Based on the manga of the same name, the premise sounds alluring for its appeal of bounty hunting, assassination, espionage, and dealing with the criminal underworld. We really don't see these type of shows too often in an era dominated by isekai, rom-coms, and popular mainstream franchises. Keep in mind, Love of Kill is by no means a mainstream franchise yet did gain enough suppor and popularity for an anime adaptation. So why the disappointment? Why did Love of Kill flop?
The truth is, this show is lackluster with one of the most lazy and forced relationships I've seen this year. Yes, I'm talking about two of the main characters: Chateau Dankworth and Song Ryang-ha. The first episode wastes no time with Song trying to woo Chateau into a date with her. The mysterious hitman offers his services in exchange for companionship. With a cold and stoic personality, you can practically imagine her reactions. It's a recurring gag in the show with Song constantly trying to please Chateau. However, it's also shown that Song is a dangerous individual who managed to exterminate many Hong Kong triads. He has a big target on his back and by being close with Chateau, she too comes into contact with danger. The show makes it clear that the two are targeted after a run-in with a powerful man named Donald. As the story progresses, we are told through background storytelling and narratives that reveals their pasts.
Why do I call this show lazy? The answer is quite simple as the anime takes little effort to develop our main characters. Our two main protagonists' pasts may be important and have depth, but outside of that shows how bleak they really are. To call them mildly entertaining would even be an overstatement. Chateau is way too overfocused on her work while Son displays a pokerface persona to the point of being ridiculous. Their character chemistry appears to be cartoonish from the very start. It drags the overall mood of the show together. Because let's face it, how important is their relationship when there's much more mystery and suspense in the story? Even having the genre tag with 'romance' seems absurd. The romance we get out of this show is forced and feels scripted.
There's one saving grace to this show and that is the adult cast and more mature themes. Dealing with the underworld and criminal organizations offers an refreshing look than a typical school life setting. Some story episodes also takes characters to more exotic places such as on a cruise. If there's one shining hope for this show, it would be for the age of the cast and some of the world settings. Of course, adults have repsonsibilities and that also translates to the supporting cast such as Euripedes, Jim, among others. However, you will be quite disappointed by their overall development for the story. It's a 12-episode adaptation and we're not getting a deep dive into their pasts like our main protagonists.
Now, I admit that I'm not the target audience for this show. It's targeted more towards adult women, or more specifically the josei demographic. However, anyone can practically watch this show as it contains elements of mystery, suspense, and drama. I'm leaving romance out of that list since it's so lackluster, something that holds the anime back from day one. However, Studio Vision did their best to salvage the show by crafting mature looking characters. Almost every character in the show has a masculine look, into Chateau. There's no doubt that they wanted to give the impression of a more mature looking show from the start. Meanwhile, I do applaud some aspects of the show's chereography. It feels like a thriller and sometimes captures the suspenseful atmosphere of the story. Some episodes even feel like mini movies.
After watching Love of Kill's 12 episodes adaptation, this show turned out to be a prime example of medicority. What could've been a stellar thriller turned into a forced relationship with little to no redeeming quality. It's too bad because the promotional material did entice me into accepting Love of Kill as a potential dark horse of 2022. But in the end, we got a show that was too good to be true.
