Assassin & Cinderella Manga Follows a Cute High-risk Romance
When I first heard about Assassin & Cinderella, someone told me the manga was like a sexier take on the Spy x Family formula. While I can see that, it wasn’t my first response after finishing the first volume. Rather, it’s more like an idealized fantasy with cute characters who probably don’t get to enjoy ordinary life getting a chance to actually experience romance and fall in love. I mean, it’s absolutely still sexy. But I just didn’t expect it to also be so sweet. Editor’s Note: There will be minor spoilers for the first volume of the Assassin & Cinderella manga below. Assassin & Cinderella doesn’t begin with build up or any stage setting. Rather, we’re immediately dropped into a scene in which a couple named “Mi” and “Ri” are reuniting. Mi is actually Neneko, a spy who is investigating an assassin and pretending to be an innocent, ordinary girl who becomes his girlfriend to do so. Except “Ri,” whose real name is Omi, already worked that out. Her cover blown, she fears he’ll kill her, because of course an assassin would do that to an enemy, right? Wrong. He actually fell in love with her, the real her he saw shining through during her “mission.” Image via Square Enix Of course, her life would still be in danger, because she failed. But Omi has a solution for that too. He suggests a marriage of convenience. He gets to spend time with a woman he adores. She gets the safety of staying alive and not being held accountable to her organization via strategic information “leaks.” And even if something went wrong otherwise, Omi points out he’s strong enough to help her stay alive if the truth is ever exposed. Which means the rest of the first volume of the Assassin & Cinderella manga gets to be mostly dedicated to actually watching them fall in love. Omi, due to his awareness of the situation, is already in that place, romantically. He caught on to what Neneko was up to. So we get to enjoy seeing her adjust to something of a normal life and as regular a relationship some people in such dangerous jobs can enjoy. He makes her breakfast. They go shopping together. They get married. He surprises her with a dessert gift for the first time. She meets his coworkers. Yes, this also means that the elephant in the room is addressed. After all, Omi is still an assassin and Neneko is a spy. However, the latter half of the volume starts to bring up how such situations could begin to be handled by first introducing more people from Omi’s organization. By gradually bringing in the faction, we’re getting this reminder of what the series is about while maintaining the romantic (and yes, sometimes sexy) elements of the story. The only issue I came across in the first volume of the Assassin & Cinderella manga is that Omi is nowhere near as well developed as Neneko. As such, his responses do really feel like they come out of nowhere. Since we’re coming into the story in medias res, we don’t see how she inspired such adoration and affection. I suppose in a way, it is to our benefit. We’re caught off guard just as much and often as Neneko is. But I would have liked a bit more development on his part since he is the male lead. In general though, the premise of Assassin & Cinderella is a fun one, and it does stand out among the many other shojo and josei romance manga out there. It’s heavy on the wish fulfillment fantasy of a dangerous, yet also shockingly attentive and kind man suddenly adores a potential partner. The first volume of Assassin & Cinderella is available now, and Square Enix will release the second volume of the manga on September 2, 2025. The post Assassin & Cinderella Manga Follows a Cute High-risk Romance appeared first on Siliconera.
When I first heard about Assassin & Cinderella, someone told me the manga was like a sexier take on the Spy x Family formula. While I can see that, it wasn’t my first response after finishing the first volume. Rather, it’s more like an idealized fantasy with cute characters who probably don’t get to enjoy ordinary life getting a chance to actually experience romance and fall in love.
I mean, it’s absolutely still sexy.
But I just didn’t expect it to also be so sweet.
Editor’s Note: There will be minor spoilers for the first volume of the Assassin & Cinderella manga below.
Assassin & Cinderella doesn’t begin with build up or any stage setting. Rather, we’re immediately dropped into a scene in which a couple named “Mi” and “Ri” are reuniting. Mi is actually Neneko, a spy who is investigating an assassin and pretending to be an innocent, ordinary girl who becomes his girlfriend to do so. Except “Ri,” whose real name is Omi, already worked that out. Her cover blown, she fears he’ll kill her, because of course an assassin would do that to an enemy, right? Wrong. He actually fell in love with her, the real her he saw shining through during her “mission.”
Of course, her life would still be in danger, because she failed. But Omi has a solution for that too. He suggests a marriage of convenience. He gets to spend time with a woman he adores. She gets the safety of staying alive and not being held accountable to her organization via strategic information “leaks.” And even if something went wrong otherwise, Omi points out he’s strong enough to help her stay alive if the truth is ever exposed.
Which means the rest of the first volume of the Assassin & Cinderella manga gets to be mostly dedicated to actually watching them fall in love. Omi, due to his awareness of the situation, is already in that place, romantically. He caught on to what Neneko was up to. So we get to enjoy seeing her adjust to something of a normal life and as regular a relationship some people in such dangerous jobs can enjoy. He makes her breakfast. They go shopping together. They get married. He surprises her with a dessert gift for the first time. She meets his coworkers.
Yes, this also means that the elephant in the room is addressed. After all, Omi is still an assassin and Neneko is a spy. However, the latter half of the volume starts to bring up how such situations could begin to be handled by first introducing more people from Omi’s organization. By gradually bringing in the faction, we’re getting this reminder of what the series is about while maintaining the romantic (and yes, sometimes sexy) elements of the story.
The only issue I came across in the first volume of the Assassin & Cinderella manga is that Omi is nowhere near as well developed as Neneko. As such, his responses do really feel like they come out of nowhere. Since we’re coming into the story in medias res, we don’t see how she inspired such adoration and affection. I suppose in a way, it is to our benefit. We’re caught off guard just as much and often as Neneko is. But I would have liked a bit more development on his part since he is the male lead.
In general though, the premise of Assassin & Cinderella is a fun one, and it does stand out among the many other shojo and josei romance manga out there. It’s heavy on the wish fulfillment fantasy of a dangerous, yet also shockingly attentive and kind man suddenly adores a potential partner.
The first volume of Assassin & Cinderella is available now, and Square Enix will release the second volume of the manga on September 2, 2025.
The post Assassin & Cinderella Manga Follows a Cute High-risk Romance appeared first on Siliconera.
