Kill Me Baby

As a child, I used to fantasize about being a spy or secret agent who operated covertly as a transfer student. Even the prospect of being a highly skilled Ninja Assassin who is constantly protecting their best friend from bad guys sounds pretty exciting. Why stop there? Let’s go ahead and halt an entire terror attack all on our own! These things sure do bring back many colorful memories! So allow this anime to take you on a nostalgic trip down memory lane to relive all such fantasies.

J.C.Staff's anime adaptation, “Kill Me Baby," aired on TBS between January 5th, 2012, and March 29th, 2012. The Studio created this 13-episode animation, which was written by Hideki Shirane and directed by Yoshiki Yamakawa, with Pony Canyon, TBS, and Magic Capsule serving as producers. Sentai Filmworks proceeded to license the series in North America as well. This animation is based on the Japanese manga series of the same title, written and drawn by Kaduho. It belonged to the comedy genre, and the themes were gag humor and school. The anime comprised 24-minute episodes and was rated PG-13 for teens aged 13 and above.

“Kill Me Baby” or “Please Kill Me Baby” is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and drawn by Kaduho that debuted in July 2008 in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Carat. On January 27th, 2009, they released the first compilation volume, the first of thirteen, in fact. Kill Me Baby Super, a CD album with an original video animation, was published on October 16, 2013. Kirara Fantasia, a mobile RPG that came out in 2017, has characters from the series as well as other Manga Time Kirara characters.

Kill Me Baby is the heartwarming story of Yasuna, a typical high school student, and Sonya, her closest friend and assassin. Sad to say, Sonya's trained assassin instincts often turn against her and others in her normal high school life, as Yasuna's often broken wrist shows. She may have only wanted a hug, but she ended up shattering her neck instead. Isn't it tragic? It's not just funny; it's hilarious!

In Kill Me Baby, the primary character is Yasuna Oribe. She is sweet, funny, young, and easy to convince. She is often seen with her best friend, Sonya. She is a high school girl with short brown hair, bangs split down the middle, dark brown eyes, and chin-length strands of hair. Her age is somewhere between 15 and 18 years old, and she declares herself to be Sonya's best friend, vowing to be her friend even if she gets hurt.

In the meantime, she continuously irritates Sonya, prompting her to resort to violence. Yasuna is sweet and loving, and she thus almost never resorts to violence, no matter how many beatings Sonya gives her. She also has bad spending habits, frequently purchasing items on the spur of the moment based solely on what she sees on TV and the internet.

Sonya is Kill Me Baby's deuteragonist. She is a foreign-trained assassin who is currently enrolled in a conventional high school. She is always on the lookout for killers, so she often attacks Yasuna when she catches her off guard or tries to prank her. Despite her steely demeanor, she is terrified of bugs, supernatural beings, and dogs. She has also shown some degree of concern for Yasuna. Regardless, Sonya appears to be a youngster and has long bangs and bright golden hair that reaches her hips, wrapped into pigtails.

She is the only character in the series that does not have a last name, with the exception of the Unused Character, who does not have an identity or name at all. Sonya is always upset when Yasuna tries to be her friend and have fun with her. Because of this, Sonya is often a hard-to-like character because she is so mean. But this is quite a unique take on a lady who is meant to be a cold-blooded assassin.

Yasuna starts out as a rude and stupid girl who wants to make friends but always ends up on the losing end. But this persistence, despite feeling a little bit irksome for how dumb and masochistic it appears early on, ends up making Yasuna a lovable character with a simple mind but a big heart. She is shown to always worry about Sonya and even attempt to sort her way out of assassination tasks.

These characters are encased in a truly poignant undertone that never deviates from KMB's humor priority. But every time we witness Yasuna falling innocently, culminating all the way up to the last episode without giving anything away, it actually makes me weep. As the series ended, I couldn't get enough of Yasuna's voice acting, and even Sonya became a little more likeable as her loyal classmate helped her change over time.

Story-wise, whatever you want to call it, this is just another comedic sitcom about schoolgirls at the end of the day. The plot isn't really anything unique, and initially it doesn't appear to have one. Nevertheless, this is not the same as saying it's a waste of time. The focus on these programs isn't on the plot but rather on providing a foundation for the characters to demonstrate their worth and make us laugh.

This is not a genius work of details and flowing, overpowering animation, but this is a series that doesn't need that because that’s just the kind of notion Kill Me Baby conveys. The designs are really simple, and the backgrounds have a mildly childlike anime watercolor purity to them. Even so, the designs are incredibly charming and emotive, and they appear as chibis. The art style is really similar to Nichijou or Asobi Asobase.

While the sound quality isn't very high, we witness a program where the sound is just as important as the pictures in making things humorous. The final theme was fairly nice, whereas the others were pretty ordinary. The opening theme is "Kill Me, No Baby!" by Mutsumi Tamura and Chinatsu Akasaki, while the closing theme is "Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu" (The True Secrets of the Pair's Feelings) by Tamura and Akasaki. EXPO, a synthpop duo composed of Kimitaka Matsumae and Suguru Yamaguchi, wrote the theme songs and all of the backing music.

Overall, this is a fun, lighthearted animation that I would readily suggest for those seeking out a chill experience. Regardless, this is not anything particularly innovative nor interesting. Expect nothing serious here, because this really is just a silly and effortlessly comprehensible show. If you enjoy strange comedy, give it a go, although programs like Nichijou have done it better. If you like what it offers, fairly recommended.