Killing Me!

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i was very excited about this manga because 1) i'm a sucker for vampire/vampire hunter stories, 2) i'm a lesbian who loves yuri/wlw content, and 3) the art style is very much up my alley. i'm really quite sad that it only got it's 11 chapter run.

i do agree with most criticisms that the story was fairly lackluster, despite the fact that it appeared to be setting up some things towards the end of the volume. i think it really could have been something great for the genre if it had continued, considering a good chunk of manga start off the same way this ... one did.

overall, i would recommend it for anyone who wants a cute, charming, fairly light hearted manga, though at this point i think it's fair to consider it a one-shot.

This manga was canned after a meager 11 chapter run. Each chapter bounces from 10 to 15 pages. The longest one is 22 pages (the first chapter). Why land emphasis on this, you ask? Because even if it wasn't given the chance to run before it could walk, nothing much is done to lay down the "dangerous" power struggle relationship it promises.

Killing Me reduces the premise to playful lashing between both parties and lame levels of introspection. The story is told almost exclusively through the vampire hunter's eyes, and most of her inner thoughts and reasonings come off as surface level. Little flashes of background ... we get for both leads don't do much to create a good sense of their personalities. All of this plays into a lack of truly standout moments. While you can blaze through it in an afternoon, it lingers akin to a mediocre gum which loses its flavor after 30 minutes.
Cute art and characters. Reasonably tolerable, but not much there.

"Killing me!" is a simple yet adorable manga with an unfortunately short run which is potentially linked to some of it's downfalls.

Note: This was written on 07/06/2021, after the manga was cancelled after one volume. If more volumes get added later down the line somehow, this review will likely become outdated. I will redo this if the manga gets more volumes (if possible).

Starting with an overall explanation of my feelings towards this manga, I found it rather cute and enjoyable. The characters were very easy to understand and the two leads have very distinct and obvious personalities which bounce off of each other very well. ... The art is violently shoujo, with it's large eyes, round faces and dainty proportions and figures, the art was one of the parts of it I enjoyed the most. However, the story was fairly lacking.

Here's a more in depth explanation, without spoiling too much (though there is little to spoil with the manga being cancelled after one volume).

Story: 6/10
The story was overall very lacking in terms of deep themes or drama. While, as someone who likes slice of life, a simple story doesn't bother me, "Killing Me!" almost lacked it entirely. Every chapter, aside from the last three (including the extra chapter), follow the exact same formula but in different settings; "Miyoko annoys Saki, Saki promises to kill Miyoko, Saki does not kill Miyoko, Miyoko drinks Saki's blood." I will discuss more about the characters later on, as they're a bit more substantial.
The story was the most lacking element of this manga. It's overly simplistic and rather repetitive, yet it did not hinder my enjoyment of the manga too much.

Art: 9/10
The artist is very obviously skilled with this sort of style. It's absolutely adorable but not to the point where I found it nauseating or annoying. That may differ for other people, yet I personally loved it. The artwork throughout the manga upheld consistent good quality, there were very few moments where the artwork quality dropped to a degree that bothered me. The proportions and anatomy are all consistent and well done, the faces are expressive and cute (though I do wish the artist put a little more variation into the actual shows of expression on the characters. I mean with the artstyle being "expressive" that it had the potential for such) and the style overall is very pleasant to look at and easy to read.
I adored looking at the coloured images at the front of the manga, and the guest artworks at the back were also very high quality and enjoyable.
The characters all have a distinct look that makes them easy to tell apart.

Character: 7/10
The two leads have two distinct personalities and an enjoyable dynamic that suits their designs very well. A overly affectionate, teasing and purposefully annoying vampire (Miyoko), and her slightly irritated, colder, yet easily flustered vampire hunter (Saki). I love this sort of dynamic and they were fun to read. Moments between them made me smile at times.
The third character added, who I will not discuss much for spoilers sake, has a personality that's a little harder to pinpoint.
What lacks most about the characters is very little backstory. I can understand that them liking each other is enough to stick together despite being almost destined to try and kill each other, though I would have liked a bit more in terms of the actual backstories and motivations of the characters.
One of the two, Saki, had a better set up for the story and where her character development could go. She had some backstory. Miyoko? Not so much. Though, I expect this would have been explored more in later volumes.
The final chapter of volume one (the "extra" chapter) made no sense to add in my opinion. The story could have stood without it just fine.
I do not doubt that if the manga had been allowed to run for longer that the lack of backstory would be made up for, character development would be a lot more deep and extensive (though the character development itself isn't bad for one volume) and there would have been more explained about the character motivations and the third character.
A light problem I encountered was the age difference. While I understand the age of consent laws and that it's just fiction, I hope you can understand that a high schooler and an 150 year old vampire is... questionable in terms of morals. I was able to ignore that for the most part, but if that age difference bothers you more than me, that might hinder your enjoyment slightly.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Despite the missing story I very much enjoyed this manga. It's light-hearted, fun, simple and easy to digest. While bigger and other names in the yuri manga genre do have deeper stories, character development and motivations, "Killing Me!" was definitely not terrible. Especially as a manga that currently stands by itself.
Put simply, it's just cute fun.

Overall: 7/10
I summarized my thoughts at the beginning. The art is my favourite part, the story is my least favourite.
The most unfortunate thing about this manga is it's cancellation due to low/slow sales. While it's not guaranteed, I do think that a longer run would have improved a lot of the elements that weren't as good. It would be hard not to improve on those aspects with a longer story.
I did enjoy this manga, if you can get past the flaws I mentioned you'll probably enjoy it a lot too. It isn't quite up there with the likes of the "Kase-San" series or "Bloom Into You", both large titles within this genre, but I think it's a fun read and a worthy addition to any yuri manga collection.
I wish there were more with a similar concept to this within the genre. I'm a sucker (haha) for dynamics like this. Probably why I enjoyed it.
And who knows, maybe if it had continued, it would have become one of those big names for good reason, too.

Killing Me is a vampire yuri manga that was axed at 11 chapters, and as harsh as this may sound, I can understand why.

I read this in about 40 minutes or so and my immediate thought was "I can see why this got axed". The art is great, it's consistent and shows that the author had her own unique way of illustrating. Unfortunately, no amount of art can save the story. I'll keep it simple and say the story is just cliche. There isn't anything unique or even interesting about the story to make it stand out, the characters are also uninspired and boring. I'd ... say still read it if you want some more yuri to indulge in, but other than that you won't leave satisfied.

Akiyama is obviously a fan of Killing Eve, as evidenced by the title, cover art, and plot of Killing Me! Unfortunately, she does not have the genius of Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Killing Me! is a dreadful, if mercifully short series. The pacing is simply non-existent: the reader is catapulted into various little stories without any setup or information, it's as if the author was forbidden from going over a certain number of pages. The result is a story in which every event flies by, leaving us completely unaffected by them. The characters never grow out of their initial shojo/vampire story archetypes, they have no time to build ... up dynamics and the ones which we are told exist go nowhere.

The only redeemable quality in this work is its lovely art. I really like the chara-design and the color illustrations. Maybe if the author were to partner up with a talented writer, she could give us enjoyable stories. This one gets a stake through the heart.

Killing me! is a manga telling a love story between a vampire and hunter. I love everything that has vampires in it, so I was very excited to read this.

The story of Killing me! is very simple and goes slowly further with every chapter. Some people may not like this kind of short stories, but I extremely liked this. It was short, sweet and very wholesome. And sometimes I just want to read a wholesome story with an simple ending.

The art is cute and something I missed a lot. It kinda reminds me of 2000's magical girl mangas.

The characters are simple. There ... is hunter who learns that she is in love with vampire. Vampire that just loves so much the hunter. And maybe few side characters that I can't remember.

I enjoyed the manga so much. It was simple and cute lesbian manga. Just the thing I needed. Just something wholesome and gay. I wish this manga could have sequel or longer series, but I doubt that will ever happen.

I suggest that you should read this lil manga if you like lesbian vampire stuff. Other vice this may not be your favorite. And you would get annoyed quickly.