Review of K

I looked into this show while it aired in 2012, but soon dropped it (I believe it was as soon as the first episode), starting and dropping again for another few times inbetween then and now. Seeing the artstyle and overall very promising setting, I must have known something more was hiding after the first, boring episode. And I was damn right. The story arc of this show is very much like an exponential curve, with the first few episodes going incredibly slow, being inconsistent in mood and pace and overall being a hot mess of storytelling. I went into the show expecting to get a mixof lighter mafia drama and some supernatural stuff, and what do I get? Excessive screentime of a white-haired school kid running around the place with his umbrella.
However, the tension finally begins to rise when the gangs are finally thrown into the mix. And it rises high. An excessive amount of characters normally goes south very quickly, sacrificing quality for quantity. Not here. They are all different, yet understandable and full of secrets. They feel like real people.
And don't even get me started on the ending. That was awesome.

It is pretty clear that this show attempted to do what I call "puzzle-solving". All the pieces, seemingly unconnected, are laid out in the beginning, and in a series of mind-blowing plot twists are brought together to finally all click into place, preferably in the last episode. Shows that did this incredibly well are Baccano and Durarara, K however lacks in that department.
So what makes this show worth watching?

The emotional appeal. It's true that the storytelling could have been improved, that the choice of main character was kinda weak and Mikoto Suoh got barely any screentime, but in my opinion this is exactly the reason why the ending is so strong. As viewers, we got to experience the birth of a legend not from the perspective of a king, but from his clansmen. We experienced two kings making all the wrong decisions because they couldn't possibly know the whole picture, while we could only sit and watch. We saw all these characters who couldn't be more different from each other being defeated by their own flaws one after another.
The details in building the world and characters, like that the clans actually named themselves in a way that would come natural to them in the real world instead of just using the color terms. The red king's earring that they don't even bother to draw attention to. The fact that they only hint the existence of a green clan in the background, and that everyone who bothers to count realizes that one clan is completely missing. An entire character only developed to show the flaws of the whole clan system by possessing the power of two.
The whole show feels like a work of art, with powerful symbolism all over the place, visual appeal to the finest and one of the best soundtracks I ever heard.

Because what genuinely great puzzle-solving shows like Baccano didn't manage to do, is to get on my emotional side. Too much violence and mindfuck makes the show feel like a game of who can connect the dots fastest. I am an adult, I love it when they dare to kill characters. But when a show like K make me wish for plot armor, I know that it did something right.

K was a show that missed many chances, but still managed to be great.
That is the true tragedy, knowing that it still could have been so much better.