Review of K

Note: This will be a review of both seasons, plus the movie. Overview: "K", also known as "K Project", is an interesting anime, to say the least. Instead of trying to do anything completely original, it borrows bits and pieces from various other anime, mostly urban fantasies, while also putting its own unique twists on them. The results are somewhat hit-and-miss; while it does manage to execute some of its ideas better than the anime it borrowed them from, in other cases it falls into the all-too-common trap of valuing style above all else, though ultimately the positives of the series outweigh the negatives, and it rewardsviewers who have a lot of patience.

Story (7/10):
"K"'s two seasons both tell a separate story, both of which are connected by the movie "Missing Kings", which bridges the gap between the two of them. However, it's impossible to say anything about the movie or second season without giving away some big spoilers, so I'll stick with the first season. To put it simply, "K" is set in an alternate version of modern-day Japan, which, unknown to the public, has managed to become the wealthy country it is largely thanks to the power of Kings, all-powerful people who run the country from behind the scenes and most of whom are the leaders of a clan. There are seven of them in total, each of them being represented by a colour and having a specific set of supernatural powers, which their clansmen can also use to a lesser extent. However, this Japan is far from a utopia, as the Kings often come into conflict with each other, particularly the Red Clan, known as HOMRA, and the Blue Clan, SCEPTER4, who have been on bad terms for a long time due to their conflicting ideologies. Yashiro Isana, generally just called Shiro, is a seemingly ordinary 17-year-old who gets pulled into this secret conflict when a man named Kuroh Yatogami tries to kill him because he suspects him of being the "Colourless King". His evidence for this is a video of someone who looks exactly like Shiro murdering a member of HOMRA, despite Shiro himself having no memory of doing such a thing. Fortunately, Shiro manages to convince Kuroh that he's been framed, and the two of them, along with the shapeshifting cat Neko, set on a quest to clear Shiro's name while also avoiding the many people who want to kill him. The truth, however, turns out to be far, far more complicated than any of them could have anticipated.

Sounds interesting and mysterious, right? Well, that's because it is. Unfortunately, it also takes a really long time to finally get going. The events I've just described take place over the first 3 episodes, when they could easily have been covered in 1 and a half or 2, and it isn't until the sixth episode that we finally feel like we're getting somewhere. And if you were hoping that things would improve in the second season, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, as said season has frequent padding that makes it seem like the series is trying way too hard to spread the story across its 13 episode runtime, despite many of the anime's answers having been already given at that point. The only part of the series that has no pacing problems whatsoever is the movie, and that's mostly because it's only an hour and 15 minutes long. I still enjoyed the overall plot once it actually started to get moving, but the fact remains that that the sluggish pacing is guaranteed to put off some viewers altogether, especially if you abide by the 3 episode rule, which I fortunately don't.

Even so, the actual plot of the story proves to be quite good. In some ways, it even feels like the story that "Kaze no Stigma" should have been, with warring clans with supernatural powers inherited from a king, the main character getting framed for murder and the themes of family and power, even debating the importance of one over the other, something "Kaze no Stigma" never did. There's also a great amount of nuance when it comes to the clans. For example, HOMRA, the Red Clan, are described as violent above all else, but that doesn't mean they're evil; rather, they're just far too willing to use brute force in order to get the job done. By contrast, SCEPTER4, the Blue Clan, seem like the good guys on the surface, but are obsessed with order to a fault and their relationships are generally very cold and professional, while it's obvious that HOMRA care greatly for each other. As such, any fight between the two clans isn't good versus evil so much as order versus chaos. So overall, I did enjoy the story, even if I also found the ending to be pretty lacking.

Art & Animation (9/10):
“K” is notable for nothing if not its visuals, which for the most part are absolutely breathtaking. All the characters and various buildings are incredibly detailed and well-drawn in an amazing art style, and the animation is very fluid and smooth. That being said, there are a few camera issues, like when it tends to focus on Seri’s enormous chest or panties, to the point that by the second season, they get shoved in your face practically every time she’s on screen, which is particularly jarring since the show as a whole isn’t exactly fanservice heavy. Nevertheless, the series does look fantastic from start to finish, to the point that it comes as a surprise that the studio, GoHands, has been involved in very few other anime projects over the years.

Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10):
The music definitely isn’t memorable, consisting largely of dubstep tracks that do fit the series, but tend to just blend into the background rather than emphasise what’s going on. Granted, it does improve a fair bit in the second season, as while the first opening and ending themes, “Kings” and “Tsumetai Heya, Hitori" are fairly forgettable, the second opening, “Asymmetry”, is great while the second ending theme, “Kai”, is fantastic, being extremely catchy and fitting the show perfectly. As for the voice acting, it’s good but I’ve heard better. Sam Riegel, Matthew Mercer and Stephanie Sheh do respectable jobs as Shiro, Kuroh and Neko, respectively, and the series has a number of great talents including Johnny Yong Bosch, Todd Haberkorn and Patrick Seitz. There are a few cases of more than one character being voiced by the same person, but in these cases, one of them is almost always a background character, so this wasn’t too much of an issue.

Characters (7.5/10):
Yashiro Isana is a complicated character, but if I were to describe him in one word, that word would be “dorky.” He’s kind, cheerful and not much of a fighter, but also mischievous and quick-witted, being able to get away from Kuroh when they first meet using fast thinking and trickery. While he initially seems to be just an ordinary high school student, and believes himself to be at first, it’s eventually revealed that he is much more than he seems and who he believes himself to be. However, while he is a lot more interesting than he appears to be on the surface, I still found myself liking him the least out of the three main characters, since at a certain point he just always seems to know the right thing to do in almost any situation. He even assumes a leadership role in the second season, which I found to be pretty odd since he isn’t really in any position to be making decisions, since in his past it was his own poorly thought out decisions that led to the events of the series in the first place, something the series sort of acknowledges but overall just glosses over. And yes, I understand that I’m being very vague, but that’s because Shiro as a whole is a walking spoiler, so I can’t say anything genuine about him without giving away some major plot points. Overall, I can say that even if I had my problems with him, I did like him a lot. He’s just not my favourite.

Instead, my favourite character would have to be the second main character, Kuroh Yatogami. The best way to describe Kuroh would be that he’s logical, even stating early on that he judges people by what they have done rather than by who they are. Unfortunately, this mindset leads to him almost killing Shiro when they first meet out of a belief that he’s the evil being he’s been searching for, based solely on a video that he doesn’t even think could have been fabricated until Shiro suggests it. However, while he seems cold at first, he’s actually pretty reasonable, as even when he believes Shiro to be a murderer, he’s willing to listen to any last requests he might have and even cook a meal for him, and ultimately gives Shiro a chance to prove his innocence. However, it takes a while for Kuroh to warm up to Shiro fully, signified by him going from calling him by his full name to calling him by his nickname. At his core, Kuroh is a kind man who is very loyal to those who have earned it, and it’s likely not a coincidence that he looks and fights like a samurai. Since Shiro isn’t a fighter, it’s up to Kuroh to pick up the slack, which thankfully he absolutely does, often solely with his sword skills rather than any powers, though he does have those too. Additionally, while he seems ultra-serious on the surface, there are times when he can be just as dorky as Shiro, particularly when he listens to the many wise quotes from his late master on a recorder (which Shiro finds creepy). He also gets his own character arc in season 2 that coincides with Shiro’s, when a figure from his past comes back to haunt him. All in all, I would say that Kuroh is the most developed and fleshed-out character in the series, and probably the most badass as well.

Last but not least is Neko, who seems to be just Shiro’s cat at first, but is revealed to be what Kuroh calls a Strain, a mysterious being who has powers naturally instead of them being granted to her by a King. Now, one of my favourite types of character are those who completely go against everything you would expect them to be, something that sums up Neko perfectly. Instead of being snarky, rude, aloof and standoffish like cat characters normally are, Neko is cheerful, sweet, loyal and protective- in short, adorable. Her powers are illusion-based, which doesn’t seem particularly threatening, but is actually very effective, to the point that she manages to be a match for Kuroh of all people in the second episode alone, and proves herself a force to be reckoned with on multiple occasions. While she’s the primary source of comic relief in the series, she also has a tragic past like the other two main characters, though exactly how she got her powers is never totally explained. While I did find her annoying from time to time, she overall rounds up the trio nicely, and does a fine job at keeping up people’s spirits if nothing else, which Kuroh accurately calling her “unbelievably optimistic about everything.”

The rest of the cast is a mixed bag, as while HOMRA and SCEPTER4 have a lot more members in them than the main group does, how fleshed-out and developed they are tends to vary a lot. In particular, SCEPTER4 has probably the biggest group in the series, yet only 3 of them- Reisi Munakata, the Blue King, Seri Awashima, his second-in-command and Saruhiko, the third-in-command and a former HOMRA member- are given any real focus or development, with the majority of the rest of them having names and little else. Contrast that with HOMRA, who have far fewer members but at least 5 or 6 that are decently-developed or have some kind of quirk to make them stand out. If I were to pick a favourite outside the main trio, it would have to be Anna Kushina, a young girl and member of HOMRA who serves as the focus of the movie. As for the villains, the villain of the first season is just a generic “evil for the sake of it” villain, but the villains in the second season are given a lot more depth, as well as a clear end-goal. The main villain’s goal, in fact, bares a strong similarity to that of a certain “Skulduggery Pleasant” villain, though of course I can’t say anything beyond that.

Enjoyment (7.5/10):
The show’s frequent padding means you’re pretty likely to feel bored from time to time, and I can certainly say I felt that way on multiple occasions. Additionally, while the fight scenes are beautifully animated, how exciting they are tends to vary, with some of them amounting to the characters just dancing around each other and occasionally clashing weapons, as well as a couple that just felt pointless. There is a fair amount of comic relief, however, and while there are some very dark moments, the tone is light enough that there’s always hope things will turn out fine.

Overall:
As a whole, “K” makes a number of big mistakes. It tosses in too many characters and doesn’t flesh them out, it drags out its story to the point that it sometimes feels the show’s length is artificially extended and its music varies from forgettable to passable, and occasionally great. Nevertheless, this is still worth watching if you like this kind of series, with a fantastic trio of main characters, an overall good plot and truly beautiful visuals.

Score:
7+9+8.5+7.5+7.5=39.5/50=7.9/10