If comedy is truly about subverting one’s expectations, then NinKoro is one hell of a great comedy.

It follows the slice-of-life adventures of Konoha, a stone-cold school girl assassin, and Satako, an earnest but incredibly dense, runaway ninja. The unlikely roommate duo initially teams up due to Satako’s lackluster ninja ability to turn objects into leaves, which ends up being a near-perfect method for disposing of dead bodies, something Konoha happily exploits to improve her client reviews and rise up the assassin leaderboards.

The first few episodes didn’t really impress me right away. The gag of introducing adorable, well-designed waifus as assassins coming after the pair, only for them to have three seconds of screentime and face a merciless death at the hands of our disturbingly unperturbed ninja and assassin, is a good bit, but not enough to have me consistently laughing for 12 episodes.

Episode 5, A Robot and Assassin Under One Roof, is where NinKoro really begins to shine and deliver the shocking dark comedy that makes this show so engaging. I won’t spoil it too much, but the episode’s absurd premise involves Konoha caring so little about her roommate that she doesn’t realize she’s been replaced by a robot clone created by her mad scientist assassin rival, Marin. Konoha ends up falling for this robot imposter, and some antics ensue that lead to this episode feeling like an absolute mind-f***.

It marks the first episode in which NinKoro really shows off its ability to not only make you laugh, but also get you emotionally invested, setting up the recurring theme of seeming one-off gags having long-lasting, plot-affecting, psychological consequences for the characters. The way Konoha views Satako after this episode fundamentally shifts, and even takes a while to repair, which was surprising to see from what would otherwise just be another gag in the show.

The real joy of NinKoro is watching Konoha and Satako’s relationship develop. For characters who seem flat at first, they actually grow a surprising amount. This growth is rooted in Satako’s repeated attempts to earn Konoha’s respect and affection by using the most absurdly stupid means possible- such as when she gets Massive Boob Surgery in an attempt to use them as Konoha’s walking weapon storage.

Konoha is extremely aloof and cold towards Satoko at first, but the ninja’s devoted efforts to grow closer to her, even when they backfire spectacularly, challenge Konoha and force her to confront her own emotional walls. Their eventual bond feels well-earned and complex.

I think the best example of this is “A Ninja and a Baby Assassin,” in which Konoha gets turned into a baby (normally not a trope I would particularly enjoy), creating an alternate childhood in her memories where she was raised by Satoko. Yes, the implications of that are as weird as you’d think, especially considering the two have a fair bit of romantic tension going on, but it causes a major breakthrough for Konoha as a character, resulting in some really emotionally hard-hitting scenes in the following episode.

The supporting cast of characters were some real gems as well. Kuro was the Lesbian Wifeguy I didn’t know I needed to see represented in anime. Marin (and later her yandere sister) excelled at both being adorable and chaotic.

Overall, NinKoro isn’t for everyone. Its dark humor can be uncomfortable and provocative, maybe off-puttingly so for some, but for me, it was the most compelling aspect. Silly moments can spiral later on into serious consequences. Like, they still have to worry about all those ninja-assassins they killed plotting revenge from beyond the grave. I’d really hope for a season 2 to be able to see things snowball even further.