WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Love of Kill Episode 7, "Bullet," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
In previous episodes, Chateau Noble boarded the cruise ship Artemisia for a new mission, and not long into the journey, a mysterious boy named Jinon Won cornered Chateau's boss Euripedes and stabbed him. Now, in Episode 7, Chateau must face an all-new enemy, and she doesn't feel up to the challenge.
Jinon Won and his boss, Mr. Donny, are determined to capture Ryang-Ha at all costs, and they threaten Mrs. Dankworth's life to pressure Chateau into handing Ryang-Ha over to them. Chateau finds herself in the spotlight, and she can't handle the pressure. She feels guilty about everything going wrong because of her, and it's up to Ryang-Ha to fix this.
Ryang-Ha and Chateau narrowly save Euripedes' life, and the latter is air-lifted to a nearby hospital to recover. Even if Euripedes survives this ordeal, the attack still puts Chateau and Ryang-Ha on the defensive, and Chateau isn't ready for this challenge. The assassin, Jinon Won, moves on to Chateau herself and presents an audio recording of his associate making contact with Chateau's foster mother, Mrs. Dankworth. Jinon demands that Chateau hand over Ryang-Ha alive to Mr. Donny at the next port, or Mrs. Dankworth will pay for it. Jinon lets Chateau go, and a shaken Chateau confronts Ryang-Ha about it.
In a tense scene, Chateau holds Ryang-Ha at gunpoint before lowering her weapon, deciding that despite the situation, she cannot bring herself to harm her overly-protective admirer. Chateau is loyal to Ryang-Ha and vice versa, but this power of friendship won't resolve the situation on its own. Mrs. Dankworth's life is still threatened, and Chateau feels terribly guilty about her foster mother's peril and Euripedes' injuries. Chateau concludes that all of this hardship can be traced back to her, so she should be taken out of the picture to protect everyone else. Chateau shows grim resolve and puts her pistol to her head -- until Ryang-Ha intervenes.
Chateau is understandably distressed and overwhelmed by the situation, and she shows low self-esteem by deciding that her death is the only way to help everyone else. On her own, she can't find the courage or resolve to face these new challenges head-on, and she tries to back out of it by taking her own life instead. Self-sacrifice is a noble trait in any shonen or shojo hero, but Chateau's intentions are not only disturbing but unconstructive. Even if Chateau committed suicide, the problems would persist, and Mr. Donny and Jinon would simply threaten other innocent lives instead to get what they want. Moreover, Euripedes would be devastated if Chateau died for any reason, even a supposedly noble one.
Ryang-Ha prevents Chateau from taking her own life, and he decides to help Chateau realize the value of her worth with crude but possibly effective methods. Ryang-Ha seizes Chateau's throat and squeezes, threatening to strangle her. Chateau must fight to protect herself, and in the heat of the moment, she may realize just how valuable her life is, and foolish she would be to throw it away. The episode ends before Chateau is seen making a final decision, but in all likelihood, she will conclude that she must survive at all costs.
Though grim, these scenes demonstrate traditional and hopeful shonen/shojo values, such as finding the courage to face a challenge rather than run from it and discovering the value of one's life. True heroes don't give up or devalue their own lives -- they fight back for what's right and don't allow villains like Jinon or Mr. Donny to get their way.
However, this scene also plays into a troubling shojo theme -- the concept that a female lead can't do much of anything unless she has a male companion to support or lead her. In Episode 7, Chateau simply falls apart in the face of adversity to the point of attempting to commit suicide, and that's not how a shojo role model should behave. No one can blame Chateau for having a moment of weakness, but she must overcome it, and quickly -- ideally, thanks to her own strength, not somebody else's.
