Romantic Killer (anime)

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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.

Tropes used in Romantic Killer (anime) include:

Actually Pretty Funny: The normally-stoic Kazuki and good-natured Junta both crack up laughing, with it being the first time that Kazuki has burst into laughter, when Anzu tells him how Saki shut down a classmate's attempt to sexually harass her by casually asking about his penis size. They admit that Saki is scarier than she looks.
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.
Adult Fear:
- It's eventually revealed that Kazuki has a violent stalker named Yukasa, one who has drugged him and ruined his life all because he helped pick up her bag after a bad day at work. His big sister is disgusted by how their family blames Kazuki for this and not the adult woman that essentially raped him. As a result, Kazuki has trauma attacks and PTSD whenever he sees a girl approach him. He absolutely freaks out when Yukasa finds him at Anzu's place, freezing in place until Anzu stops Yukasa and takes him home.
- The climax of season one: Yukaza corners Anzu at her workplace and slashes her with a steak knife. That is, a knife that could be found at any kitchen or home store. Anzu uses adrenaline to fight back in time for Kazuki and Arissa to rescue her, but she faints from blood loss and the traumatic head injury. At the hospital, everyone fusses over her and her mother flies back. Anzu mentions that she's lucky that she doesn't need stitches.
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 and recover from the trauma of being stalked by an older woman.
- 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.
And the Adventure Continues...: How season one ends. Thanks to Anzu negotiating with Kate, Riri makes new plans per his boss's updated mandate that Anzu needs a boyfriend by the time she graduates high school, and now they are one of the candidates. Anzu maintains that she is not interested in love and will be an "anti-heroine". Some things are different, however; Kazuki and Junta are now in the loop, and they're both open with each other that they both have feelings for Anzu, but will still be housemates.
Annoying Younger Sibling: When posing as Anzu's younger female cousin, 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. And he realizes that she is a true friend when she protects him from Yukasa.
Belligerent Sexual Tension:
- Hijiri thinks that he has this with Anzu, with how she refuses his advances. Anzu admits that while he's less narcissistic, she's never going to think of him as a romantic partner.
- One could interpret that season one ends with Anzu and Riri undergoing this. After Anzu risks the ire of the wizards corporation by using its rules to save Riri from a life sentence of manual labor, Riri shows up in their "Ririe" guise and cheerfully says the rules of changed. They reveal that Anzu has to choose a boyfriend by the end of high school, and now they're a candidate! Anzu starts arguing with Riri, while Junta and Kazuki look on with bemusement and the finale credits run.
Betty and Veronica: Ends up subverted with Junta, Kazuki and Hijiri with Anzu as the Archie. It's revealed that Kazuki has a reason for his standoffish behavior, but he encourages Junta to act on his feelings towards Anzu and becomes good friends with the two of them. Hijiri also comes to admit that while Anzu's elusiveness has not dented his narcissism and desire to woo her, he does like the positive influence she has on him.
Beware the Silly Ones: Riri may be the biggest antagonist in Anzu's life by trying to make her fall in love with someone who attends her high school, but we find out in the finale that they were going easy on her, owing to the fact that while she started as their test subject, Riri came to respect Anzu's spirit and her kind heart. It turns out that when sufficiently motivated, they will bring out the big guns and show how proficient they are at magic. Case in point, wiping three years of Yukasa's life.
Big Sister Instinct: Arissa has this for her kid brother Kazuki. It's revealed that she has thrown down with Yukana Kishi for attempting to harass her brother, as well as drugging him and sexually assaulting him. She also isn't speaking to their father after he hit Kazuki for "leading on" Yukasa, having called him out for being an asshole. After meeting Anzu, Arissa extends this instinct towards her as thanks for helping her little brother with her trauma.
Broken Bird: It's eventually revealed that Kazuki is this. It's not that he wants to be rude to every girl that talks to him, but each one that approaches him reminds him of his stalker ex Yukana Kishi, who drugged him and posted photos of him on social media, leading to his father showing No Sympathy about his underage son being abused. Anzu was the first girl who didn't trigger him, because of how she was trying to set clear boundaries with him and ran away after she broke his phone by accident.
Chosen Family: It's revealed that Riri, rather than creating an Unwanted Harem for Anzu as was his directive, established this instead. Kazuki needed friends to help him recover from his trauma with a violent stalker named Yukasa, who went as far as to drug and dox him. While his father showed No Sympathy, his mother and sister decided to send him away for his safety, with Anissa regularly checking in on him. Anzu is the first girl that didn't trigger Kazuki's trauma, and he finds himself happy for the first time when living with her and Junta. Junta doesn't have any hang-ups, but he is insecure about how Anzu has never noticed his feelings for him since he used to be chubby "Tonta". While Hijiri doesn't come to live with them since he's wealthy, attending a normal school and working retail with Anzu tempers his narcissism, and he comes to respect how Anzu doesn't want his money or good looks. And Riri, for better or for worse, learns more about humans and breaks the rules to protect Anzu and Kazuki from Yukasa.
Crane Game Gag: Hijiri asks how a game like this is fun when he follows Anzu to an arcade after their work shift ends. He says that with his wealth, he could buy all the toys in the arcade. Anzu tells him part of the fun is not knowing what you will get.
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 puts his foot down on her wearing cat-themed clothes. He says she needs to look nice.
Epic Fail: A plot-related one in the season finale; it's revealed that Riri is more competent than his replacement Kate, who breaks the masquerade in a matter of seconds and has to allow Riri back when Anzu manipulates her.
Internal Reveal: In the first season finale, thanks to Kate forgetting to put a glamour on herself, both Junta and Kazuki find out about the plot to get Anzu a boyfriend. Anzu is relieved to deliver an explanation for all the weird happenings. Kazuki takes it well, while Junta is both flattered and mortified on learning that he was considered as a candidate.
Let's Get Dangerous: Riri seems to be a love-obsessed wizard, but they can get serious when the occasion calls for it. Case in point, when Yukasa nearly kills Anzu via a steak knife, Riri breaks the magical taboos by visiting Yukasa in her jail cell with a Death Glare and wipes her memories of the past three years, so that she won't go after Anzu or Kazuki again. We actually learn that he's well-respected given that he got a lighter sentence than normal for this crime, and is more competent than his replacement Kate, who breaks the masquerade in a matter of seconds and has to allow Riri back when Anzu manipulates her.
Not a Morning Person: Anzu freely admits that she doesn't get up early, in contrast to Kazuki. When she offers to help him make lunch, she falls asleep on top of a head of lettuce.
Not Brainwashed: Anzu finds out that while Riri was setting up events for her to meet and bond with cute guys, he didn't make them fall for her. All he did was speed up the time that they would have encountered each other naturally. Junta was her childhood friend, a short fat kid named Tonta that she didn't recognize because he went into baseball and puberty did well by him, and he was drumming up the courage to talk to her again. Meanwhile, Kazuki did need a friend that didn't see him as a paragon or a crush, and bonding with Anzu helped him start healing from the trauma that Yukana Kishi inflicted on him. As for Hijiri? He needed a reality check about being a Narcissist and a brat. Riri himself starts falling for Anzu when he goes on a date with her to understand romance, realizing he doesn't know anything about human behavior.
Single Target Sexuality: Even though Junta is popular and could have any girl he wants, complete with his elementary school classmates fawning over him he only has eyes for Anzu. It's because she was the first girl who liked him for who he was as chubby Tonta.
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. And the way that his stalker Yukana Kishi treated him is played purely for horror.
Stalking Is Love: Subverted and deconstructed; while Kazuki's stalker Yukana Kishi thinks this is the case, the show itself plays her behavior for horror, and there is nothing funny or cute about it. She ruined his life and his relationship with his father by drugging him and posting photos of him on social media, to the point that he has panic attacks on a regular basis when in public that he hides behind a cool exterior. Riri is so horrified when she attacks Anzu that he breaks the rules to not just save Anzu but also release her from the dating sim.
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Subverted. Hijiri assumes that Anzu deliberately got hit by his driver to secure a date with him. Anzu, when she realizes what he's insinuating, returns the expensive clothes that he bought for their date and says that she's not interested in him that way.