Juzo Ogami is a legendary assassin who has made it to the ripe old age of 39, which is something to be very proud of in that profession. However, when he reflects back on his life, he’s generally not very satisfied. He has done nothing more than kill people—which he doesn’t particularly like doing. And when he mentions his ex-wife, it’s with noticeable regret in his voice. Maybe his relationship with his daughter could be better, too, considering he notes his difficulty with children. Well, fate might have something in store for him regarding those flaws. The morning after these reflections, Juzo is stung by a wasp that turns him into a 13-year-old kid again. With his regained childlike appearance, Juzo is immediately offered a job only he could do: investigate the middle school that his boss’s daughter attends. While the professional assassin part of the job might be easy for him, the actual school part will be a challenge. He never finished middle school himself, you see, and on top of that, he’s surprisingly socially awkward and doesn’t have anything in common with the kids. Will Juzo be able to survive middle school and turn his body back to normal?

This is a first episode that works very well, although for some reason, I have difficulty isolating which elements stood out specifically. The idea of a middle school version of John Wick/ Taro Sakamoto is potentially interesting in any case, and the pacing was great too. However, for anime like this, I often fear they won’t stay as entertaining as they are at the start. Some minor manga spoilers ahead: It appears that the ending has quite a few loose ends, including some (seemingly) key story aspects we’re introduced to in the first episode. There is also an obvious issue of the main protagonist being mentally an adult man hanging around with kids. Unfortunately, whenever an anime sounds like it could have a sus set-up, it’s necessary to check the manga to see where it goes, and after reading what manga readers had to say, the story does have a whole subplot where a relationship with a middle schooler is teased. Initially, I thought I’d definitely keep up with this anime for at least a couple more weeks, but considering where the manga goes, I don’t find it worthwhile to invest more time in this series. This is a personal choice, though, and I have no doubt this season of KILL BLUE will be entertaining for many, as this first episode was for me, so if the plot sounds interesting to you, it could be worth checking out.

KILL BLUE is streaming on Crunchyroll.