Koroshi Ai

Expectation is part of the storytelling. When you dismiss it, or use it wrong, you may find your work viewed worse than it actually is. If you read this anime synopsis before and after watching it, you will feel like you've been deceived. The synopsis here in MAL is essentially a resume of the first episodes. After said episodes, the show becomes something else. My expectations were that this would be some kind of lighthearted comedy set in a somewhat serious assassin plot. Now that i finished it, i'm not sure what this anime was trying to be. And that's the thing about expectation. It is a powerful two-sided blade. If you promise the viewer some thing, and don't deliver it, you will have a problem. Expectation is not a responsability of the viewer. It is something the artist have to take in consideration, if the plan is to release a well received product. I believe a lot of people dropped this or rated it low after feeling betrayed, and i honestly can't blame them. This show isn't about a troublesome love between two assassins, as you will be lead to think by watching the first couple episodes. By the last arc, you will see that the main focus is about Chateau's past. And unfortunately, this is the most boring side of the anime. Which means, the show starts like 7~8, but ends like 5~6. Overall, i don't think you are missing anything by skipping it. It raises a lot of questions you didn't really asked, and even though it does explain some things, it leaves a lot in the air. Did it make me interested in the source? A little. But only enough to seek some threads about it.

This anime has a slow start but quickly picks up around the fourth episode. I found the plot to be very interesting. Personally, I generally stick with fantasy genre anime, so this anime, which is a story that takes place in a modern world setting with conspiracies and assassins, was a nice change of pace. The story is centered around the two main characters in a way that they get the majority of the dialogue and the supporting characters kind of get snubbed, both with how the story and how the main characters essentially ignore them. The antagonists have decent character and design, I felt like the supporting protagonists could have had more thought put into them. My main problem with this anime is the ending. Nothing major went down in the anime, only small fries were taken out. The story did progress decently, but the anime just stops, without any motivating speech at the end or basically any cliffhanger for what happens next. It felt to me like the anime ended just before the climax and is offputting. Besides for that, I liked the anime and the main characters got a pretty interesting origin story that's worth watching.