Review of K
Project K. What can I say? I have mixed feelings about it; more importantly it is a typical sad case of great concept ruined by terrible execution. Here's why. Lets put the story aside for a while, and talk about the concept. The concept for Project K is arguably fresh and creative. I won't call it particularly innovative but it does wonderfully so combine elements of sci-fi and fantasy. Seven Kings and their vassals endorsed by that special power, street gangs, military-like organizations and a high school and an inevitable evil mastermind behind all the events. It's a bit of everything and I suppose that's whyit is non-standard. With proper attention to each and every bit of that we would have probably received a truly memorable anime. And here's where Project K fails hard. Being only 13 episodes long it does nothing to process those ingredients into an edible dish. We never as much learn about the origin of power that is inherent to kings or how they received it. Is it magic? Is it science and technology? Who are other kings? What is factual peculiarity of their power? What is the story behind the crater thing? etc. Same pretty much goes to every other plotline and character.
Plot itself is somewhat messy. We've got a mysterious murder and gangs who are going after the culprit who is in turn the main protagonist who suffers from amnesia who later discovers kings/vassals/magic and the actual murderer. Seems like a very action packed anime huh? Well it isn't. Good 2/3 of it we are having character interactions and chases which have very little to do with actual plot and hence the very gist of it is unveiled during final eps. Such uneven pacing keeps you hooked only during very first and very last episodes, becoming rather annoying in the middle. Most plotlines go nowhere and a lot of things are left unexplained, such as who's Neko, where's slate, past of certain characters. It just doesn't fall in place. That being said, amnesia is an awful plot-device.
Art. Now art is one of the few strong points that K has. Animation is smooth and beautiful featuring great camera angles and spectacular special effects. The art itself imitates a cross-processed film which makes it look bright and optimistic, easy on the eye. The character design is hit and miss. Some are nicely designed with a distinguished look, the others are your typical janes and joes you'd find in any anime. Overall, it's a visual eye-candy although the quality declines towards the end of series.
Sound. Another strong point. The soundtrack is crispy with some lovely piano arrangements, if a little repetitive. I have nothing much to say about OP and ED, they are both quite decent, but not the kind of songs that would stuck in your head.
Characters are poorly fleshed out and present nothing original. We have typical personality-less school mob. We have an odd main hero who acts somewhat like Haru from Tsuritama. We have Neko who is in a sense a cardboard copy of Shiro (Deadman Wonderland), and we have Kuro (a lovechild of Kanda x Sebastian). In fact we have a ton of characters which are implied to have had interesting ties to each other in the past and present, but sadly it is never fully unfolded in the anime. It's not to say that characters are annoying or boring from the start, not at all. What I imply is, with the length of anime, it just seems unreasonable to put such a crowd in and toss hints about their complex history. If it was 26 eps long, that would be fine. Alas, it is not.
Overall, it's easy to watch. Project K is that kind of anime that is perfectly watchable if you turn your brain off and just relax. It's not the best anime ever, nor it is the worst one. If you are looking for something other than just swords and mecha, this is probably a good choice.