from anyone. Her forceful nature is reinforced by both her writing and the show’s animation which gleefully flexes her into an alternate version of her of herself whenever she needs to get someone to mind their place. But even though she is stubborn and forceful, she doesn’t let her singular focus keep her from recognizing the needs of those around her. She is compassionate and caring, and more than willing to be forceful for the sack of others and not just herself. Which is why I hate how the show treats its shining star.

Romantic Killer Season 1 sees the bulk of its cast determined to prove that Anzu doesn’t know what she wants or what she should be doing. From the wizard Riri, who forcefully removes her three greatest desires from her life, to the potential romantic partners who frequently ignore her assertations that she doesn’t want new clothes or whatever else someone is offering. How could she possibly know what’s best for her? The frequent moments where Anzu is being cajoled into doing things she has no interest in makes the larger narrative of this series simply frustrating on the conceptual level.

This general flaw is compounded by the show’s obsession with forcing Anzu to recreate as many classic romantic comedy tropes as possible. The show bounces so fast from one setup to the next that it often omits the actual moment it has put together so it can start moving to the next. This breakneck pace keeps the vast majority of the series characters as hollow, two-dimensional cutouts, rather than fully-fledged characters.

Where Romantic Killer Season 1 story shines best is in the moment-to-moment humor of the series. The animation goes to great lengths to provide all the sight gags and farcical moments that the many romantic misadventures create with great effect. And since most of the wilder visual moments are centered around Anzu, the visuals craft a singular focus on its star character, as well as enhancing her strong personality.

While it’s mostly hijinks and misunderstandings in Romantic Killer Season 1, the end of the season goes into an unexpectedly dark place. Despite the humor of the bulk of the show, the series switches gears surprisingly well and never makes light of the emotional and physical dangers the season’s final arc delivers.

Romantic Killer Season 1 delivers some laughs and some well-executed drama that coats an unfortunate premise. I ultimately spent the majority of time watching this series wishing the world would just let Anzu enjoy her chocolates, games, and cat.

Romantic Killer Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix.