Romantic Killer

About

Romantic Killer is a romantic comedy manga series written by Wataru Momose that later became an anime licensed by Netflix. The series centers on Anzu Hoshino, a high-school girl obsessed with video games, chocolate, and her cat, to the point where she neglects romance. She is visited by a wizard, Riri, who confiscates her three needs and pledges to make her life like an Otome dating sim. As hot boys begin suddenly entering her life, Anzu works to avoid developing romantic feelings for any of them while Riri concocts scenarios to force her to get into a relationship. The series became a sleeper hit online as people praised its animation and the unexpected direction the story took after its initial premise, as well as various references to it appearing in memes and fan art.

History

The Romantic Killer manga was written and illustrated by Wataru Momose and began appearing on the Shonen Jump+ website on July 30th, 2019.^[1] The manga released four volumes, concluding on September 4th, 2020.

On August 22nd, 2022, Shonen Jump announced that Romantic Killer would get an anime licensed by Netflix.^[2] The series was released in its entirety on October 27th, 2022 (trailer shown below).

Online Presence

Though the series received little critical attention upon release, it became a sleeper hit online. As of November 16th, 2022, the show has a rating of 8.2 on MyAnimeList^[3] based on 26,000 ratings. It also grew popular on social media, particularly for the highly exaggerated facial expressions of Anzu, its achievements in queer representation, and the unexpected turn the story takes in its latter half.

On October 29th, 2022, Twitter user @sjh_hyun^[4] posted a compilation of some of Anzu's exaggerated reactions, gaining over 500 retweets and 1,200 likes (shown below, left). The same day, Tumblr user gallade-x-treme^[5] posted a similar compilation, gaining over 650 notes in two weeks (shown below, right).

Tumblr users also were appreciative that Anzu could be read as aromantic and asexual, as she expresses little romantic attraction to the boys she encounters throughout the series. Users there have posted several pieces of art with Anzu in front of the aro/ace flag, such as gingersaurus^[6] and anti-romancer^[7] (shown below).

Many social media users were also impressed that the show went in an unexpected direction, particularly in the final episodes. For example, Tumblr user emile-hides^[8] posted their reaction to each arc of the anime, ending with their character repeating "WTF" for episodes 10-12 (shown below).

Search Interest

External References