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I write this review with great regret because the same person who watched this show at 9PM and would give it a 3 would never believe the person who finished this show and gave it a 10.

I was so sure after 7 full episodes that this was the most annoying and glaringly tone-deaf romance anime I'd ever have the displeasure of watching. The "trope subversion" was so painful to watch alongside the very "not like other girls" comedy that the anime was dishing. I could not care about any character, especially hating every moment Riri would show up and wishing every five seconds that it ... was written better.

I promised one more episode and we'd finally drop it and shelve this hate-watch for good. But episode 8 actually felt fun. It was nice and it was reminiscent of the things I usually love in shoujo romance anime.

Onwards from there I really could not believe at all that the same person wrote the first seven episodes. Everything that I wanted to be better actually happened and we ended up with actually really developed, human characters that I really liked. I went from disliking everyone to enjoying seeing all of them appear on screen again. It was insane to me to see myself love all the character dynamics and even the heroine that annoyed me to frustration for so long.

This anime deals with some very sensitive subject matter over boundaries and consent and I was extremely skeptical that it would ever handle it with the delicacy it deserved, but as the anime went on I really got to see it grow and my doubts laid to rest. I trusted the writing.

I know that objectively, if I averaged my ratings on a per episode basis, I should NOT be giving it a 10 by any means. I still hate the first 7 episodes (less than i did when i first watched them but still) and the latter half should not make up for it enough to make it a masterpiece, but it would be a disservice to say anything less, denying the way it made me feel. I started it hoping to like it, became painfully disappointed throughout, and then ended feeling the most visceral emotions I've ever been evoked from a media.

I've never seen a writing redemption like that in any media. Much less did I ever expect it from a 12 episode Netflix anime. Stuff like that usually takes several seasons. I'm glad I gave it that one more episode. I feel really weird to have such a heartfelt review for something like Romance Killer but anime is funny like that I guess.

I love Anzu. I love Riri. I love Kazuki. I love Junta. I love Hijiri. I love everyone in this anime. And I would not have believed that just a few hours ago. All the character dynamics feel so genuine and earnest and the entire story was wrapped up so well that I felt like it left my heart in such a safe place.

Romantic Killer was a rollercoaster of emotions for me, but it was a watch I don't regret. I felt so much and I laughed and I cried and I loved statistically every other second of it. It is good.

I'd like to think I have very high standards. I'm admittedly a bit of a snob when it comes to anime. I really like Romantic Killer. I don't think comedy was it's strong suit—I actually think it's one of the show's weakest aspects (minus the CG ikemen scenes those are great I love them). But the characters and their relationships in the latter half really managed to pull through.

Give it a watch if you think you can trust me, but you have to watch it all. Back to front. If we share the same taste, you'll love it to pieces. If we don't then I'm sorry and I hope you at least enjoy the next Chainsaw Man episode on Tuesday.