elaina.christiansen - 2015-01-03 03:54:44

Once again we get a badass looking cover that doesn't accurately present the source. Koroshiya-san: The Hired Gun can be considered a comedy, but one would really have to go out of their way to label it an "action" series. This isn't an action series. What this is, is basically like the parody extras in more popular shows after they've been completed. That style of humor is related to a "4 Koma" style, which is basically a four-picture comic that would be found on newspapers. They can be funny, and the jokes can vary, but are usually parodies of something or the other. Koroshiya-san: The Hired Gun is an original work, however, so the jokes are inherently based on nothing.

The art isn't impressive, but there is motion to an extent. The backgrounds are basically photos of real life places that have been modified, or possibly traced, with art software. A lot of the motion of the characters are similar to many YouTube animations in that they will be tilted to save on creating more frames, but there is still a moderate amount of work put into the art here. The style is definitely similar to other "4 Koma Theatre" programs in that everything is laid out in a basic way that makes sure the viewer isn't getting too invested in the material (which likely wouldn't happen anyways with the short length). The music is average, and there actually is an opening. The opening takes up about a third of the episode and cuts the actual content length to around 20 minutes. The opening wasn't that worth watching more than once, and I found myself skipping it after two times. The music wasn't very creative and it was clear that it wasn't too thought out.

There isn't really a story as this is more about a bunch of random situations featuring the same main character, but there are some underlying developments. The humor is basically around the main character being a hit-man, but not always taking his job seriously and about him being very harmless in his pass-time. The issue with that is that a comic strip usually carries the goal of ending on a punch-line, but for Koroshiya-san: The Hired Gun this is always what takes up the nonexistent punch-line. Only one or two jokes were entertaining, but basically all of them were pretty bad. Anyone could make jokes like this, and I bet there are characters in actual series who do some of the leading jokes here in their pass-time as-well - the main difference being that those series actually have other things at play to keep interest. The saving grace for The Hired Gun is that it's short and easy to eat like junk food. I didn't feel like I got much out of viewing it, but it was so short that I don't feel like I wasted my time with it either. That doesn't mean I would recommend watching it, but if you're in the mood for a bit of dry humor and yaoi (which is actually the funniest parts), than The Hired Gun is here for you.