The manga has a very strong start, but I think it shoots itself in the foot by over-relying on the girl having unhinged ex boyfriends. With the first one it's pretty believable, but the second one feels very forced and artificial. The third wasn't even "unhinged," just kind of an asshole. Then there's this youtuber mob boss who was ordering around the three exes or something (It's not really explained that well)
Both the MCs are legitimately horrible people. They both let themselves be used by the other despite knowing that it will only hurt themselves and those around them. Both of them are constantly running away from reality and digging themselves deeper and deeper into their hole. The male MC almost learns something at the end, but he then runs away from his problems again by putting all the blame onto the girl when he's equally as guilty for everything that happened. The female MC maybe learns something from the whole mess, but there's also evidence to suggest that she's just gonna relapse back into her self-destructive tendencies. With that being said I don't like how the narrative continually tries to frame the female MC as a victim when she is just as guilty for everything that happened as the male MC.
The art and paneling are both very solid. While I certainly have my gripes with Enma Akiyama as a writer, she is very good at conveying rather subtle character emotions through facial expressions and panel layout. I always understand what emotions the main characters are feeling, and Akiyama definitely uses the medium to her advantage in that regard.
I definitely wouldn't say this is a GOOD manga (the plot relies way, way too much on cliches and a lot of shit doesn't make sense), but I did like how toxic the dynamic between the two leads was. I think the first couple of chapters were very solid, but the author didn't know how to continue the plot after the first victim so she just fell back on the exact same cliches. I think this manga could've been far better if they put the focus on the leads trying to cover up the first victim instead of introducing more and more side characters who they're """forced""" to victimize.
For an overall score, I think a 5/10 is pretty appropriate. For me personally, I give a score of 6 and above to works I have an overall positive opinion on, and conversely I give a score of 4 and below to works I have an overall negative opinion on. With Killer in Love, I have a lot of mixed feelings on it. It TRIES to tackle some complex and nuanced subject matter but, in my opinion, it doesn't do a very good job at that.
