Parents' Guide to Romantic Killer

On its face, this animated adaptation of a popular manga is awfully regressive. Romantic Killer is definitely aiming to satirize otome games, a genre of story-based computer games in which the player is a female protagonist trying to start a romance with a male character. Yet to a viewer who may not get all the in-jokes and references, some of the satire reads as misguided and sexist, to male and female characters alike.

In Anzu's new gamified reality, most boys are interchangeable "hotties" that have to be more or less coerced into a relationship. For Anzu's part, she's told by wizard Riri that the most important thing for her is to let go of the things she loves most (her games, her cat, and her chocolate snacks) to date and fall in love. This is repeatedly characterized as growing up, facing reality, and otherwise doing the right thing, whereas Anzu following her inner lights is cast as the wrong choice. It's all very surreal and often funny (like when Anzu finds a roach in her kitchen, which turns into a slice of cake as a voiceover tells us that "roaches are unseemly, so instead, cake!"), but the mixed messages make this one best for older teens who understand the layers to the show's messages.