Romantic Killer (anime)

Romantic Killer is a 2022 anime series on Netflix, based on the manga series of the same name, written and illustrated by Wataru Momose.

Anzu Hoshino has three loves in life: chocolate, video games, and her cat Monohiki. One friend at school and a good lunch made by her mom is all she needs. Who needs love, or to become involved in the gossip around boys?

Then someone sends her a dating sim; she wonders if it's a joke because it's not her style of game. It isn't, much to her consternation; a "devil" -- Cupid actually-- wizard name Riri pops out of the computer screen and tells Anzu congratulations, she is playing Romantic Thriller! Since birth rates are declining in Japan, people like Anzu are chosen to have a romantic experience. Anzu finds out that she will be plagued by attractive guys until she has a romance. To ensure she stays on the ball, Riri eats her chocolates and confiscates her video games, before sending her parents and cat on a trip to the USA. Anzu can't buy any more chocolates or video games or get her cat back until she has a romance.

Anzu refuses to play by this cliched set of rules. She vows to withstand all the cute guys thrown her way until Riri gives up on her, a promise put to the test when she meets a cute guy named Tsukasa Kazuki, an aloof popular boy that ignores the Girl Posse that follows him daily. Riri sets up circumstances so that Kazuki and Anzu become roommates, platonic ones, just as he introduces an old childhood friend named Junta. He didn't consider that Anzu would be creeped out that he brainwashed boys into crushing on her. Anzu's desire to stay single, paired with Kazuki's mysterious past and Junta's crush on her, causes the three to become an odd trio of friends. But Riri wants romance to happen, by any means possible.

While the manga ended on a definitive note, season one leaves a Sequel Hook.


 * Adorkable:
 * Anzu is this; Kazuki starts affectionately calling her a "weirdo" in the Netflix English dub for this reason. She often wakes up with a bedhead, wears cat shirts and enjoys playing games or nerding out over a zombie show.
 * Junta, like Anzu, is afraid of roaches and very insecure about his crush on her. He also becomes obsessed with the new zombie show they watch with Kazuki.
 * An Aesop:
 * Life is not a dating sim or a videogame. While cliches may happen, people are more complex than that. They all have individual motivations for how they act. Indeed, Riri has to admit that while he knows the gaming cliches and tropes associated with dating sims, Anzu keeps acting contrary to his predictions.
 * Consent is important in any bond platonic or romantic, as is respecting boundaries. Part of the reason why Riri made a bad first impression on Anzu was that he reorganized her life because it was his job, without considering how she would feel about it, especially him ensuring she wouldn't have her cat nearby. Meanwhile, Anzu and Kazuki set clear boundaries that they are friends and not interested in dating, and that allows Kazuki to open up.
 * While there is no shame in being an introvert and keeping to yourself, you never know what you may miss if you don't look up once in a while. Anzu starts becoming a better friend and person when forced to interact with people over lunch and at school.
 * Annoying Younger Sibling: When posing as, Riri comes off as this with how "she" annoys Anzu. Anzu gives back as well as Riri gives with a well-placed forehead flick.
 * Because You Were Nice to Me: While Kazuki is grateful that Anzu is housing him while his apartment is flooded, the moment that he realizes that she's his friend is when she refuses to pass on the phone numbers of the girls that are crushing on him, in respect for his boundaries.
 * Broken Bird: It's eventually revealed that.
 * Defrosting Ice King: While Kazuki starts as an aloof and rude upper student that refuses to even talk to girls, becoming friends with Anzu and Junta mellows him. He even starts to smile after Anzu and Junta freak out about a roach, leaving Kazuki to kill it, and Anzu comforts Junta about him freezing in terror.
 * Everyone Has Standards: When Kazuki asks Anzu to go shopping with him, he draws the line at her wearing a comfy house shirt with a cat on it, saying it's not appropriate.
 * Lethal Chef: Kazuki is horrified when Anzu puts sugar in the scrambled eggs that she makes for their lunch. When he moves in, he insists on making their lunches and hopes to teach her to cook.
 * Not Brainwashed: Anzu finds out that
 * Stalking Is Funny If Its Female After Male: Subverted. While Anzu finds it strange that Kazuki's admirers start following her in an attempt to talk to Kazuki and date him, she notices how uncomfortable he is at the fast food place they go to grab dinner. When they ask her to serve as a wingwoman, she refuses after thinking about it because Kazuki told her that he wasn't looking to date anyone at the moment and wasn't ready.
 * Stalking Is Love: Subverted and deconstructed; while, the show itself plays her behavior for horror, and there is nothing funny or cute about it..