Girls Love Artist Akiyama’s 2017 series “Killing Me!” presents a comedic tale of enemies in love.

Many students admire Saki Fujimiya for her high grades and strong performances at school. However no one else has as big of a crush on her as classmate Miyoko Kujou. The very affectionate girl knows the true, abrasive personality of Saki because the two of them share each other’s secrets. Whenever she gets the chance, Saki is not afraid of drawing her weapon against Miyoko who is a vampire. The girls constantly fight but Miyoko’s feeling for Saki flusters the young hunter, preventing the killing blow. Unable to fulfill her duty, Saki continues to monitor and fight Miyoko. It is only time until she must face her classmate as her target and see if the vampire’s crush is a facade or not.

“Killing Me!” is a romantic comedy with a lot of action. Akiyama doesn’t shy away from blood but the violence does not show a lot of gore. The dynamic between Saki and Miyoko may remind readers of classic cartoon duos and rivals, Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner, Tweety Bird and Sylvester or even Tom and Jerry. Saki seems to be very skilled but Miyoko finds a way to wiggle out of each confrontation. Sadly this series was discontinued and Volume One is its only collected book. While it introduced a major conflict near the end of the story, it closes with some resolution between the pair but didn’t feel like a proper conclusion to “Killing Me!”. 

Find out more about “Killing Me!” on the Yen Press’s website.