Review of K

I didn't want to write a biased review, so I'll try to rationally support my opinion, but for me, K was one of the best animes I've ever seen. It is a deep, philosophical story, with loveable characters, beautiful animation, catchy soundtrack, and a well handled storyline. It needs some concentration and patience to appreciate, but if someone is ready to think, and look behind the surface, it turns out to be a real masterpiece. First, the story. To be honest, at the beginning, it doesn't seem to be a big deal. It starts in medias res, the viewer literally has no idea what's goingon. There are the kings, but we don't know who they are, what are they capable of, there is a strange crime story, but we don't know what happened, who was killed and why... we are in the middle of the chaos, and it's easy to sympathise with the main character who is as lost, as we are. We get a lot of hints and symbols that give the chance to put together the whole picture before the reveal, but the writing is smart enough to divide your attention - you won't figure out anything before the eighth episode, and even then, you have to think. When the big plot twist comes in the eleventh episode, everything clicks into place, you get a whole new perspective of the story, and you have the finale left which is powerful and sometimes heartbreaking. You want more, you want to continue, but at the same time it is a nice closure, and only a few questions are left unanswered - if there wouldn't be a second season, I would say they were left open intentionally, letting the viewers decide what they think.

The philosophical side works as well, the story deals with a lot of important questions - it mostly revolves around the question of power, how you deal with it, how you avoid it's corruption, how you shoulder the responsibilities it comes with, and if you are not the one in position of power, how you think about the different leaders, who is the good king in your opinion. But it also deals with smaller, more personal matters, friendship, grief, the struggle to help someone, and save him from himself... these parts make the anime really strong emotionall.

The art is beautiful. The character desings are not always perfect - for example, I was awfully annoyed with the fanservice in case of Neko and Awashima. But the main characters are memorable, well drawn. I'm sure Mikoto's red fire required an awful lot of work from the animation team... it has an amazing range of colors, several shades of red, a little pink and purple, it is simply beautiful. The fight scenes are dinamic, the different fighting styles are carefully animated, and they don't drown in the effects - you can easily follow how Kurou fights in a traditional japanese ways, while the Blue Clan uses europian sabers, the Red Clan shows a variety of unique styles... it's really good to watch. Also, the Swords of Damocles are beautiful and once again, each and every one of them is unique. The music creates a special atmosphere, sometimes it's really emotional, and there are a lot of catchy little tunes that will get stuck in your head. There is even a song in the sixth episode, and it's beautiful and sad. The OST is perfectly good to listen to individually as well.

And the characters. My biggest problem with most philosophical stories is that the characters rarely get any real developement. They are slaves of the plot, archetypes meant to show a message, and not real, well developed figures - the story doesn't want you to emotionally invest into their journey, maybe with the exception of the main character. This is not the case with K. Here, we do have the archetypes, Mikoto as color red, Reisi as color blue, Weismann as color silver, Kurou as the classic right-hand man/knight... but still, they are well developed, you get to see their inner struggles, failures, fears, you get drawn into the story emotionally as well as in mind. My personal favourites were Shiro, Reisi and Mikoto... Shiro is one of my favourite anime protagonists. He is fun, understandable, hopeful, and playful, but when the time comes, he can be just a little manipulative, with a good intention. Reisi seems like the cold-hearted, calculating leader, who is ready to sacrifice anyone and anything for the cause - but we see that he does struggle to always keep his distance, and always decide rationally, never letting his emotions get in the way. And Mikoto... well, he is the king, who never wanted any power, and as such, he is one of the most loveable characters of the series. But there are a lot of amazing characters, Kurou, Fushimi, Anna... they are all unique.

Overall, I think this story is certainly worth a watch. I enjoyed every second of it, and it doesn't seem like it will let me go soon.