Kill Me Baby: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Kill Me Baby: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Kill Me Baby is an action-comedy anime series with a quirky sense of humor. Produced by Hiroyuki Kobayashi (Castle Town Dandelion, The Demon Girl Next Door), Junichiro Tanaka (Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl, Place to Place), Shinichi Nakamura (Beyond the Boundary, The Quintessential Quintuplets), Takeichirō Aida (Outbreak Company, Pandora Hearts), and Yuji Matsukura (Sweet Blue Flowers, Waiting in the Summer), Kill Me Baby diverts from expectations with an even quirkier and more offbeat production than expected. Broadcast on Animax Asia and distributed in North America by Sentai Filmworks, Kill Me Baby comes from creator Kaduho. The series features animation produced by J.C. Staff (A Certain Magical Index, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom). Fans of offbeat and unique productions will find something to enjoy.

Yasuna Oribe (Chinatsu Akasaki) and Sonya (Mutsumi Tamura) are not ordinary school students. Unlike their fellow peers at school, Yasuna and Sonya both have their own fair share of quirks that go outside the norm. One of the girls is an assassin and the other girl is a ninja.

What do friends do with friends if friends are possibly assassins or ninjas? The comedy scenario ensues with both girls having strangely quirky misadventures at school. This school isn’t just about getting the top grade in class – it’s about survival. No one wants to get assassinated along the way and the school drama is only just beginning.

The production is all the better because of the quirky cast of characters. For an anime comedy series, the production has to have a great cast otherwise the comedy fails to entertain. Yasuna and Sonya impress as compelling lead characters for the production. With the storyline playing off of ninjas, assassins, and other goofy elements, the over-the-top antics of these characters succeeds. The characterizations are excellent for the comedy genre with both characters fitting in the Chibi style threshold for anime.

One of the other reasons the characterizations work so well is because of the excellent character designs. The designs by Shinya Hasegawa (Golden Time, The Melody of Oblivion) manage to be impressive with distinct qualities for each character – reflecting their personalities. These are worthwhile design attributes and for a comedy series the emphasis is on what will make audiences laugh. The effort here is worthwhile.

The animation stands as one of the most impressive components of the production. The series art style is impressive and colorful. Under the art direction of Teruhiko Niita (Aria the Scarlet Ammo, Ōkami-san & Her Seven Companions), Kill Me Baby is a rewardingly vibrant creation. Given the subject matter has elements like assassins and ninjas, one could envision a much darker or serious version of the same production.

 Instead, Kill Me Baby is a goofy sketch comedy and the animation capably reflects the ridiculousness of the concept. The animators did a good job of bringing these elements to the forefront of the production. The line art is well done and the animation has a fast-paced rhythm that befits the comedy genre. Much of this is due to the excellent efforts of the team of animators involved with the production.

The cinematography by Yutaka Kurosawa (Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, The Slayers Revolution) is worthwhile and is a good accompaniment to the production. The cinematography goes hand in hand alongside the animation. The bright and colorful visuals are fantastic and manage to provide a lot more creative wonderment to the production.

The comedy wouldn’t work half as well with a more grim or foreboding atmosphere. The cinematography doesn’t align with those design elements and instead goes for a tone that is more cheerful and upbeat. This helps provide something more effective on the whole. A good effort from the cinematographer and something to commend about the series.

The score composed by EXPO alongside Kimitaka Matsumae and Suguru Yamaguchi (both of whom collaborated on the production of Magimoji Rurumo) isn’t as nice of a stand-out element with the production offering a solid score but one that is unremarkable in other respects. The music adds background music that suitably fits the comedy but that doesn’t make as much of an impression. Nonetheless, despite not being as perfect as could be, the music is a solid accompaniment for this strange comedy series.

Written by Hideki Shirane (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Aria the Scarlet Ammo), Kill Me Baby is a humorous and entertaining comedy series. The comedy is more off-the-wall and quirkier in comparison to many productions. Though these elements may often be seen as common within certain productions, it is rare to find them work so well. The comedy is a good element of the series and there are certainly some funny moments to keep audiences entertained with the outlandish nature of the sketch comedy.

Directed by Yoshiki Yamakawa (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, The Duke of Death and His Maid), Kill Me Baby is worth checking out. Kill Me Baby is more creative and inventive than some might expect. The concept is well executed by the director. Director Yamakawa has fun with the production and brought forth good visuals from the team of animators involved with the series. Exploring the comedic tone of the series, director Yamakawa finds the right way to highlight these quirky characters.

Kill Me Baby: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, Kill Me Baby is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation on the release is colorful and engaging. The cinematography is well reproduced on the release. The animation shines and the efforts of the animators are highlighted well by the sold encode from Sentai Filmworks.

The animation appears crisp and is not as soft as some anime productions (which are sometimes more limited to lower-resolution upscales from time to time). This release looks great and fans will find the presentation satisfying. The Blu-ray release also presents the series with a healthy bit-rate for the encoding. Streaming options tend to provide a lower bit-rate for the presentation.

Kill Me Baby: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless audio on the release is excellent sounding and capably handles the presentation.

Regardless of which option is selected, the lossless audio sounds crisp, clear, and engaging. Dialogue is well reproduced. The score is highlighted well by the encode and this adds some nice depth to the presentation.

Kill Me Baby: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The one area of the release that is a bit underwhelming is the supplemental package. The release does not provide much in the way of bonus features. The set could have benefited from a few extras, like audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes, cast interviews, and art scans (with character/background slides). The set does not come with an o-card slipcover, digital copy, or other value-added items.

On disc extras are as follows:

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:32)

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1:32)

Kill Me Baby: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kill Me Baby is an entertaining and off-the-wall anime comedy. The series has some quirky elements and the cast of characters make the series a lot more entertaining than it would be otherwise. Given this is a silly anime series revolving around ninjas, assassins, and other elements, it is a much lighter in tone tale compared to something more mature (where these aspects might be significantly darker than they are here).

The Blu-ray release features an excellent video and audio presentation. The high-definition visuals are crisp and rewarding. The animation is well reproduced. The lossless audio options also enhance the listening experience. The only drawback to the release is a lack of good supplementals. Nonetheless, series fans will want to consider picking up the release for the best presentation and to have a copy to permanently own on their shelf. Recommended.