#romantic killer spoilers

[shima-draws]

SO I just finished binging all of Romantic Killer bc it came up in my recommended. And oh my god I loved it so much;;

There’s definitely mixed reviews about it WHICH IS FAIR bc the premise is about a girl named Anzu who isn’t interested in romantic relationships but she then gets pushed into typical dating sim situations with Really Cute Boys in an effort to like. Force her into a relationship. And obv this kinda comes off as arophobic. But the fact that she so stubbornly refuses to partake and tries so hard to veer away from those situations makes it so fucking funny, especially when she rejects the boys with faces like this

And it turns out it’s really just a show about found family and overcoming trauma and developing healthy friendships with people and UGH. UGHHH it’s so good.

I actually adore Riri lmao they’re SUCH a little shit and I very much enjoy insanely chaotic characters like that. And we start off thinking okay wow this person’s kind of an asshole for forcing a girl to get a boyfriend by taking away her cat, her favorite hobby and her favorite snack, but then we find out OH, they’re just a cog in a corporate machine and they don’t really have much of a choice about it. And we slowly see Riri actually gain true affection for Anzu, and see how much they come to care about her as a person rather than just as a test subject, to the point of them actually breaking the rules of their contract just to make sure she’s safe. AND NOT JUST HER. They make sure the people she’s associated with are safe too, even if it risks them getting in Big Trouble with their boss. AND the fact that they canonically go by they/them pronouns but can ALSO transform into a boy or a girl depending on their preference, and they playfully flirt with Anzu in both forms?? It’s so good. Also thinking about the effort that Anzu goes through to make sure Riri gets to stick around;; like even tho she’d never admit it. She’s come to care for them too in some very strange way lol

And Junta;; the fact that Anzu is actually so concerned about him possibly being brainwashed into the position of childhood friend? Like she doesn’t immediately push him away or shut him down, she actually cares about him as a person and wants him to find happiness and wants to get him out of the situation she thinks he’s in. But then she finds out oh wait he actually IS a childhood friend. And he’s such a good boy. I love love LOVE how they handle the love triangle aspect in this, because obviously yes there’s a bit of jealousy, but not enough for things to get petty between him and Kazuki. They actually treat each other with respect and regard each other as friends and are kinda rooting for the other in their own way. Kind of “may the best man win” sort of thing. There’s no toxicity, there’s no classic “fighting over the female love interest” trope, they actually genuinely like each other after a bit of awkwardness enough to feel comfortable with living together and living with Anzu. They’re SO fucking sweet god dammit //shakes fists

(Honestly tho I really wish we got more episodes focused on Junta. Bc he really seemed like more of a background character and made the whole “love triangle” aspect not feel as prominent. Which is fine I guess?? But I felt so bad for him lmao)

And Kazuki 😭 My beloved. My poor sweet boy who deserves the world and everything in it. Just the build up. The subtle hints of his trauma that pop up every now and then. And when it all comes together you’re like oh!! Ohhh. THAT’S why he acts so aloof and cold all the time. THAT’S why he doesn’t like being the center of female attention. THAT’S why he gets distressed at things that, at first, seem so insignificant. THAT’S why he got attached to Anzu so quickly. And I love the way they handle his trauma, how they don’t make it seem any less important or alarming just because he’s a guy. And how Anzu’s there for him through everything 🤧 How she’s the person to pull him out of the darkness, how she stands up for him time and time again, how she just KNOWS when he’s uncomfortable and steps in to protect him. She ends up caring about him so much despite how they were set up to encounter initially. And he cares about her so much too. And I just 🥺 I care them

Also the fact how everyone came to help Kazuki when they found out what was going on. No judgement, no “you’re making this up”, no “isn’t this your fault to begin with?” They all just step in without even hesitating and support him through his trauma and immediately go “Okay we’ve got a problem so here’s our gameplan.” SEE. IT’S REALLY ABOUT THE FOUND FAMILY,

And one of my favorite things. Riri 🤝 Hijiri using their influence and power to protect both Anzu and Kazuki despite the risks to their reputation and social standing

OH AND I wanted to mention. I love that all of the classic romantic tropes i.e. something happening to your cute neighbor’s apartment so that they’re forced to live with you while it gets sorted out--those are generally really cheesy and make huge plot holes and don’t make ANY sense in the narrative. But that’s the thing about RK, they make it funny, yeah your cute boy neighbor’s apartment flooded bc we need him to come live with you. We did it with magic. Yes your childhood friend is living with you now bc we had a weirdo break into your apartment--with magic. So now he feels like he needs to stay with you and protect you. Yes you got hit by a car with a really rich boy inside and now he’s interested in you. We also did this with magic. Everything that would be regarded as a “coincidence” and is a badly written plot point just to push two characters together is actually explained through the hilarious concept of magic and I LOVE that it’s so fucking funny

Honestly this show is really up to interpretation too which I like a lot? Some people think hey yeah, maybe Anzu will end up with someone. Others say you know what the message here is that friendship is the most important thing and sometimes platonic relationships are better than romantic ones. The ending is pretty ambiguous so it could really go in any direction.

Anyway I have so much more to say but. Just watch Romantic Killer it’s really good thanks bye

(Trigger warnings include sexual harassment/assault, stalking, panic attacks/PTSD, and attempted murder, so please take care while watching <3)

[gallade-x-treme]

O...K? I don't really get it but you do you--

NOPE. NOPE. NO WAY. NUH-UH. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I'M CALLING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES.

[fishshapedbun]

rewatching romakira rn and seeing for a second time the scene when a girl tries to confess to Tsukasa, when Makoto says he could at least have accepted the letter and he says "She would just get the wrong idea" waaaaaa waaaaa waaaaaaaaaaa (╥﹏╥) baby boy nooo now i knowww o(TヘTo)

[belivinginyourselfistherealmagic]

Imagian Akko but in a Romantic Killer au ❤

Her magic all her Shiny Chariot merch and her cat are all taken away

(Maybe more or diffarant stuff)

Till she get into a romatic ralationship (gender doesnt matter cause magic) because the birth crises in japan

And her buying that damn cursed game

[lildogie]

Another Reason to Watch Romantic Killer

(A romcom anime, not a true crime show, in case the title puts you off.) This is a bit spoilery even above the cut, so skip everything after this paragraph if you want to go in blank-slate--

--but reasons that Romantic Killer is a series to watch include the suplex subversion of a trope that always puts me in agonies (this is not a lit crit point, but an emotional one). It's the part in many shows where someone's being hurt/manipulated/stalked/abused, and those closest to them take the shallowest and worst interpretation possible of the part of the picture they can see. They believe lies from the abuser, or they interpret the signs of abuse in the victim as hurtful behavior or signs the victim doesn't want them around. This is part of irl abuse tactics to isolate a victim from their support system. This period of isolation, misunderstanding, and lack of faith from everyone the character knows will often lead to the dark night of the soul part of the 3-act structure. Then misunderstandings get cleared up around the climax, and reconciliation, and/or fallout, happens in the denouement. But Anzu doesn't play that shit. When the dialog option pops up onscreen-- A: "Did he really do that?" B: "Are you kidding me? He would never do that." C: "..." --she smashes B without hesitation, and she backs it up with action. I dropped into the series because otaku are my people, and I like to see the nerd girl triumph without having to conform. I wasn't expecting to find such a capital-H Hero in Anzu. (More specific spoilers & cw under the cut.)

CW: mentions of bullying, abuse, stalking, attempted sexual assault When Saki's shitbird boyfriend tries to assault her, then spreads lies about her to cover up why they broke up, Saki expects to find herself alone and ostracized. No. Anzu argues with everyone. She makes their classmates rethink their baseless assumptions. She confronts the shitbird and lets everyone know what a scumbag he is. (At this point in the show, I decided Saki needed to be in the polycule. It can be one big pile. Don't separate her from Anzu.) (They can rope in Tsukasa's cute friend Makoto, who also has the huge crush on Junta; it'll be great. <-Tangentially, Makoto, a minor character, is another person who notices someone in silent distress (possibly because he has sisters), and his instinctive response is to protect. He's worthy; he can join the house.) When Anzu's classmates (who aren't too bad, but because of Tsukasa's past they're plenty anxiety-inducing enough for him) try to pressure her into giving them access to Tsukasa, Anzu shuts it down. Once she knows they make Tsukasa uncomfortable, she doesn't hesitate. She won't expose a friend to attention that makes him so anxious he shuts down and flees. She doesn't need to know why, she doesn't blame him for being weak or accuse him of overreacting; she just respects and protects that vulnerability. When Tsukasa's stalker shows up, as soon as Anzu realizes what's happening, she shields him, bodily and emotionally. She believes him by default. The standard trope would have her believe the stalker at least for a while, maybe get angry at Tsukasa for hiding something from her. Doesn't happen for a fucking second. Anzu is there for her friends, without question, every time. And she pays attention: even when they're not outright saying what's wrong, she's watching out for them. She's the friend everyone needs, and one of the worthiest romance protagonists I've seen.

[always-a-joyful-note]

I think the greatest plot twist this anime has had so far is the way Junta actually did turn out to be her childhood friend

[cursedchildofchaos]

i really did grow attached to a potato

[pencilsketchez]

RIRI BEING IN LOVE WITH ANZU IS SOMETHING I DIDNT REALLY EXPECT it was so out of left field but also thinking back i see it ! it was so clear ! GOD I HOPE THEY MAKE A SEASON 2 OF THIS SHOW

[gleefully-macabre]

Okay, going on record to say if Makoto (Romantic Killer) isn’t at LEAST bi, I will eat every single sock I own. They seem to be setting him up for Saki, but boy is nursing a major crush on Junta.

And speaking of Junta, I’m patting myself on the back big time. I figured he’d be an actual childhood friend of Anzu’s that she just didn’t remember.

Meanwhile, I’m on the last 2 eps, so about to see where what what I took for Kazuki’s anxiety but may be PTSD stems from.

[headspacedad]

romantic killer

okay, so I've watched the first episode. So far I'm not sold on it. It's got some interesting concepts but I'm not sure if its going to dig into them enough. Also you don't mess with someone's cat - you just don't. I did laugh more than a few times though - the part with the parents being so cavalier was great, the dig about Japan's birthrate seemed so much like a public service announcement it was funny to me and the little yellow wizard is both malicious and money driven so I find that amusing.

also I actually respect 'hottie' for not accepting the letter for the reason he gave.

The main heroine is super over-dramatic which is sometimes annoying and sometimes funny and its leaning more toward funny for me by the end of the episode. I don't know, so far she's not embracing this 'opportunity' and I appreciate that. Hopefully the story will give her a bit more on the brains side soon though and she'll get a bit more clever in her resistance. For a first episode, not bad, not great, but interesting enough that I'll keep going.

[libartz]

Even though this isn’t quite how it went in my playthrough, Wyll x Durge reminds me of that one DnD comic that ends up like ‘I roll to seduce the orc into changing his ways’ (nat 20) (villain falls madly in love with PC)

Mostly for the part at the end where he brings him home to his parents and says ‘Mum, dad, this is my fiancé, the former Scourge of the North…’

Ulder is going to be so concerned

I feel like with durgegale (or even just illithid tav) there’d be a similar moment with Gale’s mother, but she’d say ‘you know what, as long as my baby boy is happy, I support him’

[duskianfae]

I've been in a slump due to a change in my medication, so I tried to force myself out of it by drawing Hoshino Anzu

[fishshapedbun]

after scrolling through the romakira tag for more than an hour and reblogging a million posts i am reaching the conclusion that apparently most interpreted Anzu as aro and absolutely nobody besides me spent the entire season seeing Kazuki as the aro one there-

[candied-cae]

Rewatching Season 1, just closed Episode 7 again, and now I'm thinking about Jim.

Jim, who lost their father right in front of them. Who inherited a legacy of revenge they never wanted. Who was taught over and over again that life is pain and disappointment and burden. Who left home all alone in the world to get their vengeance at their Nana's advice. Who found Oluwande as a way into Spanish Jackie's proximity to get the man who stole their whole life. Who ran away with Oluwande at their heels, the first time they've run with someone running with them. Who had to hide and lie and keep their lips sealed to board The Revenge and did so with only a single ally they could trust. Who had to slowly learn how to talk, not in the literal sense, but metaphorically, to be vulnerable. Who saw their Nana again and let themselves be sent back to a life of settling a tiresome grudge. Who had to decide, for the very first time themselves, that they wanted the good out of life.

About Jim who went back home, to The Revenge.

Who got back just in time to kiss Oluwande and hold him close and bed him in their shared room. Who lost him just as quickly. Who was alone again, but in an entirely new way. Who woke up with a pounding headache pinned under glowering eyes. Who's been pushed to the breaking point of killing and raiding without a cause to believe in.

Who still held so much heart and longing for closeness. Who told Fang stories to help him stop crying and laugh, who even did the little wooden boy voice to make sure it worked. Who started to fall for Archie in the middle of all the hurt and cold loneliness that took a hold of their home, of their Revenge, the only one they've ever really cared for.

And then... just when Ed seemed to be getting better than he had in a while, they were in a storm. Surrounded by screaming weather and getting soaked with rain. And as they find themselves staring down the barrel of death, only hours or minutes from complete destruction and erasure, they are commanded to snuff out their recent string of hope.

And Blackbeard cackles as he tells them all love dies, he was just hastening the process.

And it hit them again, with the same force as Archie's fist hits their jaw... it's the same thing.

"Life is pain." "Life is disappointing." "Life is pointless if you aren't mad and making a statement."

The world was telling them again, that was how it worked.

And they didn't listen. They didn't bend to the universal law they kept having barked into their face. Instead they reached down, and pulled Archie to her feet. And Jim pressed their forehead into hers. Knowing they were going to die soon. It was just a fact, Blackbeard was always going to blow the mast, no matter if they listened.

So Jim was going to stop fighting. Stop scrambling desperate and scrappy to survive. They were just going to hold the little bit of love they had within reach, and wait for the Life that's aways been hard to end.

More OFMD

[landofgay]

WWDITS PREDICTION:

Marwa won't want to be turned into a vampire and will politely turn Nandor down and Nandor is like "where will I find a wife that I can turn into a vampire" and Guillermo will look directly into camera before going back to flirting with his bf over text

[always-a-joyful-note]

Okay we've officially hit the "killer" part of Romantic Killer