Kill Me Baby Explained

Kill Me Baby
Ja Kanji:キルミーベイベー
Ja Romaji:Kiru Mī Beibē
Genre:Comedy, slice of life[1]
Type:manga
Author:Kaduho
Publisher:Houbunsha
Demographic:Seinen
Magazine:Manga Time Kirara Carat
First:July 2008
Volumes:14
Type:tv series
Director:Yoshiki Yamakawa
Music:EXPO
Studio:J.C.Staff
Network:TBS
First:January 5, 2012
Last:March 29, 2012
Episodes:13
Episode List:
  1. Episode list
Type:ova
Director:Yoshiki Yamakawa
Music:EXPO
Studio:J.C.Staff
Released:October 16, 2013
Runtime:30 minutes

is a Japanese four-panel gag comedy manga series written and illustrated by Kaduho which began serialization in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Carat from July 2008. It follows the school lives of a high school girl Yasuna Oribe and her friends Sonya, an assassin, and Agiri Goshiki, a ninja. An anime television series adaptation animated by J.C.Staff aired in Japan between January 5, 2012 and March 29, 2012, with an OVA episode released on October 16, 2013.

Characters

A normal high school girl and self proclaimed friend of Sonya, who is often friendly to Sonya despite how dangerous she is. She tends to take on the brunt of Sonya's attacks whenever she takes her by surprise or goes overboard with her pranks. She is quite simple minded and is not afraid of Sonya at all, despite the fact that she is an assassin.
A foreign trained assassin attending a regular high school. As she constantly takes on assassin work she is constantly alert and often attacks Yasuna when she takes her by surprise or tries to play jokes on her. Despite her tough composure, she is scared of various things such as cockroaches, ghosts, and dogs (even domestic dogs). She also has been shown to care a little for Yasuna.
A laid back ninja from the same organization as Sonya. She transferred to Sonya's school for some assignments and stays at a former ninja club room without permission. She often perplexes Sonya and Yasuna with dubious 'ninjutsus'. She is shown to be calm and have long purplish hair.
A redheaded, green-eyed, nameless character who was supposed to be part of the main cast, but was dropped as Yasuna had supposedly taken on all her personality traits. She has since vowed revenge against Yasuna and Sonya.

Media

Manga

Kill Me Baby began its serialization in the July 2008 issue[2] of Manga Time Kirara Carat manga magazine after a prototype of the strip was published in an earlier issue of the magazine. Houbunsha published the first compilation volume on January 27, 2009, with fourteen volumes published.[3]

Anime

An anime adaptation by J.C.Staff aired on TBS between January 5, 2012 and March 29, 2012.[4] [5] [6] The opening theme is by Mutsumi Tamura and Chinatsu Akasaki while the ending theme is by Tamura and Akasaki. These theme songs and all of background music are composed by EXPO, a synthpop group consisting Kimitaka Matsumae and Suguru Yamaguchi. The series has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks.[7] A CD Album, Kill Me Baby Super, was released on October 16, 2013 and includes an original video animation.[8]

Episode list

Video game

Characters from the series appear alongside other Manga Time Kirara characters in the 2017 mobile RPG, Kirara Fantasia.[9] [10]

Reception

Theron Martin of Anime News Network found some of the humor repetitious and the mediocre animation as the series' faults but said that it was balanced out with material that did garner laughs and a workmanlike dub, calling it "a series probably best-enjoyed one or two episodes at a time; trying to marathon it can be a brain-melting experience and is so not recommended. Keep it to smaller doses, though, and it delivers often enough to make a reliable comedy diversion."[11] Aiden Foote, writing for THEM Anime Reviews, also found the animation middling but praised the slapstick humor and its delivery by both Yasuna and Sonya, concluding that "Overall, almost from nothing, Kill Me Baby! seems to have itself a sweet little niche in the congested four-panel market. What it lacks in a large cast, it makes up for by diligently bringing the characters it does use to life."[12]

Music in the anime

  1. (Opening Theme) "Kill Me no Baby! (キルミーのベイベー!)" by Yasuna and Sonya (Chinatsu Akasaki & Mutsumi Tamura)
  2. (Ending Theme) "Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu (ふたりのきもちのほんとのひみつ)" by Yasuna and Sonya (Chinatsu Akasaki & Mutsumi Tamura)
  3. Kill Me Baby Character Song Agiri Akichi to Noraneko
  4. Kill Me Baby Character Song Yasuna Kyou Mo Futari De
  5. Kill Me Baby Character Song Sonya Yakisoba Pan
  6. Kaerimichi - EXPO (Kill Me Baby)

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kill Me Baby. Sentai Filmworks. March 30, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20240602175510/https://www.sentaifilmworks.com/blogs/catalog/kill-me-baby. June 2, 2024. live.
  2. Web site: July 2008. http://www.dokidokivisual.com/magazine/carat/book/index.php?mid=69. ja:まんがタイムきららキャラット. Manga Time Kirara Carat. ja:まんがタイムきららWeb ドキドキ★ビジュアル ドットコム. Manga Time Kirara Web Doki Doki Visual dot com. Houbunsha. https://web.archive.org/web/20220407020428/http://www.dokidokivisual.com/magazine/carat/book/index.php?mid=69. April 7, 2022. live. November 10, 2022. ja. ja:遂に本格連載開始★カヅホ「キルミーベイベー」:新感覚殺し屋ギャグに病み付きの予感…。. Full-scale serialization finally started ★ Kazuho "Kill Me Baby": I have a feeling that I'm addicted to the new sense of killer jokes....
  3. Book: June 27, 2023. 978-4-8322-7465-5. 14. ja. ja:キルミーベイベー. Kill Me Baby. 1391285584. dmy-all. カヅホ. 芳文社.
  4. Web site: Baby, Please Kill Me! 4-Panel Comedy Manga Gets TV Anime. Loo. Egan. Anime News Network. July 26, 2011. August 11, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20181129013110/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-07-26/baby-please-kill-me-4-panel-comedy-manga-gets-tv-anime. November 29, 2018. live.
  5. Web site: Baby, Please Kill Me! Anime's Staff, Premiere Time Revealed. First. Joseph. Anime News Network. September 27, 2011. September 28, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20180929161344/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-09-27/baby-please-kill-me-anime-staff-premiere-time-revealed. September 29, 2018. live.
  6. Web site: Please Kill Me Baby/Kill Me Baby's 1st TV Ad Streamed. Loo. Egan. Anime News Network. December 22, 2011. December 28, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151027214914/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-12-22/please-kill-me-baby/kill-me-baby-1st-tv-ad-streamed. October 27, 2015. live.
  7. Web site: Sentai Filmworks Adds Kill Me Baby TV Anime. Hodgkins. Crystalyn. Anime News Network. February 14, 2013. February 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20190522133009/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-02-14/sentai-filmworks-adds-kill-me-baby-tv-anime. May 22, 2019. live.
  8. Web site: Kill Me Baby CD To Bundle New Half Hour Bonus Anime. Loo. Egan. Anime News Network. August 10, 2013. August 11, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20180928213619/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-08-10/kill-me-baby-cd-to-bundle-new-half-hour-bonus-anime. September 28, 2018. live.
  9. Web site: November 14, 2017. November 10, 2022. 4Gamer.net. ja:「きららファンタジア」は12月上旬頃に配信予定。「キルミーベイベー」の参戦,スペシャルムービー公開など最新情報をお届け. "Kirara Fantasia" is scheduled to be distributed around early December. Delivering the latest information such as the participation of "Kill Me Baby" and the release of a special movie. ja. https://www.4gamer.net/games/385/G038590/20171115027/. https://web.archive.org/web/20220516181342/https://www.4gamer.net/games/385/G038590/20171115027/. May 16, 2022. live.
  10. Web site: January 18, 2018. November 10, 2022. Comic Natalie. ja:「きららファンタジア」に「キルミーベイベー」正式参戦、あぎり役は篠田みなみ. Kill Me Baby officially participates in Kirara Fantasia, Minami Shinoda as Agiri. ja. https://natalie.mu/comic/news/265709. https://web.archive.org/web/20220826084341/https://natalie.mu/comic/news/265709. August 26, 2022. live.
  11. Web site: Kill Me Baby DVD - Review. Martin. Theron. Anime News Network. July 5, 2013. October 9, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151121231545/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/kill-me-baby/dvd-complete-collection. November 21, 2015. live.
  12. Web site: Kill Me Baby. Foote. Aiden. THEM Anime Reviews. May 21, 2012. October 18, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150906065732/https://themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1436. September 6, 2015. live.