all the dark elements is why i love the show. so many romances, magical or otherwise, have incredibly disturbing premises or plots that just get played off like it's normal or acceptable whereas Anzu fights like hell against it. i've watched this show six times
@@trickstercode3966 "Fridge Horror" also applies to Kirby and Pikmin. You just don't notice at first because you're too absorbed in the cute visuals. Isn't Fridge Horror great?
I’ve had 2 stalkers, one was a classmate when I was 12-16 and another was a middle aged man who came into my job and stalked me from 17-19. I had to move to escape my first stalker and almost had to quit my job to escape my second one. The second stalker broke into my house and watched me as I slept. My parents had just bought the house so we couldn’t move again. The show did such a good job at accurately displaying the blood chilling reality of being stalked. The feeling of guilt. Feeling responsible for bringing that terror into the lives of your loved ones. When people are breaking into your house you’re no longer the only one in danger and it feels like your mere existence is putting the ones you love at risk of being harmed. The anxiety that you’re being watched never goes away. Even something as small as eye contact is hard because what if someone assumes a quick glance means something more. Everyone feels like a threat and that feeling never really goes away. You can move as much as you want and try to pretend it didn’t happen but your body never forgets the paralyzing fear of knowing someone is stalking you and not being able to do anything about it.
I am happy that they didn't play Yukana's stalking as a joke or try to act like Tsukasa owed her a chance. A lot of movies and TV shows don't take male victims of female stalkers seriously. As disturbing as it is, it is a point in the show's favor that they treated the matter seriously and didn't stray away from the fact that Yukana is a grown woman stalking and harassing a teenager.
They did kind of gloss over that he was sexually assaulted while unconscious (from being drugged), in his house, in his room, on his bed! His safe space was ruined. The focus was on the photos and social media comments. It's one of the reasons why he is so traumatized (a big one). They also don't talk about getting him professional help for his trauma. Like a therapist to help him through his PTSD. I wish the show was less comedic and DID focus on the serious topics and implications that it brought up.
@Anime10473 His experience also parallels Saki who gets unwanted attention all the time and who also experienced sexual assault and was manipulated by someone who portrayed themselves as "nice" but were really obsessive predators. I agree, I think they should've directly highlighted the fact that he was assaulted.
I dropped this show after the first episode because i thought the premise was gross and manipulative. I thought eventually the poor girl would break and fall in love and live out life as another housewife. BOY WAS I WRONG. It is so refreshing to see a female main character stay the course of defiance in the face of the tropes that get thrown at her. She got the ending SHE wanted, not the one that was chosen for her. Excellent excellent excellent!
I didn't think the premisse was gross and manipulative (mostly because I read enough cliches to get the feel this had the full intent to not be one), but because it just felt awful for the protagonist and couldn't deal with the premise while the girl was subjected to essentially shuffering
@@gustavowadaslopes2479as someone who’s most likely on the ace spectrum and not too interested in dating i think the premise is extremely manipulative. i know how it feels to not want to get pressured into dating and this poor girl literally gets her pet and favourite hobby taken away to FORCE her to try to date. if a parent did that it would literally be considered child abuse. so yea that’s the reason i never watched the show. it just resonated with my own experiences and brought up bad memories. i’m so glad though that in the end she doesn’t actually have to fall in love and can do what she wants.
@@buchstaben-suppe I think the key element in me feeling the premise wasn't manipulative was because it didn't at any moment play it as a good thing or as if that perspective was a thing that would change. Any opportunity it had for that it reafirmmed against it. Given, I also stopped the show nor the manga because of how much I couldn't handdle how frustrating everything happening to the protagonist was. That's frankly something beyond the being manipulative or not. It's just plain frsutrating.
@@gustavowadaslopes2479 oh i see what you’re saying. we’re talking about different perspectives. you’re saying the show doesn’t manipulate the viewer. and i agree with that. i thought you where saying that the MC doesn’t get manipulated, but in my opinion she very much does from the very beginning. but yeah the show doesn’t try to paint this as an ok thing to do, at least as it goes on. in the first episode it felt a little like they where making fun of these types of ppl who don’t bother about getting a boyfriend but the tone might’ve shifted bc of the change of directors, the video said smth about the show having a different lead at some point.
Here's the thing: After I watched a video on the hidden meanings in "The Misfit Of Demon King Academy", I've learned that sometimes there's a much deeper meaning behind seemingly shallow anime or manga. In the one above, there's hidden references to things like the discrimination and mistreatment of the "Halfu", a rising demographic in Japan comprised of people who are only half-Japanese. Likewise, this show approaches another complex and nuanced issue while hiding it with humor. What issue? Well, there's a demographic shift in Japan, where the elderly portion is growing and the younger portion is shrinking. It will not be too long before that imbalance grows to a point where Japan will have a large number of elderly retirees and not enough younger people to support them economically. Birthrates in Japan are falling, marriages in Japan are falling, and unless something happens in the future, Japan could see a genuine economic crisis. Now, one of the solutions that likely gets bandied about is just to force young people to get married and expect them to have kids, or place major penalties on people who remain single or childless. I think you can kind of see where this is going. What this anime does is showcase what it would be like for someone to be completely at the mercy of an all-powerful entity who can arbitrarily do whatever it wants to force you into a relationship, only in this show's case they replace a government mandate with an all-powerful wizard. Anzu, due to not being interested in romance, gets penalized and loses all the things that make her happy with the demand that before she can have anything back, she has to have a relationship. However, as demonstrated with Tsukasa, people don't stay single just out of choice or even being an aro/ace, but because of genuine trauma that hinders their ability to have relationships, or in the case of Yukana... genuine mental illness. Forcing random people together just to make couples and hope they'll make babies isn't a solution to a major demographic shift and declining birthrates, and it would be a massive violation of individual rights to do so. A nuanced and complex problem won't be solved with a "simple" solution, it has to be dealt with by addressing the causes, rather than trying a simple band-aid on and hoping it'll solve the effects. Behind the silliness and comedy, there's a very harsh critique of the idea that "All you need to get those young-uns to start making babies is to take away their toys and force them to get together". Anzu had zero interest in being in a relationship, and even if it wasn't because she was an aro/ace and was more just "I'm happy being single and in no rush to change that", she has absolutely every right to live her life the way she wants, and trying to force her to live otherwise is a massive violation of her basic human rights.
Thank you for putting this into words. This is the main reason why I myself believe it's more horror than romance. The reason it's played for laughs is because it takes place somewhere where people WOULD play it for laughs (i.e. Asian hemisphere), but those who truly understand the horrific implications and nature of events in the story WILL feel dread. Of course, the story isn't perfectly executed, and I wish half the episodes were, but the plot beats create an engaging narrative where we feel equally trapped in the system as Anzu and her friends do.
I didn't like this video, but your comment is maybe one of the most interesting I've seen on youtube. I'd subsribe immediately if this comment was a short video saying the same things
The issue of the shift and demographics in Japan has been going on for a long while. A better solution would be instead of forcing people into relationships, would be to change the killer work culture of Japan. By offering more days off with pay, lessening work hours, increasing workforce by encouraging are more women to join and paying them a fair salary an offer free childcare would do wonders as a starting point. Not to mention perhaps offering IVF treatment to infertile couples.
Turn on the subject people who are Part Japanese in Japan. There needs to be stronger laws against the discrimination and abuse of people who are Half Japanese. In addition to the improved treatment of immigrants in Japan. By taking measures to be able to make life easier for all people in Japan, there will be a rise in living quality
My favorite phrase; Gaslight. Gatekeep. Riri. I genuinely love this show. It’s a comedy with a lot of horror elements (which as a horror game fan I love) while poking fun of romance genre tropes. Then add on Anzu as a great protagonist and it just gets even better.
"The Magic World can't stand that she's perfectly happy not engaging in romance of any kind." Imagine you discover there is a "magic world" and you get excited but then you get a peek and find out it's also just as full of horrible people as the world you were born into. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go treat Rochat like a dating sim just to spite the so-called "Magic World" and its little magic jerks.
This show is genuinely one of the biggest things propelling me toward becoming a video essayist. like watching left me absolutely no choice but to brain rot over it for months. shit has layers upon layers that i have been dissecting and fascinated by since I watched it. genuinely one of the wildest shows I’ve watched. Glad to see someone else was just as impacted by the shows crazy ass plot and surprisingly intriguing themes.
I feel like a lot of people are missing out on the ending. I did, too, during my first watch. There will be no sequel to this show, the original source material features no continuation either. There's just no need for one. Romantic Killer is about friendship and staying true to yourself. Under the disguise of a real-life dating sim, we see Anzu impact each of her friends' lives for the better by simply being a loyal and strong companion. She keeps being herself unapologetically until even Riri realizes that rescuing Anzu is more important than anything else. In the final episode, Riri sacrifices herself for Anzu, who again does everything to save Riri in turn (even if it means tricking the new magic fairy into believing she's playing along). Anzu gets back the things she values most in life and still does not plan on changing. She won. Romantic Killer will always be a reminder for me to be more like Anzu.
Riri stated that if Anzu didn't find love by the end of high school she would lose her cat, chocolate, and video games *forever* in the final episode, so I don't agree that she won. At best, she bought herself a couple more years. Part of me wonders if Anzu's parents are in on this whole thing because they've noticed her behavior and applied to have her participate in this because they are "worried" they won't get any grandchildren from her at this rate (hence why they left again in the final episode and were likely who provided the address for the "game" to be shipped there). I feel...given Anzu's personality, another season would allow her to band together with her friends to figure out how to combat the system that makes these mages a thing in the first place or find another loophole to completely thwart the scheme for good. Now that the Junta and Kazuki know about the wizards, they will want to team up and help her because, "Friends don't force other friends to do something they don't want." The employers of these wizards would be the "final boss." Along the way, Anzu and co. can show Riri now that they are human why it's so messed up that of all the things the government could do to improve the birth rate that this isn't it! Once Riri is convinced, they now have someone on the inside who can lead them to the headquarters. I'm imagining that confrontation would allow Anzu to tell them, "How about instead of forcing people to get together, you could work on the things that actually cause people to not want to fall in love and have kids in the first place (ie poor treatment of SA victims and not dealing with stalkers/perverts properly [Kazuki and Saki could chime in], etc.) instead of targeting minors who shouldn't even be considering having kids yet even if they wanted them to bear the brunt of the government's agenda.
A common trait of romance animes that this show explores/exploits is the psychological pressure on 'pretty' people. One of the male characters just wants to be a good student, but his attractive appearance has attracted a crazy person. A person drugging another person into submission is one of the most common examples of how men dominate women, but the anime instead gives a gender-reversed example as a reminder that men can be hurt by women too. While ugly people are bullied for being unattractive, beautiful people have their own issues. This anime has drawn focus to the ones who lose their privacy and consent due to others abusing their desire to be with them. Another anime that mentions this is The Apothecary Diaries where the main character reveals that she wears fake freckles to make herself less attractive so that she doesn't get attacked or sold into slavery.
This looks like a great anime and I'll definitely be watching it As an aroace, Anzu seems very relatable, even if she isn't confirmed to be aromantic Suddenly changing the tone of a story in its second half isn't exactly a rare narrative practice. One of its most popular uses is West Side Story, but there are many other examples out there. However, this series does turn that to eleven, which is just great
i'm arospec and i LOVED this anime, it was seriously relatable, more than I thought. Especially the fact that Riri's whole purpose or whatever is to basically force Anzu to get in to a relationship, which is pretty realistic as society pressures everyone into romance
I doubt she’s actually Aromantic since she’s canonically obsessed with dating sims and that’s usually something romantics do to compensate for not being good at finding real life romantic partners.
It’s not the megical world where Riri comes from though. Riri works for the Japan government and the project he’s in was formed “to prevent japans demographic change”. Which is a real concern in Japan as Japan simply doesn’t have enough young people to soon support the large old demographic. That plot point was just hilarious to me. So the magic department basically supports young heterosexual people to get busy and tries to prevent them from becoming otakus and missing out.
Only it doesn't "support" them, it forces their hand. Worse, it shows very little interest in anyone who isn't straight, because it views hetero couples as baby factories.
@@NewExile Straight People are the reason Human Civilization can exist anyways. All the Alphabets can vanish Tomorrow and Society will continue to exist. Create a Children of Man situation though...
I mean, the "you are single? Willingly??? HOW DARE YOU that's soooo sad" is enough of a sentence to qualify anything as a psychological horror in my books. Anzu is a legend for surviving all of that, 'cause my aroace ass would've gotten that flying debris to the head. Love the slow but steady aroace rep we've been getting in media as of late!
Another thing I like about the show is how Anzu's sexuality is never actually explored upon. She might be aro/ace, she might be lesbian, straight, etc. etc. I like that because it shows that there's so many reasons for people to NOT want a romantic or sexual relationship, be it that they don't bear those feelings, like a different gender, or they're just perfectly content with being single. If they were to explicitly narrow down the reason, I think it would detract from the greater message. It is because of this that I think the show's best ending is Anzu remaining single all the way, especially now that they hinted at Tsukasa developing feelings for her at the end of the 12th episode.
I haven't watched the show yet, but I was turned into it by a friend who has. I'm Ace-Aro so I'm always happy to see aspec representation in media, but I gotta say I both love and hate what the show presents here. While we don't have jackass potato wizards hanging over our heads manipulating events, we're still bombarded with media and propaganda that says we're lesser or wrong for not wanting relationships. It really is terrifying and I do appreciate the sardonic humour lens this puts on the subject. The stalker is a condensed version of that world view; you are going to have a relationship with a person whether you want to or not and you're wrong if you try to reject it.
I’m asexual too and just the premise of everything you love being taken from you and being obligated to eventually get laid with a man is terrifying by itself. I do enjoy romcoms, but this scenario is just cruel, and disturbing.I feel grateful for not being born in a time or society that would marry me off and obligated to make babies with a man, and an anime in a modern setting showing a situation like this for laughs??! Her choices aren’t respected and you can take it like her consent is taken off too... I like to watch anime to enjoy it, and it’s ok, I just didn’t watched this one, but the underlying messages worry me, cuz that was thought and made by people who made the decision to put a female character to this position. I skipped the end for the trigger warnings and although it looks like it tapped more on the horror aspect. I don’t know if they would use it as a device to make a social commentary about all of this implications of forcing women to get married and have kids, or if would just be creepy for the sake of being crappy. If someone who has seen or read further can tell me? Thanks for reading
@@josefagomezschmeisser8356To be fair Anzu stayed focus on her ideas. She didn't finish with one of the guys at the end. The messages are pretty clear for me to be honest: You can't force someone to fall in love. "Love" come in different aspects. Romantic love of course, but also platonic love. The others characters have a crush on her, but that dœsn't SHE has a crush on them. That is the goal of the show. Showing that romantic love is not everything.
@@josefagomezschmeisser8356 considering you never watched it i wouldnt say that! the show is clear that all those wrongs you said ARE WRONG and is always on her side thats why she never ends up with anyone because it shows that trying to force romance isnt okay and even at the end she makes it clear she wants no part of it its more a mimi social commentary but with humor, the story itself also changes a bit from the first ep
I mean Anzu does find a lot of the guys attractive and possibly would date them. She just refuses to because of Riri's manipulation. There are multiple points where she has to stop herself from catching feelings.
I've been weirdly obsessed with otome/reverse harem stuff since I was a teenager, not so much because I wanted to feel that fantasy of pursuing a love interest but more because I wanted an interesting story where romance was the main theme, but stumbling upon this vast sea of basically the same characters recolored and repackaged into a different setting was super discouraging and somewhat disturbing. The tropes were always just a bit too gross; unwanted physical contact and flirting, claiming that the MC is "theirs" (sometimes implying that they are their actual property), manipulating/gaslighting/abusing the female lead, and then framing it as romantic because the male love interest is being forceful, something that is seen as a masculine trait, therefore manly, therefore positive in a romantic context. This is something we see in stuff like Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey, so it's definitely not just Japan. Romantic Killer seems to kind of critique the status quo of this. The MC isn't just an empty vessel that the audience can project themselves onto, she is actually quite cool, comes with her own quirks and strong ideals. You NEVER see that in reverse harems, and it's kind of refreshing to see, it was kind of what I always wanted when playing otome games. Furthermore, having a male lead, one who was set up to be a romantic interest, not only just pursue a completely platonic relationship with the MC but also being a deeper character with serious trauma is significant, too. Something that is especially hard for men to talk about is things like trauma and suffering that comes from it. Men need to be strong and unshakable, after all, and acknowledging something like having trauma (especially trauma caused by women, who are seen as "weaker"), is acknowledging that you are not "man enough". But the show presents this idea and explains why it is wrong, because obviously anyone who is traumatized, regardless of their gender, deserves to be listened to and taken care of. Men should NOT feel bad about being victims and criminals should NOT be taken less seriously just because they are women. This show showcases care for both genders in a society still plagued by sexism, but in a very entry-level way where people who may have been lured in by the romcom promises may find their world-view challenged a bit. By no means a perfect show, but I do like what they did with it a lot.
I love shows that just don't care for being realistic or legal but pose interesting characters the genre of reverse harems but every character is fuked up is mood and then you have one series where all but one of the brothers either are romantic to each-other or the sister while the youngest brother just does normal little bro things lol XD
Same. I can understand if they introduce toxic elements early on so they can do future character development but it's essentially not the case at all. These type of settings are heavily fetishized and normalised as romantic. Which I simply can't enjoy. I get the drama part coming from these elements but I don't appreciate it being passed off as romantic and sexy. If you find this sexy, then advertise it as a dark romance, don't just try to pass it off like it's the norm.
Same. I can understand if they introduce toxic elements early on so they can do future character development but it's essentially not the case at all. These type of settings are heavily fetishized and normalised as romantic. Which I simply can't enjoy. I get the drama part coming from these elements but I don't appreciate it being passed off as romantic and sexy. If you find this sexy, then advertise it as a dark romance, don't just try to pass it off like it's the norm.
As an Aromantic I renamed the show: "(a)romantic killer" in my head. This magical potato forces a person, be they aro or not it doesent matter, into a relationship while they are still not ready for one or just not in the mood.
Ikr I feel so conflicted!! I do think Kazuki and Anzu’s story is so cute. But I also totally see how and why the aro-ace community wants to adopt Anzu into their circle given her general vibes haha. I’m fine with either because she’s amazing and it’s clear she loves and cares about all of her friends ♥️
@@jasmintea8825 Yeah Anzu was obviously tempted at several moments. We even have that one moment where she slaps herself to get her head straight. The whole point wasn't that she is doesn't want love or romance, but that she doesn't want to be forced into it and be required to give up stuff she enjoys in order to have it.
I’m asexual and just the premise of everything you love being taken from you and being obligated to eventually get laid with a man is terrifying by itself. I do enjoy romcoms, but this scenario is just cruel, and disturbing.I feel grateful for not being born in a time or society that would marry me off and obligated to make babies with a man, and an anime in a modern setting showing a situation like this for laughs??! Her choices aren’t respected and you can take it like her consent is taken off too... I like to watch anime to enjoy it, and it’s ok, I just didn’t watched this one, but the underlying messages worry me, cuz that was thought and made by people who made the decision to put a female character to this position. I skipped the end for the trigger warnings and although it looks like it tapped more on the horror aspect. I don’t know if they would use it as a device to make a social commentary about all of this implications of forcing women to get married and have kids, or if would just be creepy for the sake of being crappy. If someone who has seen or read further can tell me? Thanks for reading
@@josefagomezschmeisser8356how i see it is, that Anzu's continuous resistance is the commentary on our social circumstances and cliche romantic media! the show is very self aware and it takes these overused themes of a willing and submissive woman being swept off her feet by a dashing and dominant man and totally flips them around to provoke thoughts! it also takes the topic of trauma and overcoming it. the underlying messages certainly aren't about forcing women into uncomfortable social relationships against their will :)
"Romantic Killer" does not refer to Anzu I feel. It is the show that kills the "Romantic Comedies" by exposing the underlying toxic themes. The forced romance, the contrived plots, the suitors who on the surface *look* romantic but upon even the slightest inspection either have no depth at all or are horrible people. The Tsundere, Princess and other tropes are godawful people to be around in real life. Even the "good" shows have some nasty tropes like over-the-top perverted homosexuals, physically harming the love-interest as a gag, jealous classmates, sexualizing high-school girls, and honestly so much more. I stopped anime because I can't with this Sh%
Good. We need more Goblin Slayers anyways and less people crying at images they can just choose to watch something else. I learned that a long time ago.
i honestly find it concerning that riri was even targetting a high school girl in the first place!? it's true that the initial goal is to get her to "fall in love", but that's literally, actually, _not_ what the goal is!? the ACTUAL GOAL is for anzu to _bang a dude and get pregnant_ to "fix japan's declining birth rate". that's... two completely different things. what if anzu DOES fall in love with a man but her and her partner dont want children? riri's efforts would have been completely in vain. what if anzu was gay? what if anzu was aro, ace or both? if the end goal is pregnancy, it's also really fucking weird to try this "project" out on a teen in high school 😭 it implies so many things that im not very comfortable with eg. teen pregnancy. they could've tried this out on a woman in college, or generally a woman in her 20s or 30s. im not saying the writer is a weird person, i just dont think they thought things through when deciding the premise of the show. i can see that they must've thought this would just be a funny little premise, and it is, _as long as you dont think about it too deeply._ i had tons of fun watching this show but i cant imagine what i would do in anzu's shoes as an aroace myself. to be seen by this annoying wizard as a "lesser than" because i have no interest in romantic love or sexual acts with others, and most importantly, as someone with 0 interest in getting pregnant with a child. i 100% get what you mean by the psychological horror aspects of the show, and this video was entertaining to watch! im glad to know that i wasnt alone in my thoughts on this show.
I'm pretty sure the premise of the show being messed up is intentional. A lot of romance stories (especially in anime/manga) have messed up premises and the show parodies a lot of romance tropes.
I personally also thought they ment that she was supposed to find her one true love as a way to set her up to get married and start a family in the future, not her immedialy getting pregnant in high school.
My interpretation was it was set in a high school setting for a couple of reasons. 1. Being that most romantic genre anime are set in a high school environment, and having all the "high school romance troupes". 2. High school tends to be the time most teens first experience dating and "love". And 3. Teens have a limited amount of power in most situations versus a 20 or 30 year old woman with more life experiences. Who is more sure of who they are and what values and beliefs they have. In a way teens still discovering who they are , are much more vulnerable to coercion. In conclusion I feel the author choosing to set it in a high school setting and how icky it was, was on purpose. In order to call out a lot of the "romantic" high school dating troupes that in reality are not romantic in the least, but are either rather disturbing or just disgusting. However are treated as if they are good things teens should want. Sorry to ramble, I hope this made sense in the end.
Hey, just watched the show. I'm pretty sure something the imply about Riri (and possibly the wizards as a whole) from the start is that he actually has no conception of romance. On those "dates" with Anzu they kinda make it very clear they're informed a lot by rom coms and that kinda media? Plus in the beginning it's all packaged as some kind of "otome game" that Riri wrote, which Anzu calls out multiple times as badly written. Most of the early stuff is called out as being engineered for her to get Anzu into situations ripped straight from an otome game. The impression I got was they were this inhuman, omnipotent bureaucrat that patterned this whole thing off of some damn problematic fiction.
16:13 They *do* exist; actually, one of them is in my university and has a crush on my best friend, and his behavior is almost the same. Unfortunately, I can't stand his narcissistic attitude, especially when we work on projects. And yeeeah, we are also in the same team.
You deserve all of the likes here dude. I am aromatic and for the longest time I would always feel really bad rejecting anybody who was interested in me because I didn't want to hurt their feelings. Though I eventually realized that rejecting someone doesn't make me a bad person.
I actually really enjoyed this anime for how funny yet serious it is. Like when was the last time we saw a romantic comedy discuss a young attractive popular guy getting sexually harassed, stalked, victim blamed and suffering from major ptsd, in a *genuinely serious* manner? Also the side plot about her best friend and what happened to her, another good example. Also I like that they very casually made Riri genderfluid without feeling the need to point it out much, they just are no big deal. It was a very refreshing watch. Also I enjoyed that non of the male love interests are weird, pushy, creepy etc. as so often is the case in Harem/reverse harem
I am a sex-repulsed aro-ace. I love video games. I like snacks, while I have no preference for chocolate, I think it’s nice. I adore cats, though sadly I don’t live with my parents cats anymore. Heck I even have fluffy hair. With all this said…This would be a life-ending nightmare for me. Anzu, though not deliberately depicted as aro-ace in the show, is pretty hecking close to living my real life experience. I just wanna play games, eat, and hang out. Throughout the show I kept admiring how strong she was because if I was in her situation I would likely spiral *very* fast. Riri could have potentially taken away important stuff for a neurodivergent person, I would know. She doesn’t completely seem to be, but I am yet again relating this to my experience. I suffer from depression, and games are my autistic special interest. I might have actually done something drastic. Thankfully Anzu just kicks the crap out of Riri and keeps on trucking. All this to say that I stan my single queen Anzu, think Riri should have never seen the light of day again no matter what Anzu thinks, and am legitimately disappointed that Tsukasa (spoilers) develops feelings for her in the end because their relationship seemed so much more meaningful as a friendship. Also Anzu’s cat drip is fire and everyone saying her clothing sucks has no taste.
This man tricked me into watching a romance anime for three days straight thinking there was going to be a horror twist. I will never forgive nor forget
as an aromantic person myself, this show is especially terrifying. the idea of consistent and unrelenting pressure for romance at all times with no reprieve and no way to escape is a nightmare scenario. riri's forced romantic scenarios feel like saw traps. the real world is already so amatonormative with a lot of pressure towards romantic relationships, and the idea of an omnipotent and all powerful being intentionally forcing me into things like what anzu is put through makes me horrified. i'm sure it's still scary even for allos who just don't want to date at the moment, but from an aromantic perspective it becomes even worse.
As an aro-ace, I went into the show blind, and wanting the main character to show she can be happy without having to find love. I kept calling Riri the devil and loved how Anzu kept trying to put them in their place. But when the show started getting into darker territory, I was stunned and didn’t know if I wanted to keep watching. But I loved the show and wanted to see the ending, so I pressed on through it with an open mind. It made me uncomfortable at times but I still rewatch the show from time to time because I love the narrative and some characters. Riri is still a devil though
Came here to watch an anime review, stayed for the genuinely good and comfortable discussion about consent, abuse and trauma. Good video, I hope everyone who reads this comment has a great day, you all deserve some peace and happiness.
As someone who is unapologetically Ace.......THIS SENARIO IS 100% A NIGHTMARE. I started off the first episode juwt to see how intensely Ace the main character was cause she was putting off big ace energy. But it got to the part the one dude was introduced and they did the flowery edit over her seeing him for the first time and i just aborted. Had that same vibe watching the Wallflower years ago......but they 180'ed the mc to start falling for the guy so......from then on, i didnt bother trusting japan animation for doubling down on a type of person&lifestyle thats not the normal, plays it safe, and has been done 887 times before. .....but according to your analysis.......someome FINALLY did. Its not perfect.....but if i had known what i know now.....hell yeah. absolutely i would have watched it. ......because this left her with her original agency instead of "anime girl mc'ing" her personality and agency away so they could hit those rom com boxes.
I finally started to realize that I'm aromantic last year. And when I watched this anime with my sister we thought it was funny just how similar the protagonist is to me X,D she likes comfy clothes, cats, video games, chocolates/food, looking out for people's safety/well-being, and staying out of drama.
I originally didn't plan to watch Romantic Killer, but when your video popped up on my feed I decided to give it a chance! Very glad I didn't go ahead and watch the full video before seeing it, because I really enjoyed it. I found the psychological aspect particularly interesting, and I liked how seriously it was taken - I feel like subjects like stalking & sexual harassment are most often played for laughs in anime, so it was nice to see it handled with a more realistic fear. I mean... Tsukasa's stalker was basically a "yandere," and we see that trope utilized so often in anime nowadays. All in all, though - thank you for convincing me to watch the show!
This show's world is an aroace's hell 😭. I legitimately went into the show expecting it to be subversive story about the MC fighting against the notion of acting as society wants them to act, only to be met with the exact opposite. The worst of it is that it tries its best to make the viewer agree with it because the characters agree with it. Forced to dress up "properly"? Oh well that's just looking after your appearance more. Forced to be seperated from your fav things? That's okay, because you have friends now! Want to do unspeakable things to Riri that you would not want to speak out loud about? No you don't, see, they did one good thing because they care about Anzu!!! (Ignore the new rule that threatens to take all her things permanently if she does not fall in love within the time limit). One thing that I constantly feared for, was that Anzu would fall in love. It tries to be subversive but it does every trick that usually leads up to 1 character being picked. I know it, we all know it, Tsukasa is gonna most likely be the love interest. He gets set up from the very beginning with hints to his arc, while other characters get a measly episode or two for themselves. And he can also cook and catch bugs for Anzu, unlike the childhood friend. His arc is literally part of the season finale, there is no way he doesn't turn into a love interest by the end of the 2nd-3rd season.
I’m asexual and just the premise of everything you love being taken from you and being obligated to eventually get laid with a man is terrifying by itself. I do enjoy romcoms, but this scenario is just cruel, and disturbing.I feel grateful for not being born in a time or society that would marry me off and obligated to make babies with a man, and an anime in a modern setting showing a situation like this for laughs??! Her choices aren’t respected and you can take it like her consent is taken off too... I like to watch anime to enjoy it, and it’s ok, I just didn’t watched this one, but the underlying messages worry me, cuz that was thought and made by people who made the decision to put a female character to this position. I skipped the end for the trigger warnings and although it looks like it tapped more on the horror aspect. I don’t know if they would use it as a device to make a social commentary about all of this implications of forcing women to get married and have kids, or if would just be creepy for the sake of being crappy. If someone who has seen or read further can tell me? Thanks for reading
i watched all through the trigger warnings, but im not sure which trigger warnings you skipped, so ill try to sum up all the ones with trigger warnings. basically, anzu (the mc) continues to reject the love interests and there’s some character development for some of anzu’s friends. near the end it dives into the stalker thing. tsukasa’s stalker shows up and cuts anzu with a knife and tries to kill her. anzu’s friends save her and tsukasa tells anzu about his experience with the stalker. his stalker goes to jail or a psychiatric ward, i forget. then riri gives anzu’s stuff back and lives with anzu in human form. i might’ve got some stuff wrong or forgot some things, but thats the gist of it
@@flavorgod I don't know man, the women who lived in those societies hated that shit so much that they protested and fought hard for their rights so they wouldn't have to do that in multiple countries throughout history. Kind of sounds like nobody would like being treated as nothing more than an incubator/maid.
Personally, I like the anime to end after one season. The manga series ended here and it is me and my sister's headcanon that Anzu never ends up within a romantic relationship with any of the romantic interests. We also chose to believe Riri lost their powers as a result of the decision made at the end and continue to redeem themselves for what they did after the series. The friends Anzu has in the runtime are so endearing and we honestly loved every moment of the show. It kind of went from us making fun of characters and being enraged by the moments Anzu was wronged, to being really endeared by the show. Each romantic interest went from a guy we got really bad vibes from off the bat, since we didn't like that Riri took Anzu's favorite things from her, to a character we absolutely loved. Less so with the rich guy toward the end and what I think was the episode meant for the viewers to start liking Riri didn't work very well. The show could've done better with giving Riri likable traits and it probably would have helped if they played more into the idea that Riri did everything they did cause they wanted a paycheck. Not great but more forgivable and sets up them turning their back on the job in favor of the people they grew close to. Headcanons me and my sister flop back and forth on for Anzu include: Lesbian, Bisexual, Aroace, Aromantic Lesbian or Asexual Lesbian, Aromantic Bisexual (other way around), etc. We freaked out when we saw Anzu crush on that girl. If Anzu ends up with anyone, WE WANT IT TO BE HER CAN WE GET AN AMEN????????? And also, Riri uses different pronouns during the show and the GENDERFLUID REP WE LOVE TO SEE IT Queer platonic relationships between all the main characters my beloved.
I hadn't thought about the show like this so your perspective was very interesting :) I really like Anzu as a protagonist (and as a character in general) because she is so emotionally mature and sticks up for herself and her friends, respects boundaries etc etc. I saw a lot of myself in her (happily single) and I didn't think her cat clothes were that bad either but I guess that might be a cultural thing ^^' Regarding the "Tonta" nickname - it's a play on words because the Japanese word "ton" means "pig" (see dishes like tonkatsu and the pig in Naruto called Tonton for examples) so basically the other kids were calling him "Piggy" most likely because he was chubby (I had to look this up as well after watching the show because my language radar sensed that there was some extra layer to it and there was ^_^).
I’m an aroace woman and Anzu is one of my favorite anime characters, she’s amazing. I actually loved this anime despite the dramatic shift in tone bc it gave me a twist I was not expecting and gave me a perspective I hadn’t thought about with the stalker subplot. It was disturbing in a way that was incredibly interesting even if they didn’t handle some parts great. If a second season came out, I’d watch it too
I like your viewpoints on this anime. I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who thought this was secretly a horror anime disguised as a romantic story.
i loved watching Romantic Killer, i love psychological horror and i love it when cute stuff slowly turns more disturbing since you just feel a chill run down your spine. But when it got to the stalker part i was a bit uncomfortable since has in 1st to 3rd grade a boy i knew would stalk me and would not only fight my best friend who was a boy, whom i had a crush on, but would also fight me. in the end i moved to the US due to job opportunities. The show was great though, can't wait for a season 2 (praying there is going to be one) all in all i really recommend this show, its comedy is also great.
I greatly enjoyed this video. I think you nailed the proper interpretation of the show on the head. It is an extremely clever show. At first shows you how the predator sees things, and then it switches and shows you how horrifying that kind of behavior actually is. I probably would not have watched it if I had known it was a series show but I am glad that I did. Your reaction to the show reminds me a lot of my reaction to another anime that came out around the same time. It was a romantic comedy about a Japanese boarding school where the highschoolers were paired up with random members of the opposite sex and forced to live together. They were ranked on how well they act like a couple. I watched the entire show. It was one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen. I was like a deer stuck in the headlights of a car as I kept on clicking next episode. The level of tension was almost as high as when I watched season one of promised Neverland. The worst part was, I knew that nobody else would interpret the show the same way. It is my own unique concoction of phobias and foibles that gave me that reaction. It’s a pretty intimidating experience to see a monster in plain sight and have everybody else go “aww, that’s cute!”. That’s why I like romantic killer. Show creepy behavior for what it is. Not ok! It might’ve been a little bit too subtle in its messages. Sort of like how the movie frozen was supposed to warn people against the behavior in the song let it go and everyone just adopted the song instead of the big picture. That’s why I appreciate this video laying it out.
might be a late comment, but something I want to say that adds to Anzu's amazing character is the fact that, when Tsukasa finishes explaining the situation to her about his stalker, she says "Tell me if you dont like it" before hugging him, just a detail i really liked. Anzu is really an amazing character
I never actually thought of the show this way and honestly... this was really an interesting video! It gave me a perspective I never thought of when enjoying the anime. I don't tend to like things on this platform often, and I have to say this really deserved it!
If you want to see something like romantic killer you should read god is telling me to fall in love. Its pretty similar but there are game resets and stuff.
i tried getting into this anime because my sisters ADORES it, but it made me very unconfortable from the first episode.alone. I totally agree it's psycological horror, i read some "romance" novels who turned out to be psicological horror too. I thinkl that happens when the author has false ideas about love (or is incompetent)
Kishi ruined this Tsukasa’s life like actually destroyed his life. 😡😡😡 she drugged him,broke into his home,destroyed his reputation online, and worst of all straight up tried to murder Anzu! She needs to be locked up FOREVER
Please make more vids. Good work, keep it up! You do have a good point about the panty thief, its played for laughs but in reality, its not funny. When you have your home broken into, it tells you that even your home is not safe. For young women, its very traumatic. Someone tried to break into my car, now i have to worry about my car being stolen 24/7. Now imagine a girl having to worry about a crazed pervert breaking into her home for her clothes or worse.
Seeing Tsukasa's trauma makes me remember what my brother went through, after what his ex girlfriend did to him, there was another instance after that where a girl just kissed him because she liked him and her friends were encouraging him, he frooze. and when he did come home he started crying thinking it was his fault because he didn't push the girl away instead of freezing. it just. seeing the scene made me feel like i had to act quick and an urge to protect someone.
Tbh I was happy that they addressed the stalker trope this way. Shonen tend to picture the stalker as sweet girl who is only in love while in fact she's only obsessed and harassing someone.
I’m the sort of person who WILL binge either a cheesy romance anime or a horror anime with very little in between. The premise of romantic killer interested me because of the potential for asexual rep in the romance genre and how the author would handle that. I was genuinely delighted by the pure dark nature of the anime, and that it took the horrify subject matter of the later half of itself seriously. And the wackier elements only made the ending more deeply unsettling. Honestly? It was a great anime in a season of great anime.
Only thing I have to say is that Riri's magic is more implied to be probability manipulation. Like, he adjusts the probability of her parents getting the job offer in America, accepting it, and then letting Anzu stay home alone. Same thing with the Game of Life.
ogod ive been saying this ever since i watched this show anzu is so aroace coded and as an ace person who enjoys romcoms as fun as this show is and as much joy it brings me its always made me a bit uncomfortable how romance is/could be sth that is just being forced onto her
i personally think if we get season 2, there might be more exploring about her and Riri's relationship, if we can call that a relationship. for me, their personality clicked the most
Great analysis but you missed one of the darkest parts of the show! At the very end it looked like one of the Wizards was approaching the friend who was assaulted so they can harass & manipulate her when she obviously is not interested in dating due to trauma. Hated that part so much
Romance anime have been doing stalking and abuse themes for a LONG time. I wouldn't go into any anime not expecting tone shifts like this. Honestly loved Romantic Killer too though.
Thank you so much for commenting one of my favourite animes. Just wanted to say that this is not a casual rom-com. This is a story about consent and personal choice versus amatonormativity - LIli/Rio represents the way society pressures us to be in relationships and how they have to be a certain way - and lack of respect of boundaries. It is a story about Anzu being her true self while - by defying amatonormativity - she makes some good friends on the way. It is funny at times and reverts all romantic anime tropes. And it is really good depiction of friendship and real life threats. But it is in no way a light rom-com. It is the anti-romcom, even better. It is a manual to refuse to fold to what other people expect from you to become a much better person and friend. Anzu hugs Tsukasa for the right reasons. She does what all romantic anime do, but the genders are reversed, abuse against boys gets focused on, etc. Instead of a teen male imposing his body onto a trembling damsel who may or may not be consenting, she becomes big and strong to reassure her friend he is going to be OK. This is beautiful. So much more. And so unique. I am aromantic. I do not think that Anzu is asexual, but she might be partially or fully aro. She does things the way I wish I had done them when I was a teen. Romance should be an option, not a life sentence. When you are a kid, the best thing you can do is make great friends and take care of each other.
I legit want the magenta cat t-shirt she was wearing. Why are her outfit choices mocked so much? If someone's attraction to you only lasts while you're dressed a certain way, that isn't romance. It seems more like objectification in the sense that the clothes are what make you attractive instead of just finding you attractive regardless.
I honestly adore what this show is doing. It's taking so many shoujo romance tropes and flip it on its head. So often a lot of the things feel so contrived that it would make as much sense as if a literal wizard did it. Then there are all the hot guys that just show up out of nowhere. Plus, the sudden shift in tone is also pretty common in those shows. What I mostly enjoy is how it seems to criticize these tropes from its very core. Everything that happens here, all the disturbing things that happen in this show, have their roots with some sort of tropes that initially seems romantic or desirable. But I love how this show looks closer at its implications. In another show, a fully grown woman having the hots for a teenage boy would be laughed off as comedy. He's so hot even the adults want him! Meanwhile this show reveals it for the horror it is. Another show would say that the boy claiming the girl is ready for more when she visits his room is right to expect something. This show reveals the horror in that thought process. It teaches teens to be more aware and stand up for themselves. To not let those outdated tropes be examples to follow. And that fits perfectly with the theme of a girl having removed everything she loves and be encouraged to only focus on romantic situations with boys. Anyway Anzu is the GOAT and I hope that in season 2 she's allowed to explore her clearly Sapphic feelings
This show had me hooked the entire way. I definitely agree with the idea that their are more horror elements either under the surface or very clearly shown in the latter half. But one thing I think you didn't touch on as much is the idea of social expectations. The show opens with the idea that Anzu must marry and have kids. This is pretty clearly presented as the correct thing, especially with Japanese birthrates being the reasoning. I think the show does a lot with showing how people are effected by social expectations. Kazuki is seen as hot so is expected to live up to this and romantically engage with people or accept their unwanted feelings as well he's attractive so that's his role. When he's stalked it's partly treated not just by his dad but the brief reaction from his classmates that it's his fault. He led her on or it's on him for being attractive and how men aren't vulnerable to this sort of thing. Junta has a pretty terrible relationship with his self image. He still views himself as the little kid who got made fun of for his looks and non athletic personality. He's so clearly separate from that now but any time he compares himself to others it's always negative. Prince (also can't remember his name lmao) is the only one who has accepted his assigned social status. He's rich so he's free to lord with wealth over others. But he's not doing this out of cruelty everyone around him pampers him and treats him as royalty. He assumes this is just how it works. His assumption that Anzu was trying to get with him after the car crash was because many others had pulled this exact trick. He has been set to assume that he's entitled to money and people's attention on his whims, because his whole life he has been. You even see after he gets a job and his own money he becomes a notably better person, he holds his old personality but actually understands how to care for others being kinder to his body guard and gaining friendship with Anzu. This goes for basically every relevant character. So I shan't go on. I just love how this topic is handled, along with ideas of good vs bad contact and generally how not everyone is OK with being touched. Also showing how genuine friendships can do wonders for your life, as just being friends improves the lives of everyone in the show.
So many red flags, just from the trailer alone it felt gross how forceful they were trying to make this clearly aroace character fall in love AGAINST HER WILL
yo my dude did you not see the cliffhanger they left the show on? I think it was something like the stalker regains her memories and continues to obsess over Tsukasa. That was when I was like nope, no this is scaring the shit outta me I'm not coming back
ngl riri grew to be my fave. the anime isnt too serious so you arent supposed to take it seriously in that way.... for MOST things. Kazuki's anxiety and fear about his stalker is an interesting touch, makes him stand out compared to other love interests riri doesnt really KNOW how falling in love works. they just think they can make it work like in the movies. which is exactly why they end up going on a "date" with anzu, and end up falling for her. Anzu knows this isnt the way to fall in love, that nobody can be "forced" into a relationship, and the show knows it I LOVE MAKOTO i thought he liked Junta but him and Saki were cute too
I think the thing that makes Romantic Killer actually work is that it does what it does *well* . Even though the tonal shift itself kinda comes out of left field, once it happens everything that's supposed to be serious is written appropriately. A lot of series that have a tonal shift think that just showing blood or bringing up darker subjects will be enough to get it taken seriously, then completely fail the execution of the new subject matter which at best makes the series laughable and at worst accidentally endorses what it wants to potray as bad. Romantic Killer doesn't do that. When they say "This character has serious trauma" they don't just gloss over it they show you how it's actually affecting them. When you rewatch the series you notice a ton of small details about Tsukasa that just seem random but all connect back to his experience being stalked. It's why he's not mad his phone broke, why he doesn't shop for clothes online, why he only drinks out of containers that are still sealed, etc. The show manages to have all this fly under the radar on a first viewing and then immediately jump out on a second veiwing, it's just a well crafted story and a lot of people can appreciate that. Now, the show does have a few lacking moments (As mentioned in the video) and it absolutely should be better about telling people about the tonal shift upfront. But overall it's a pretty well written series which is a nice change of pace.
The main reason why this is romantic horror is because the main character is heavily Aromantic. AKA: I AM NOT INTERESTED IN ANYONE. Not guys, not girls, not that one emo kid who you constantly missgender. None of them. And this type of person being in a romantic situation of any kind is like Hell. I can relate, I am aromantic too, and I feel her pain.
I actually stopped watching the anime originally because I felt so bad for what was done to the main character, brainwashing parents into abandonning their child and taking her beloved pet from her are things I could not forgive. I ended up coming back to watch the rest and enjoyed it well enough, but I hated ReRe more than most villains for what they did.
I kinda wish they took the other more disgusting elements of the show (such as taking everything that makes Anzu a person and actually holding them hostage until she has a baby) as seriously as the last 3 episodes. The description and the advertisement for the show did make me think this was a light hearted series and I couldn't even finish the first episode because I was so angry with how they treated everything. I like to put myself into the shoes of the protagonist when I watch series and the moment I'd confirm that I'm basically dealing with a nigh omnipresent and incredibly powerful being basically holding all my hobbies, family, and control over my body and life direction I'd be looking into ways to either kill the wizard and the company or myself. Even the end of the series when I do get everything back I'd take the newbie over the guy who made my life a living hell since clearly they're taking a far more ethical approach whether because they can't take those actions (due to either clear inexperience or just isn't as strong) or because they actually understand that none of it was ethical.
I know that feeling bro. I kinda like to put myself into the mc shoes too, but so many times the behavior of others disgust me and everyone around them treats it as normal. I heavily dislike the trope of the mc getting beaten up for no good reason and treated like shit by the female lead and others. I really dont get this typ of "comedy"
