Kill Blue by Tadatoshi Fujimaki lives up to the humor of its premise.
A legendary hit man is turned into a 12-year-old middle schooler. He’s jaded about life, previously divorced, but adapts surprisingly well to his new circumstances, in spite of becoming the class loner.
Every time I thought “oh, I’ve seen something like this before,” the story took a direction I didn’t expect. We find out later that one of the reasons he keeps saying “I’ve never been good with kids” (not even his own) is because he missed out on school, becoming enlisted into the criminal world young. So given a chance to learn things, he surprisingly enjoys it, which I found refreshing.
The opening sequence, showing our protagonist’s life before, uses a scratchy, shadowy style that evokes the grime of the lifestyle to me. It lightens up a bit, as it should, when we move to the school setting.
I was glad that they established the premise quickly and got right into the “fish out of water” contrast. Ogami makes a friend and has to select a school club. Then there’s a mission, with a rich young lady introduced who ends up enlisting him to be her fake boyfriend to get rid of all the bullies trying to date her.
There are plenty of opportunities introduced for Ogami to use his skills, but they cleverly fit into the setting and his situation. I was surprised at how much fun reading this was.
(The publisher provided an advance digital review copy.)
English (US) · 