With a title like Kanako’s Life as an Assassin, one wouldn’t expect a manga that takes its assassinations seriously, and it doesn’t disappoint in that regard. It’s a full-on comedy slice-of-life manga that follows Kanako as she leaves her former job under a horrible boss to a new one, giving her a new lease on life.
The issue is that the new job was at an assassin agency, and not only that, but her first target is the very same boss she just left. It’s a fun series that never takes itself too seriously and is filled with black comedy.
10 Kanako Is Actually Skilled At Being An Assassin
Despite stumbling into the job, Kanako is far from poor at it. It takes some getting used to as it’s far from different from her former job, but she has a natural talent for being an assassin. Part of that is that she doesn’t have the look of an assassin, making it easy for her to close in on her marks. The fact that most of her targets are irredeemable, much like her boss, makes it easy for her to off them without feeling bad about it.
9 While Apprehensive At First, Kanako Enjoys What She Does
As with her hidden talent as an assassin, Kanako also secretly enjoys what she does. Initially, she’s apprehensive of taking a life, even of someone as awful as her former boss. But as the series goes on, she becomes more and more comfortable about killing people. It’s an interesting development as most of her quirky personality is delved deeper into, revealing that she’s got more than a few screws loose in her head.
8 Her Journey From Protagonist To Villain Is Played For Laugh’s
As with most of the series, Kanako’s actions are played for laughs a lot of the time and not taken all that seriously. There is no gravity to her change from a meek and eccentric girl to a bold assassin.
The way her personality begins to shift is merely part of the joke, and with the overall tone of the series, it works well. The manga was never meant to be a serious drama that delved into the psyche of its character. It was always a black comedy.
7 Kanako Has More Puns Than A Dad Joke
While on missions, especially at the start of the series, Kanako has a penchant for doubting herself. She’s never sure she can pull off the deed and usually expresses this to herself via puns in her head. One example is her going “For real for real for eel?” and then showing an image of an eel. All of the puns are animal-related, showing the love she has for them. Even when she becomes more heartless, the puns don’t disappear entirely, and it’s doubtful they ever will.
6 The Desire She Has To Become A World Renowned Assassin Is Because She Has No Friends
As she grows more accustomed to her role as an assassin, Kanako begins to enjoy the recognition that her work gets. As someone who never received it much of her life, she’s taken in by it, wanting more and more. As her legend grows, that craving only gets greater as she feels like she’s finally been validated and that she isn’t alone anymore. Now that she finally has it, there’s no way she’s going to give it up anytime soon–not when she has actual friends now.
5 Kanako’s Self-Esteem Is Nonexistent
Part of the reason she’s so dedicated to maintaining her legend as an assassin is because she has no self-esteem at all. Her reputation as an assassin is the only thing she has going for her, with the attention keeping her from falling into the depths of despair.
A brief conversation with an old classmate showed that in full as she spent most of the outing internally lamenting how useless she was. Not only that, but her fear of disappointing others is why she’s able to pick up the skills she needs so quickly.
4 Video Games Helped Give Her The Skill Needed To Fire Guns
If this were a serious manga, it would sound ridiculous to say Kanako’s firearm skill came from playing copious amounts of video games. While it may help with hand-eye coordination, shooting a real gun and hitting a button on a controller are far different things. However, since it’s more of a comedy, the excuse fits in perfectly with the rest of the story. It makes total sense that she’d be a natural at assassinating people simply because she’s played a lot of shooter games.
3 Killing People Becomes Her First Solution For Everything
Not only does Kanako grow accustomed to killing her targets, but she also has no qualms in doing it to people who annoy her as well. Her agency is forced to reel her in, reminding her that she can’t just go running around killing others on a whim. She’s only allowed to take out the people she’s been contracted to kill. That doesn’t end up stopping her from permanently dealing with folks she doesn’t like, solidifying her as a villain more than a hero.
2 Multiple Identities Are Needed To Keep Away Unwanted Attention
Kanako understandably keeps her life as an assassin away from her mother and what few acquaintances she has. She wouldn’t last long if she had it all out in the open, but she has to take it a step further since she’s a legend of the underworld. To avoid more loose-lipped assassins from outing her as the great K, she keeps that identity away from everyone. It puts her on a Keyzar Soze level in terms of mythical status since no one knows what K looks like.
1 The Lead Detective On Her Case Went Out With Her
In a strange turn of events, detective Takehara falls in love with Kanako the moment he sees her, even when he’s meant to be investigating her connection to K. Even more surprisingly, Kanako accepts his offer of going on a date, even when she knows who he is. It’s an interesting line for both of them to walk, not unlike what Batman has to do with Catwoman in DC comics.