Continuing into the third installment of my first episode reviews, which has been designed to help give an idea on what is in the market without actually doing a full review until a physical media release is my review of Kill Me Baby. Unlike others I don’t believe this has been picked up by Crunchyroll or another company for simulcasting but given its potential as a comedy series it is one I could see picked up in the relatively short term. While the title “Kill Me Baby” might hint at it being a violent series, it is actually a simple-plotted but otherwise witty comedy following the story of two high school friends – one a ditzy girl who is not as dumb as she lets on at times and an assassin that is not as bold as she lets on. Add in a suspect ninja who works with the assassin and from the opening sequence – an unused character and you might be in for a half-decent comedy provided they play their cards right.
The series is adapted from the 4-koma manga by the same name, written and illustrated by Kadzuho. As this is the first episode it dedicates itself to introducing the three main characters to the series while giving a hint of what promises to be some decent comedy overall. While we have had many series involving ninjas and assassins… and even ditzy high school girls before, this one seems to highlight their eccentricities (In particular their negative ones) which while not providing laugh out loud comedy does give you a smirk and a small chuckle at points. For example, the assassin Sonya who is evidently skilled in her art attacking her “best friend” Yasuna any time she gets too close to her, however fails to manage an adorable “scary” dog that enters the classroom or a roach that she so skillfully squishes between her hands. On the other hand we have the “off with the fairies” ninja Agiri who has a rather unique way of showing off her skills and attempts to flog her scam “ninjutsus” for a “reasonable price”. The question is will it last a full season which not all series like this do or will it manage to survive and become a good light-hearted comedy? Given this first episode I still remain up in the air on this fact as it could go either way… and I havent read the source material so wouldn’t know how well written that is.
Considering that J.C. Staff is the studio behind this title I won’t deny that given the many other more popular titles under their belt you most probably wouldn’t be expecting the best of the best design, but even so the design overall is what I would consider average and sort of appropriate considering the show was based on a 4-koma. Special mention goes to both the opening and ending sequences. The opening theme so descriptively titled “Kill Me Baby!” by Mutsumi Tamura and Chinatsu Akasaki (Voice actresses for Sonya and Yasuna respectively) which is one of the odder sequences I have watched in a while but remains rather catchy. On the other hand the ending sequence “Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu” by the same two voice actresses is one I would expect to see many remakes on Youtube and Nico Nico Douga of over the next few weeks and has that simplistically drawn but unique appeal to it.
I don’t think the series at this point will be anything all too big and lets be honest, for a comedy series to be big it has to offer something truly special. However, just because it wouldnt in my watch reach that level based on the first episode, it might still prove to be an interesting watch provided they don’t go overboard or too simplistic with it.
