With TV and movies, I've spent most of my life trying to read the book first. The theory is that the book is always better so read that first. It's kind of backwards actually. If you accept the premise that the book is always better (which I don't necessarily) then all you are doing by ensuring that you read the book first is setting up the film version as a disappointment. Wouldn't it be better to watch the movie first and then read the book? The only real downside is that you'd already have an idea how it ends although that seems to be one of the things that gets messed with the most on the journey to visual media.
In any case, I've started not caring so much about which happens first, partly because of anime and manga. Manga's so expensive that I don't tend take a risk on it unless I can find it used which is tricky. Anime, on the other hand, I have many avenues for viewing economically and a ton of solid recommendations from my students. I often fall in love with an anime series only to find out that it's based on a manga which Ryan later tracks down for me. After a few cycles of this watching then reading, I realized that I've come to enjoy noticing the differences as I read. I don't find it annoying at all.
Romantic Killer was one that I found on Netflix first. It's a short 8 episode series that I fell in love with. It's one of those series that I ended up watching on a loop. For a while there it was so ubiquitous as my background noise that my husband, son, and students all had the intro music stuck in their heads. I had no idea that it had been based off a manga until the entire 4 volume set came to me as a Christmas gift. (Thanks Ryan)
Romantic Killer is fun because it's satirizing the shojo archetypes. Shojo manga is aimed at girls in middle and high school and tends to feature romance story lines where a sweet and kind girl finds love. Often she has more than one suitor and is more often than not totally oblivious to this. Technically Shojo deliniates a target audience and not any kind of genre expectations so there's quite a bit of range in the group.
Instead of the usual shojo thing, Anzu Hoshino has no interest in romance and no interest in boys excepting as opponents in video games. All she wants is her video games, chocolate, and cat. Apparently, this is part of a general trend nation-wide away from romance which is of concern to the local fairies who need children around to generate magic. So Riri is assigned to force Anzu into a romantic relationship which Anzu actively resists. Riri surrounds her with potential romantic interests who Anzu systematically turns into friends.
Despite the rediculous set up, this ends up being a surprisingly touching story about friendship. Anzu is revealed to be a fierce, protective, and loyal friend. Because she isn't interested in romance, she treats her ridiculously attractive friends as people with intrinsic value beyond just their looks. So of course, all the boys are in love with her, but she just remains a very good friend to them.
It's probably a lot of fun even you aren't familiar with Shojo's common tropes, but if you've experienced other shojo material, this is absolutely hilarious. I love it.
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