Review of K

Set in a modern city where World War 2 history did not go as we know it. Shiro is a regular student, enjoying his popularity in the Island-Academy he's attending. But despite his friendliness and well-likedness from everyone, he soon finds himself in trouble, as the cat he used to take care of is suddenly transformed into a human, and Shiro finds himself in the middle of a war between the 7 K (kings), humans with psychic abilities, leading gangs or organizations with the purpose of becoming the absolute rulers... Is what the anime WOULD like you to see, when in reality all you willbe seeing here are incredibly gay undertones and unexplained plot details that leave a lot of questions unless you have actually read the manga.

"But we are not a yaoi anime! I mean look! We have a naked cat lady right at the start!" Yes K, nice dodge there. Clearly the neko girl victoriously dissolves all my discomforting suspicions that I'm watching a shameless yaoi anime, only to replace them with discomforting suspicions that I'm watching a closet yaoi anime. But while K is shy and mysticistic about its sexual preferences, it is quite honest with its marketing tactics. I know the main purpose of animes is to promote their mangas but there is such a thing as "subtlety" and K seems to constantly miss that. When I watched Akame Ga Kill recently for example, I felt the anime softly petting my head and telling me "Did you like the plot and the characters? If you did, you can always buy the manga to learn a bit more about your favorite heroes!" Thank you Akame Ga Kill, I might indeed do that! When I was watching K however, I felt a gun, cruelly pointing at my balls. "

How are these two characters related anime?" I fearfully ask. "Buy the manga to find out b!tch!" the anime angrily replies. "Can you give me some more information about this completely unexplained setting of a town, anime?" I ask innocently. "Buy the f@cking manga and READ nerd!" the anime replies as it kicks my stomach. "Why are these two supposedly opposed people at kissing distance from each other and rolling on the grass, anime?" I ask. "T-T-That's how serious m-m-men communicate, b-b-baka..." the anime shyly blushes. And you can call me a moron, but I swear to god, from start till finish I had practically no idea what the hell was going on. And saying the plot was all over the place would be one thing, but I couldn't even tell what the "K" in the title stood for either! The anime takes the "multiple interpretations" approach, with various words such as "King" "Killer" etc being possible meanings for K, similar to how "V" could mean "Vendetta", "Vandalism" or "Viagra".

"But that's not all there is to us! Look! We also have incredibly beautiful battles and action!" No anime, you don't. What is indeed beautiful is the quality of the graphics, which, truth be told, blows all antagonism away. But having good graphics and descent animation DOES NOT equal good battles. This was mostly evident when the skater kid tried to take on a SWAT-y strike team with practically break-dancing moves. While other animes could have easily handled this with amazing choreography that could really get out blood pumping, K somehow completely fails to utilize the "magic" of the fight, proving that despite the pretty masks it puts on, K IS deep down a closet yaoi anime that wants nothing to do with action of any kind other than "bed". Oh, and the protagonist turns out in the last second to be a Nazi. And while I can imagine the admins being ready to whine for me not putting a "spoiler" tag, I have the counterargument that saying "Spoilers" would imply that I know what the plot was about and want to reveal it to everyone else, which I can wholeheartedly assure you was NOT the case.

I would have no problem if the anime openly declared itself as a yaoi, but instead I kept having the feeling that anime was trying to pass as "actiony shounen drama", which it clearly was not. What's wrong K? Are you so afraid of the Boku No Pico tag that you're desperately throwing whatever "boyish" things you can think of at us? Sorry, but this doesn't cover you, it insults us. The only thing left for you to do is openly declare yourself to the world, put the rosy frames around the characters and get disowned by your parents as a result. Wait, now that I think about it...