The Netflix original anime series Romantic Killer is hailed for its use of the worst and most prevalent romantic anime cliches, turning them to create an engaging narrative with significant emotional resonance. The reverse-harem structure, which incorporates a wide range of love interests with various personality types, is the most prevalent cliché employed.
Anzu Hoshino, the main character in this dating sim scenario, is surrounded by appealing young guys her age who are all competing for her amorous attention. Due to the activities of the Wizard Riri, whose objective is to get Anzu to fall in love, she is compelled to interact with each of these individuals. Like any dating sim, the main character needs a wide variety of Dere types to choose from and this anime far exceeds expectations.
Anzu as a Jendere Is to Be Protected by Junta Hayama
Junta is on Anzu’s side, putting her happiness first with a heart of gold and a noble character. Junta is the most compassionate member of the group, and he prioritizes the welfare of others in his immediate vicinity, notably Anzu and his competitors in love. He never has jealous outbursts and would never intentionally hurt someone unless it was necessary to defend another person. In this regard, he is the epitome of a gentleman, which qualifies him as a Jendere in terms of “dere” type.
Being Anzu’s childhood friend, Junta would normally be set up for failure as a love interest, but Romantic Killer does a great job of building up Junta’s chemistry with Anzu and having plenty of supporters within their circle of friends. Even if they don’t wind up together romantically, their friendship will be a welcomed rarity among anime of a male and female duo that don’t need to be paired up.
Princely Hijiri Koganei Is Appropriate For An Oujidere
Despite having many Tsundere traits, Hijiri is overall more like an Oujidere. First and foremost, he lords himself around others, expecting no less than the utmost praise and admiration. Unlike a Tsundere, Hijiri chases after a romance with Anzu at the first thought that she may be interested in him, showing his picky nature in love as he attempts to change Anzu into his ideal of a romantic interest. In true royal fashion, he’s great at bossing others around, including Anzu, and although his arrogance does simmer down after a while, Hijiri still carries an air of prestige and importance wherever he goes.
Since the romantic focus of the series is on Junta and Tsukasa’s rivalry, Hijiri falls into the background among the love interests. To be fair though, his protective actions in the end of season 1 hints that he considers everyone hurt by the stalker situation to be his friends and uses the plural of the word specifically. Perhaps the Prince will continue to develop his feelings for Anzu is the series continues, but the anime focuses mostly on his need to be less arrogant and more caring to people in general.
Riri Exaggerates Their Love as a Megadere
With extreme flare, Riri is obsessed with anything related to love. As they gradually develop feelings for Anzu and are eventually counted as a love interest, their bold words and actions take shape into a Megadere archetype. Riri has no shame when it comes to their feelings, being open to kissing, hugging, and romantically teasing Anzu anytime they can — all that’s missing from their overly-sugar-coated flirtations are the iconic heart-eyes that appear on other Megadere characters.
Though Riri has moments where they can tone down their lovey-dovey behavior, they have another extreme to their feelings that borders on Yandere-levels. When their love interest is in danger, Riri will go to extremes to protect them. Though they won’t become violent against any threats, there is a dangerously obsessive part of Riri’s personality. The anime has a unique awareness to the negatives of Megadere obsession and the fact that Riri still has a lot to learn about true love.
As A Kuudere, Tsukasa Kazuki Hides His Emotions
Despite being the most popular man at school, Tsukasa demonstrates that he is more of a reclusive sort of person who has no need to interact with others, much less express his emotions. Flashback flashbacks reveal that, despite the trauma from his past that is the cause of his unusually antisocial conduct, he was never the outgoing sort to begin with. The Kuudere archetype seems to best describe him; the major similarity is that Kuuderes will reveal their actual self to the individuals they trust the most, especially their love interest. He has a cool, reserved nature.
Once Tsukasa is around a group of people he can trust, he begins to show his softer side — though the only one sees his vulnerable side is Anzu. In fact, the scene where Tsukasa reveals everything to Anzu is a common moment across Kuuderes. It’s the moment where the Kuudere’s “frozen heart” is melted by their love interest. Once he finally lets go of his emotional armor, Tsukasa shows that he’s the most caring and supportive person — that part of him being taken advantage of in the worst way is why he rarely if ever shows that side to him. This tragic history is another key aspect found among Kuuderes, though Romantic Killer is often praised for its depiction of this type of character.
It’s clear that Riri had a hand in picking each love interest for Anzu and chose a wide variety of personalities to see which type Anzu would prefer. Though each love interest does fit into a specific dere type, it’s the way that their traits are nuanced that makes these characters so unique and lovable. Since Anzu values friendship over romantic relationships, there something enthralling about coming to know the ins and outs of each character, Dere type and all.
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