Love Of Kill Review: Crunchryroll’s Promising Crime Anime That Has Been Able To Play Its Cards Well | Koroshi Ai

Stars: Erin Yvette, Ryan Colt Levy, Ayumu Murase

Director: Hideaki Oba

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and half star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

On March 30, Crunchyroll Premium released the latest episode of Platinum Vision ‘s newest Love of Kill (Koroshi Ai) product. This is the anime adaptation of Koroshi Ai, a manga written and illustrated by Fe in 2015, published by Media Factory and still in progress. The version of the manga in Italian is still unpublished, however the public can enjoy the animated adaptation in simulcast with Japan. With 12 episodes written by Ayumu Hisao and directed by Hideaki Oba, a first part of the volumes comes to life on the small screen, offering a first great taste of the work.

Love Of Kill Review: The Story

Since the first episode, Love of Kill had seemed an unusual crime anime, born from somewhat bizarre assumptions. Ryhang-ha Song is a professional hitman who, during one of his assignments, clashes with Chateau Dankworth, a bounty hunter who works for the Ritzland Support Company. From this meeting begins what we would call “the game of cat and mouse”. While Ryhang-ha becomes a sort of unexpected suitor who wants to know the identity of the young woman at all costs, she receives a burdensome task: to capture her very admirer Di lei. Too bad that an agreement has already been born between the two that sees the two protagonists on their toes. Neither will kill the other, but at the same time they both could.

This tension between the two main characters keeps the plot alive, until the real reason that moves most of the events is discovered. At first, the curious approach and the quick attraction born at the first meeting made us think, during the first weeks, that Love of Kill did not have too credible roots. This first impression is taken apart, at least in part, when we understand the dynamics that bind Ryhang-ha Song and Chateau. A not veiled clue has always been present in the images of the final theme: with a parallelism, the protagonists at an early age are shown in almost mirror-like situations, an expedient that suggests the existence of a bond to be discovered.

In a first phase, this great puzzle that revolves around the characters is sometimes confusing, but it is enough to put the pieces together, especially those given by the numerous flashbacks, to better understand the story in its entirety. While not following a very linear trend, Love of Kill pushes the viewer’s curiosity up to a fundamental turning point. This means that the pieces of the puzzle come together by themselves, giving life to a complete – and by no means obvious – picture capable of answering a series of visceral questions. Each element returns to its place and the image is finally clear.

After all, even the same protagonists gradually complement each other, forming two sides of the same coin. Initially an aura of mystery surrounds both as time passes, they progressively show themselves to each other, and certainly to the viewer as well. Just as in their bizarre relationship, even on a narrative level there is never someone who prevails over the other. Their pasts are concealed in equal measure, their emotions are hidden, and they pop up at the same time, albeit in a different way. If Ryhang-ha masks her past with irony, Chateau instead tends to withdraw into herself, displaying a grumpiness that perfectly balances the apparent joviality of her admirer. It is therefore really true that they manage to complete each other, like two peers who perfectly fit their different personalities, always finding a common point.

Love Of Kill Review And Analysis

From the very first action and fight scenes, the crime character that permeates Love of Kill is evident. Without ever showing raw and explicit details, the physical and bloodthirsty violence typical of this genre returns in every episode, with sequences to make you hold your breath. Particular framing games and effective gimmicks, including the use of slow motion to increase tension, contribute to making the work compelling. The snappy movements of the agile characters enjoy an animation that lends itself well to this action anime, despite the extreme simplicity of the drawings which, at first glance and compared to other products of the Japanese scene, gives the impression of being a bit rough.

Yet we must appreciate the incredible fidelity to the graphic work. The color palette varies greatly from one atmosphere to another; the bright colors of broader sequences give way to dark, gloomy colors, in line with the story. The memories of the protagonists, for example, an almost blurred coloring, a typical expedient of images belonging to the past. This makes it much easier to recognize distant events, especially when the narration is still a bit confusing, which is why viewing in small doses, a few episodes at a time, is recommended.

What distinguishes Love of Kill from other works of a similar nature is the presence, very often, of comic interludes. We have said that Ryhang-ha Song is often the creator of ironic and joking moments when he is with Chateau, to hide his decidedly darker soul than he shows when he comes into action. The narration, therefore, is often interspersed with real curtains which, in addition to having a light tone, also differ in style. The characters are much more “cartoonish”, they take the form of chubby men drawn on a background that is no longer the environment that surrounds them, but an abstract background typical of a cartoon.

The sound also lends itself perfectly to this mix of genres. Kei Yoshikawa ‘s music often gives the impression that he is watching a real light and carefree slice of life and then proposes songs with a strong emotional or tensive charge. Let’s examine the opening theme, “Midnight Dancer” by Toshiki Masuda, well-known Japanese singer, actor and voice actor, voice of many characters including Eijiro Kirishima in My Hero Academia or Porko Galliard in Attack on Titan.

Well, his song manages to immediately transmit a captivating atmosphere, the protagonists appear attractive, fascinating. A typical gimmick of films and action series is to make the characters and the atmosphere captivating. In short, halfway between a thriller and a comedy, Love of Kill is a particular work, which loses its crime character in moments of extreme lightness, but which immediately manages to win it back as soon as the plot thickens, and the clashes and the missions are becoming more and more interesting.

Love Of Kill Review: The Last Words

Love of Kill is definitely an anime full of peculiarities. If at first it seemed unconvincing, from episode to episode it manages to bring together all those elements that, at first glance, seemed to have no solid basis. Even with light moments that risk diverting the viewer’s attention, Crunchyroll’s new crime is able to stimulate curiosity, revealing intertwining that is not at all obvious and thus igniting the desire for a second season that can continue the story.