Sara Talks Anime

First, before I begin the post: Mom, if you’ve clicked into this post and you haven’t watched Kill Blue episode 1 yet, click off now. I don’t know how much of this episode is anime original. I don’t know how much of this episode is stuff you already know from the manga. I want you to be able to enjoy this episode when you do watch it with the only information in your mind being what you remember from the manga and the preview stuff for the anime you’ve already seen.

Anyway, the number of services that Kill Blue is available on across North America is insane. Seven different platforms. Some of them being free, some of them requiring a subscription, and as a result, I don’t know how many differences there will be between the subtitles on various services. So, I figured it’d be best if I establish here that, for the first episode at least, I watched the series via Netflix to allow myself to enjoy the series on a bigger screen and with more immersive audio channeling…via the family Netflix subscription. Yes, I have my own Netflix subscription, but if I can watch it on the TV without needing to sign the family account out, I’m using the family account. Just like as per usual with when I watch anime, I watched this episode in Japanese with English subtitles. I don’t know how subtitles vary from platform to platform, so if I ever point out a subtitle error in my watching of the series that isn’t on the service you’re using to watch, then we know that each service has different quality assurance standards for their subtitles.

I’ll make sure to state in my writeup about either Episode 2 or Episode 3 (depends on how quickly my mom catches up to where I am) whether I’ll be continuing to use Netflix for my viewing, or if I’ll be shifting to a different streaming service due to choosing to watch this series with my mom. After all, just because I pulled out the Netflix strat doesn’t mean she’ll prefer to use Crunchyroll. Basically, if we get to Episode 4 and I still haven’t stated whether or not I’m using a different streaming service, assume that I’m still using Netflix until you get visual proof otherwise.

That’s enough of my pre-writeup rambling. I think it’s time we actually get down into the nitty gritty of the details of the episode.

Kill Blue follows Juzo Ogami, a hitman who will take any mission as long as the price is right. The first mission we see in the series has him taking down several guys and getting a suitcase. Inside that suitcase is a jar with a wasp nest, and the jar itself appears to already have a part of it be broken. Keep that in mind for later, it’s important.

During this scene we also meet Kotatsu Nekota, who serves as Juzo’s partner. While it seems he can be a bit air-headed when it comes to doing the hitman stuff, he’s still a fun character and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of him in Kill Blue, even after this episode.

We also get to learn that Juzo isn’t good with kids, as evidenced by when a kid bumped into him while he was in the elevator and the kid literally ran away while crying and apologizing. Realistic reaction, if I do say so myself.

Back in his living space, Juzo is reflecting on his life (mainly his ex-wife and kid and how he’s not good with kids and how he’d like to be better with kids) when a wasp stings him, and Juzo’s in so much pain that he ends up fainting.

And then he died–okay, jk, jk, if he actually died there, then I wouldn’t even be able to write this post. He’s still alive, don’t worry. He’s just…younger now. Wasp poison, huh?

While the fact that Juzo has de-aged is basically open to Juzo’s associates in the hitman group he’s working with, he’s still seemingly needing to keep it a secret from the rest of the world. But like, I highly doubt that his enemies, if he has any, will recognize who he is. At least there’s more differences to his appearance once you take out the fact that he’s wearing glasses. If we have to make a comparison to Detective Conan, then if someone who knows who Juzo is but didn’t know that Juzo de-aged were to remove Juzo’s glasses, I’d be able to understand them still not making the connection. Hell, I’ll even pull out visuals for this!

In order, from left to right: Juzo Ogami (Adult), Juzo Ogami (Shrunk), Shinichi Kudo, Conan Edogawa (aka shrunk Shinichi Kudo)

Like, I can see why you’d need to get told “oh yeah, that’s Juzo” if you saw him shrunk and without the glasses. But if as much time has passed in universe in Detective Conan as Aoyama would like us to believe (sticking to just what’s in the manga), then I struggle to believe how there aren’t more people questioning things. However, I’m still able to suspend that disbelief and enjoy Detective Conan, though maybe it’s moreso because I first watched this series when I was 11 max, and as a result it has a nostalgic place in my heart that’s hard to let go. I don’t know at this point.

*ahem*

Sorry about that. I better get back on track before this post becomes me talking nonstop about Detective Conan instead of what it’s supposed to be: me discussing the first episode of Kill Blue.

Despite being younger, however, he still insists on doing work, causing his boss to give him the ever important assignment…of infiltrating a school to see what the boss’s daughter has to expect once she begins going to that school. Yeah, fully taking advantage of the fact that Juzo isn’t an adult now. But hey, now he shouldn’t get chased down because he’s not in school during school hours!

After getting provided a pair of glasses by Kotatsu, which also have a camera and ear piece to allow for Juzo to talk to Kotatsu, Juzo attends his first day of school, and while he absolutely flops during the class introductions, he ultimately comes to enjoy middle school…the fact that he didn’t go to middle school when he was this age the first time probably helped.

After school on his second day, however, there’s a panda head-wearing-man that…is acting in a way that’d be unsafe for the genuine middle schoolers is the tamest way that I think I can put it. Juzo uses his hitman skills to take care of things (even if it doesn’t involve the death of the person), however. With all of this in mind, there also seems to be someone watching from the shadows.

After the credits, we get a scene establishing Juzo’s current goal: befriending the daughter of the president of the company that made the wasp that shrunk him to find out more information about it.

As I watched this episode on Netflix, I didn’t see a next episode preview, and I don’t know if any other streaming services include next episode previews or not. So, unfortunately, my guess as to what happens next in Kill Blue is the worst case of “throwing darts at the wall and seeing what gets a bullseye” you’ll ever see. And, uh…I don’t think any of us want to see that.

If I had any complaints with the anime so far, the pacing feels like it’s all over the place, though I don’t know if that’s a fault with the manga or a fault with the anime. I think the pacing is at its worst when we get to that second school day. To me, it felt like things were happening too quickly to get the episode to an ending point that felt natural. If this wasn’t the original manga pacing, then it really feels like this episode would’ve been more comfortable as an extended episode, even if only by a minute or two, instead of a standard length episode.

I do have to say that I enjoyed aespa’s song ATTITUDE, though. It’s not the type of song that I’d expect to be an anime theme song, and I hope that helps it stand out compared to other anime theme songs this anime season. I’m hoping that this feeling extends to the actual ending theme of the series come Episode 2, as the opening took the place of the ending this episode.

Maybe my one complaint, the pacing, is something that I’ll end up easing into. Because I really enjoyed this episode, and I can’t wait to see more!

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