Review of K

First review coming up, K?! (pun intended) Story: 9 At its core, K is a story about finding the identity of a murderer and its implications in an ongoing war between superpowered clans. Elements of sci-fi, fantasy and mystery are combined to make for a very appealing package. In my opinion, the first few episodes don't really explain much, but they leave enough questions unanswered to make you keep coming back for more. I suppose it may be to give the viewer the same feeling that the protagonist Yashiro would get from having his daily life changed so suddenly. However, the story reallypicks up in the latter half and overall was simply very exciting to watch.

Art/Animation: 10
The animation for K is absolutely amazing. GoHands really impressed this time. The backgrounds are highly detailed and the setting allows for some beautiful shots of the city and the island. Reflections and lighting are done expertly, even if at times it looked a little too bright. I also really like the character designs in K - everyone looks great and the SCEPTER4 uniforms are a notable highlight. Additionally, the OP and ED sequences are highly stylised and great to watch, meshing well with the songs chosen.

Sound: 9
K has fantastic music - among the best I've heard for a while. There are many great tracks and they are used well to enhance the feelings of the scenes. Some of my personal favourites are the main theme, which was also used in one of the PVs; and the ED song, performed by Neko's seiyuu. I think having the character songs play in the background for the next episode previews was a particularly nice touch. The voice acting was top notch, with plenty of big names such as Sugita Tomokazu and Ono Daisuke, to mention a few. Across the board, they really succeeded in bringing out the characters' personalities and emotions.

Characters: 9
The characters in K are one of the main driving forces of the series. Much of the plot revolves around Yashiro, who at first appears to be just another happy-go-lucky high school student thrown into the midst of a gang war he knows nothing about. Kuroh is more tough and composed, and his seriousness is a nice contrast to Yashiro's carefree personality. K also presents us with an interesting dynamic between the Blue and Red Kings - they fight on opposing sides, but seem to be more than just simply enemies. The only possible flaw I found was that Neko's character didn't really get enough elaboration; it almost seemed like she was just included because her powers were needed for the story. The focus moves between the various sides so we get to see events unfold from several perspectives. The characters do develop well throughout the show, with some interesting revelations, though due to the 13-episode length, some may find that not everyone got fully fleshed out. However, the manga prequels make up for this.

Enjoyment: 9
K was a very enjoyable series. There weren't as many fight scenes as I would have liked, but every time I did see some action it just looked incredibly cool. Whilst the premise may not be entirely unique, K had more than enough flair, intriguing story and compelling characters to keep me hooked until the very end.

Overall: 9
For me, K was an amazing series that just got better and better with every episode I watched. If you like supernatural action with an interesting identity mystery attached - you should definitely watch K.

Thanks for reading! Please give feedback if you found it helpful ;)