Ranked #3236

Kill Me Baby

The funny thing about comedy series is that they either "click" with you or they don't. Some series, like Nichijou, may take a few episodes, but Kill Me Baby is a lot more immediate (or shallow, if you will.) In fact, the best way to decide if you want to watch this series is to watch a sketch or two. That's all there is to an episode of Kill me Baby: a rapid succession of 4-koma gags, directly translated to the screen.

Yasuno and Sonya don't get much in terms of characterization. They are the traditional vapid air-head and irritable straight man from manzai comedy. Agiri is even more of a prop for additional jokes rather than a character proper. The art is minimalistic, ditto for the soundtrack. The OP is a weird polka that may take a few times to get used to, while the EP is a pretty catchy pop tune accompanied by nifty dance moves.

Speaking of sound, the voice actresses do a bang-up job. Yasuno's is a relatively newcomer, while Sonya's has more roles playing boys than girls, but they carry the show, making some jokes that could otherwise fall flat side-splitting funny. Agiri's voice is high and annoying, but I guess that's what they were aiming for. And it's a welcome surprise to see a Kugimiya character get the short stick (she's the redhead "unused character.")

Kill Me Baby uses a fraction of the budget that JC Staff allocates for its flagship projects, but it squeezes as many laughs per yen as humanly possible. The next time you feel you are not in the mood for elaborate battles, complex plots and philosophical exploration, give it a spin. read more

Kill Me Baby is one interesting anime to watch and to review, but particularly to evolve with the characters and how you relate to their presence on each episode and the show in general, which makes it sort of slow started, but ends up being an endearing 4-koma. So, here we go:

Story - 6
Look at it however you want, this is, at the end of the day, just another slapstick show about wacky schoolgirls. The story isn't anything special, and, at first it doesn't even seem to have a story per se. However it's not the same as saying it's a bad thing, because on this sort of shows, the focus isn't the story, and it's more about providing a background where the characters can show what they're worth at making us spend a good 20 mins each week.

Art - 6
Not a masterpiece of detail and fluid overwhelming animation, but again, it's a show that doesn't demand such a thing, it's just, right for what the concept of KMB really is. The designs are very simple, the backgrounds have that borderline children anime watercolor innocence to it, but overall, the characters are very cute and expressive, and look chibi.

Sound - 7
After an OP that sounds so irritating at the first 2 episodes but ends up getting unavoidable to listen to each week, and after an ED that was awesome since the first day i heard it and even became a popular track for remixes and loops on the internet, what's left to mention is the good job that was done on how the sound carries many of the logic and punch lines behind a huge variety of the hilarious skits along the show. In the end, while the quality of the sound isn't anything of intricate quality, we see a show where the sound plays as much of a role to make things funny as the visuals do.

Character - 8
We have 2 main characters: blonde assassin/student from Russia, Sonya, and short/brown haired airhead Yasuna. Sonya keeps feeling bothered about Yasuna's uncanny will to be friends, and have fun together, and she often comes out as being an impossible to like character due to her cruelty, but which is an interesting approach on a girl which is supposed to be a cold blooded assassin. Yasuna starts the show as the merely annoying dumb girl who always ends up being a victim despite wanting to be friends so badly, however the same insistence of her that feels a bit annoying for how dumb and masochistic it seems early in the show, ends up making Yasuna an endearing character with a simple mind but a huge heart, as she always worried about Sonya and tries to straighten her way out of murderous jobs. These characters are enveloped in an actually touching undertone which never falls off from the humour priority of KMB, but is felt through each time we see Yasuna fall innocently, climaxing in the last episode which, without spoiling, actually made me cry. As the series approach an ending, i couldn't get enough of Yasuna's voice acting and preciousness and even Sonya managed to become somewhat likeable as she's slowly softened up (but not much) by her loyal classmate. Given that "Character" was the stat i gave a better rating, it's getting a bit long, but i shall hurry it up with the 3rd main/support character, and perhaps the most popular of the whole show given that many people couldn't see beyond Yasuna's early annoying masochistic antics, Agiri-san simply had, i believe, no defects (perhaps the only problem was not giving her enough air time). Agiri-san is complicated to describe, with a presence and voice that are as feeble as they are powerful, like a drowzee but aware, airheaded but smart or talented but effortless character, she was purely awesome and with a voice as memorable as Yasuna's (except, i believe most people felt captivated by Agiri from her very first appearance) and was one of the driving reasons i waited eagerly for the next episode. Always linked to wacky unexpectedly justifiable ninja techniques with a twist, Agiri often appeared as a random element of surprise, to help out Yasuna and Sonya's troubles or to aid the scenes that otherwise could become too dull.
There's a 4th character that appears only on about 3 or 4 scenes and the OP, a character that seems pointless, she has no name, and her purpose in appearing is the simple joke (i believe that's the joke) that she's useless and never noticed.

Enjoyment - 7
This was a show that needed your patience to win your heart because, i understand that, other than Agiri-san, it's not very compelling from the start, until Yasuna's voice and attitude get deep into your head and you get to hope Sonya's ice might be eventually melted somehow. Some early episodes had plenty of dry and dull jokes as well as some drink spilling hilarious ones, whoever with a not very favourable ratio between the two. Overall it does get much better with time because you get to know and antecipate the characters and the type of puns more and more. Personally, early on, i thought i'd end up giving a 6 at best, to this show, but i ended up connecting to the characters more than i imagined, and even got emotional in the last ep. Check it out sometime! read more