‘Romantic Killer’ follows Anzu Hoshino, an anti-romance individual, who finds herself inside a real-life dating game simulation. The anime series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Anzu Hoshino has just three things she loves in life: video games, chocolate and cats, especially her beloved pet, Momohiki.
One day, she decides to play a game based on romance. To her shock, a wizard named Riri manifests in the real world.
They decide to make Anzu’s life a simulation of the game instead, called ‘Romantic Thriller’ and take away her three biggest desires; video games, chocolate and cats. She will now encounter one attractive guy after another. Riri reveals this is being done to improve Japan’s birth rate.
Anzu declares that she will now give in to anything they throw at her and calls herself the ‘Romantic Killer’. However, she quickly realises her desires are being stripped from her life.
Her father moves to a different country for a few years and takes her mother and Momohiki with him. There are no chocolates or games in sight either.
She first meets Tsukasa Kazuki, whom every girl is after, and with interference from Riri, he ends up staying at her house, forcing them to get close. But Anzu refuses to budge.
To make it harder for her, Riri introduces a childhood friend, Junta Hayami. The tall and attractive Junta turns out to be a polite guy clearly smitten by Anzu.
Again, due to Riri, Junta ends up staying at her house as well. With two attractive men living with her, Anzu is tempted at points but still doesn’t give in to romance.
Looking at the stubbornness, Riri decides on another throw of the dice. A third guy, named Hijiri Koganei, is introduced.
Hijiri is a spoiled rich guy whose car accidentally hits Anzu. He assumes that this is her attempt to get closer to him and she wants to date him.
To his surprise, she states that she has no interest in him. He tries to shower gifts on her but she rejects him again and tells him to buy her a gift with his own money, not his father’s.
This causes a change in Hijiri, who gets a job at the till where Anzu is working as well. He slowly starts to understand normal people. His bodyguard, Tsuchiya, thanks Anzu for bringing this positive change.
Riri is astounded by the zero romantic development. It is also revealed that Junta is Tonta, and Anzu had just not realised this due to how much he had changed.
To aid the process, Riri begins to turn into a human girl and boy version and be physically present to escalate situations.
Riri also confesses that they do not have the ability to make people fall in love, they just affect experiences so that people can get the chance to get closer.
One day, Anzu runs into another of her former classmates, Ryuya. Both are competitive but Anzu beats him. When Junta arrives, Ryuya is shocked at the transformation.
due to his insecurity, he tries to insult him but Anzu defends Junta. When she later talks to Ryuya and explains why he was wrong, he confesses his love for her but is immediately rejected.
Anzu also meets Tsukasa’s sister, Arisa, and the two get along very well. She later asks him if he was embarrassed to tell her about Anzu because she makes him smile again, hinting that he had started to develop feelings for her
A mysterious woman named Yukana later tracks down Tsukasa. She runs into Anzu and claims that she is his girlfriend. Anzu isn’t convinced as she can sense something vile inside her.
When Tsukasa sees her, he is visibly shaken. She tries to get close to him but Anzu forces her away and says that he’s busy.
Tsukasa tells her that she is his stalker. She has been sending gifts and following him since he was younger and this is why he is always scared of showing his face in public and rejects any romantic advances from girls.
His father would always put the blame on him for leading her on and Arisa would end up defending him. His sister even protected him from Yukana, which is why the latter has a pure hatred for her.
Yukana tries to instigate thugs to attack Anzu. Thankfully, Junta, Ryuya and Tsuchiya arrive to protect her.
After the incident, Tsukasa wants to leave but Anzu stops him. Riri is unable to help as they can only affect her romantic experiences. Frustrated by this, Anzu contaminates their wand, leaving them unable to use magic.
One day as Anzu heads home after work, she encounters Yukana, who is armed with a knife. She attacks her.
Romantic Killer ending explained in detail:
Is Anzu saved from Yukana?
As a result of the attack, Anzu’s forehead is bruised. Realising that she is missing, her friends all head out together to find her.
Riri is worried about her but rues their own predicament since the wand getting contaminated stopped them from helping her.
Tsukasa is the first to arrive but is frozen by his trauma. Confronting it, he saves Anzu and successfully knocks away her knife.
Anzu declares that she will always be there to protect him, much to Yukana’s anger. The police arrive and take her.
In the hospital, Anzu is shown to have recovered and the injury was just minor. Tsukasa’s father arrives and blames him for the incident.
Do Tsukasa and Junta keep living with Anzu?
Anzu defends him again and doesn’t let his father take him away, instead urging him to keep living with her and Junta.
Realising how much she has changed his life, Tsukasa hugs and thanks her. Junta notices this and assumes it to be romantic, but Anzu still considers both just friends.
Tsukasa and Junta have a conversation, and the former confesses that he has developed feelings for her as well. But both agree that they’ll have to compete and they’re in the friend zone.
Anzu’s parents arrive, alongside Momihiki, from abroad as they’re worried about her. She suddenly starts getting her desires back.
Why does Riri disappear?
Hijiri uses his connections to force Yukana’s admission into a mental asylum and threaten his family to not hurt his friends again.
However, Riri is not satisfied with this punishment. They enter Yukana’s asylum ward and use a spell to erase her memories. They then meet Anzu and say goodbye.
A different wizard named Kate later meets Anzu and reveals Riri cannot visit the human world anymore as they used forbidden magic on Yukana.
Tsukasa and Junta also end up seeing Kate as they forgot to use illusion magic. Anzu tells the two the entire story.
Anzu uses the information Kate gave her to blackmail them into bringing Riri back and feigns a chance of romance with Riri to force them to remain in her world.
Is Romantic Thriller still active or does Anzu end up with someone?
Anzu gets her desires back and believes she beat the game. However, Riri reappears and says there are new rules. If she does not start a romance, her desires will be taken away again.
Furthermore, if there is no romance by the time she completes high school, her desires will be taken away forever. Anzu is extremely annoyed by this.
Kate is assigned a new subject for the game, who turns out to be Yukana. The future looks far from smooth sailing for Anzu.
In the end, Anzu hangs out with her new friends, no lover, as Riri declares that her romantic developments are slowly progressing.