Kiruru Kill Me is a relatively new manga, debuting in Shounen Jump Plus in February 2020, and currently has four volumes in circulation in Japan. Here in the States, Seven Seas Entertainment has the license for the series, and currently has three volumes out in both digital and physical format. I ran across the first two volumes at my local bookstore, and the quirky synopsis and eye-catching art were enough to convince me to pick it up and give it a try. Fans of stories that are a sort of romantic comedy-of-errors will be sure to find a fun time within the pages of Kiruru Kill Me.
The story follows Nemo Aoi, an early 20’s medical student prodigy and heir to the pharmaceutical giant, Aoi Holdings. Due to his rich and privileged upbringing, Nemo has never wanted for anything, except for love. That all changes when Aoi goes out for dinner at a local restaurant, and almost leaves his phone at the establishment. He is stopped by a beautiful young woman who stops him and returns his phone to him, and Nemo immediately falls head-over-heels for this young woman. Wanting to see her again, Nemo uses his connections within high society to find out exactly who this bewitching beauty is, and how he can see her again. He quickly finds out that the woman who captured his heart’s name is Kiruru Akaumi, a woman with an unconventional profession; a hitman in the criminal underground. Upon learning this fact about his newfound love interest, Nemo hatches a plan to get close to Kiruru and get to know her, he decides to put a hit out on himself. From here, a comedy of errors between a smitten man of elite status and a cutthroat killer that makes her living in the criminal underbelly of society ensues.
From my brief time so far with the series, I can say that I am really enjoying the characters. Nemo Aoi is a strange mix of clever, determined and completely irrational (because what rational person puts a bounty on their own life?!) in how he deals with his newfound feelings for Kiruru. Seeing the lengths he goes through to augment his body with cutting edge body modification technology so he can survive his encounters with Kiruru encapsulates all of the three aforementioned traits of his character. Kiruru, on the other hand is almost a foil to Nemo in terms of their backgrounds and professions. While Nemo is an exorbitantly wealthy public figure that is frequently in the public eye that is known for his breakthroughs in medical technology that improve the lives of others, Kiruru prefers to operate in the shadows and earns her keep in a profession that ultimately harms people. Kiruru’s first job in the realm of assassinations is in fact Nemo Aoi, and she must take everything she has learned from her teacher and use it to execute him in a swift manner. Her methods of attempted assassination and entrapment can get pretty creative, and her strictly business demeanor in her attempts on Nemo’s life, coupled with her target’s wit and quick thinking to escape death, as well as his affection for her create some pretty hilarious moments. As the two meet more and more, the reader learns more and more about the two leads of the story.
The art is what initially attracted me to the series. The overall art style has a very “modern manga” feel to it that I enjoy. The character designs also fit the characters very well. One look at Nemo Aoi and you can tell he is a rich kid, and the way he is drawn makes his background feel more real. Kiruru Akaumi has all the right makings of a hitman, she doesn’t look like a killer on the surface, but some of the situations she finds herself in, the art depicts her as an agile, violent assassin. I am a huge fan of battle sequences and action panels in manga, and Kiruru Kill Me delivers in that department as well. The confrontations between Kiruru and Nemo are easy to follow, action packed and can get pretty creative in their execution. The action and movement flows exceptionally well from panel to panel, and readers who enjoy creative battle sequences filled with fluid motions and well done choreography will love the action shots of the series. The expressiveness and emotion from the characters facial expressions in both the comedic scenes and the more heartfelt ones are executed in professional fashion as well, making each one of these moments all the more memorable.
For fans of romantic comedy or assassination (or both!) stories that are looking for a new manga to pick up that exudes its own unique personality and charm with each page turned, I would implore you to give Kiruru Kill Me a shot. With three volumes out at the time of this review, and a fourth on the horizon, there is no better time to get antiquated with the series and check out all the fun, zany antics the characters of Kiruru Kill Me are up to.
