K - Reviews

Think...

A place where pure intense aura are fighting, clans of all colors with different personas are up against each other, a normal-looking teenager who's been framed and a gorgeous girl-cat that doesn't like to where clothes with a perfect female figure. What do you get?

K (or K-Project) is an anime about a young boy named Isana Yashiro (or Shiro) who is a carefree teenager who's life changed when he was being targeted by a clan of the Red King called Homura for murdering their own clansmen without a total recall of the incident, then blames to be the Colourless King. He then meets Yatagomi Kuroh - a clansman of the Colourless King and known as Black Hound - who also attempts to kill him for the reason of the Colourless King, who must be killed when turned sinister, and Neko - his pet sexy cat and is known as a Strain - who cares for Shiro and food. Then, Blue King of the Blue Shirts joined in and all hell breaks lose. It's up to Shiro to clean his identity and must prove innocent to them that he isn't a wanted man.

Basically, my first impression on this anime was to be impressive, and it left me with a mind full of questions and a feeling of lackness. 'K-Project' has a great flow on its story. No side tracks can be found and the main line was intact, everything moves. It has a continous flow to its story and not much anime today has that kind of systematic storybase.

The plot happens to be 'innocence', but rather midway, twists suddenly appearing making more suspence for the anime itself - which is kinda impressive. The story begins to thicken on every episode and questions are storming to one's mind once you started the series, making you question if he is innocent or not. Every scene gives you a thrilling impression, making 'K' a stunning series.

'K' revolves around kings, seven of them, but the only five were presented. I wish that they mentioned and showed the other kings and the origins of the rest of the kings so that it may be a perfect anime but sadly, none was said. Also, the series - like I said - makes you question and most of those questions aren't answered. Like, where did Colourless King came from or how was Anna - the little girl - found. It has many questions that left mostly unanswered. Neither was it good nor bad, depending on the speculator.

The animation was fantastic. From viewing some skateboard tricks, until to the fight scenes were precisely elaborated. For the fight scenes, they were made clean and every second of the fight feels like a great second. Unfortunately, the series itself contained only two to four fight scenes which was sad that 'K' is a good action anime to begin with. Not your typical fighting anime with pure action to begin with. 'K' can disappoint you for the lack on fight scenes on most Shonen-type anime, but still, its thrilling plot may never let you down.

The background setting was also fantastic. From a Japan of modern architecture, to a school which was way modern than other countries. From buildings and vehicles to simple grass and pavements. Even the smallest details were astonishing indeed. I like the designs on the helicopters they use and the model for the enviroment, making an awesome scale. The shadows and hue textures were amazing, and I can't hardly missed appreciating that. They really did a good job on that.

Charaters are uniquely design. Isana Yashiro has a good complex of seeing him as an innocent or guilty man. The Kings on the other hand were perfect for their roles based on their own personality, red resembles violence while blue resembles justice which is a perfect fit. I also liked Neko's persona as a pet, aside from its annoying state, and Kuro's attitude fits perfect for his part as a serious male knight. The characters were great to begin with.

Sound were great. Voice acting fits on every role and the sound effects have great quality. I like the music used in the background in the whole series. It has a catchy tune and a nice ring to it, making it perfect from the scenarios in every scene and the music, kinda relaxes me and makes me more enjoyable to watch 'K'. Opening theme on the other hand was a good pick, for its powerful sound and rhythm. Making 'K' one of a kind.

In the end, 'K' was a great watch. Even if it has a lacklustering appearance, but still...

+ A good flow of the story
+ Amazing details made
- Leaves many questions behind
- Lacklustering anime

In all, I really enjoyed watching 'K'. For its suspence and mainly, for its direct story. Although unfinished it may seem, I read that there is a sequel and I expect it to be a great one, making most of my questions to be answered. Very recommended to watch.

Overall: 8.5 out of 10

K is utter garbage and tries to hide it in the dumbest ways. In fact, the seriousness the show tries to hide behind makes it no more than a seven year old trying to be intimidating. The show is laughably bad on so many levels. The characters are unoriginal and made of suck, the plot is stupid and full of holes with lame twists, and relying on a naked catgirl to give personality to the show is about as good as it gets. The animation is with few exceptions subpar, and what little good there is in the soundtrack gets run into the ground by how it's overused.

The problem is that K relies heavily many cliches and copy-pastes things from other shows enough to fool people into remembering where these things were done well. Of course, it falls apart once you get to the objective analysis. A load of elements that are supposed to be cool don't make a show work, especially if every one of those has been done better elsewhere.

Like many subpar shows, the first few episodes aren't half bad. But somewhere in the middle of the series it becomes unbearably mediocre on many levels. The attempt at making clever masterminds behind it all in order to fill in the holes in the plot don't work. The stupid of the plot twists is infectious when you can see them coming from miles away, as the "hints" are as subtle as a brick. You can see exactly how the show ends about five episodes in advance.

All that being said, there is a simple joy you can take from the show. If you just manage to stop thinking completely, ignore the fact that the budget constraints become clear the further in the series you go, then perhaps the shallow tension and blanks (the kind name for holes) in the plot can keep you interested. Of course, this also assumes that you don't mind the countless technical issues with... well... everything.

Writing (Story and Characters):

Needless to say, I find the writing of K derivative and badly executed. It is cheesy, simple, and stupid. That being said, it is effective in a silly way. There are al the elements that are supposed to make something good, they just don't work together once you noticed that it is a hodgepodge of stolen ideas rather than something original.

Perhaps the story isn't all that bad. It is unoriginal, but it contains everything needed to grab the interest in a superficial way. But going so far as to call it good is too much. Really, I wanted better, but I suppose that it is at the very least shallowly effective.

Character-wise, this show is utter garbage. There isn't one standout character, the development is stunted, and the growth is achieved via deus ex machina rather than action. There are a few characters which are actually rather decent, but there is not one which will wow you. It is a very standard cast, and does what it should, but that is as far as I'm willing to go.

Overall, the combination of story and characters in K is supremely unimpressive. It is the cookie-cutter approach to everything, and therefore the flaws in execution are critical. The effectiveness of it is not really in doubt, but essentially there is absolutely nothing that you can't look elsewhere for and end up more satisfied.

Art (Animation and Sound):

Some of the art is actually surprisingly good. Unfortunately, it isn't enough. K should have had great artwork in order to execute the writing, and spectacular art in order to elevate it. This is not the case, as we get a mixed bag of some goodness mixed with huge technical issues.

A series like K has to have great animation or else it will fail. The animation isn't great. What is great is the concept art, some of the character designs, and some of the backgrounds. The fight scenes are usually mediocre and badly choreographed (though at the start they are rather good). The lack of a budget makes for too much reliance on still images for it to actually be called animation for plenty of the important bits. It's a mixed bag of failure and goodness, but unfortunately it just isn't quite average.

I just can't bring myself to say that the audio is good. The soundtrack does have a few tracks which are excellent, but those are played to death during the series until they lose all effectiveness. The voice acting is mediocre, and the effects are nothing special. All in all, there is nothing here that will wow you, and nothing that makes the writing and animation work together in harmony.

Bringing the world of K to life would require smooth animation to be added to the great concept art, and some clever audio manipulation. Had the video and audio been a solid match and worked together sharply, it may have done the trick, but haphazard cuts and editing made it just not clean enough. Still, it isn't particularly bad. Just below average and not particularly impressive.

Overall:

I did not enjoy K and cannot believe that there will be a second season of this. Look elsewhere for your superpowered fun.

My first review! How exciting. I have written this with no spoilers, so feel free to read if you haven’t watched. This does mean that some of the specific things I wished for in the series I left out, but I would be glad to discuss them with anyone who is interested.

Story [5/10]

The general concept of the system of Kings and related powers was really cool. I felt like it had a lot of potential, but it was never fleshed out enough to get me truly interested. I wanted more background on the groups and I wanted to see more of the intricacies between them. I wanted some explanations for why things were the way they were. I felt left with a lot of questions that I was eager to hear the answers to. Not every single thing had to have reason or history, but the complete lack of ground left the present story teeter-tottering on a random world. The situation around the main character, Shiro, was interesting enough to keep me watching. I wanted to know what was going to be revealed about his baffling life at the end and I wasn’t disappointed with the creative turnout, but, once again, without any ground to support it it was just a cute little plot twist. They did try to give some background at least, but barely any. And even what was given left more questions that would naturally be asked and as well as a pinch of confusion.

Vibe: Animation + Sound [7/10]

I have a bad habit of not paying much attention to music aside from the openings and endings, but if it’s music that elicits a powerful reaction from me, I will notice. The overall vibe of K was cool. One of the first things that got me interested was the animation and I particularly enjoyed the colors. The vibe stayed interesting throughout the series, but it wasn’t particularly striking either. I felt like there was room to get more intense, but I don’t know if they could given the lack of intensity with the story and characters.

Characters [6/10]

The one character I enjoyed thoroughly was Mikoto Suoh. Near the end I found myself rooting for him as the main character, for I felt more of an attachment to him than anyone else. He was a cool dude that was given enough history and implications about his nature to care about. The rest weren’t given enough intricacies to make me feel much for them, but at least they all had one or two defining traits or habits so I never mixed them up. A lot of them were pretty to look at. Neko had the potential to be cute and to even have her cool moments, but instead I found myself flinching and wishing for earplugs every time she screeched.

Overall [5.5/10]

It was okay. It had enough decent moments to sit through and follow, but it never elicited much of a reaction from me and I like to feel emotions when I watch anime. I wish they had made it more complicated, the relations more messy, and the action more crazy. If you want something easy to sit back, relax, and watch with some attractive characters and a mildly interesting world, you could give K a try.

Warning, this review contains spoilers.

[Subtitles] 4/10

Anime-Koi is a total joke. For the entire season they got the first line of the OP wrong, and lines from the chorus. There were probably things wrong in the dialouge, too. BAD SUBBERS.

[Story] 8/10

Somewhat generic to start with (mysterious power? Sudden magical girl appearance! People attempting to kill the main character for seemingly no reason?!)

But soon enough twists and turns and various other cool things to make it interesting.

Especially in the final few episodes (11, 12, 13), where it really got going!

Negatively, however, there was some fanservice, some blatant (nude scene with Neko on Shiro's bed) and some more subtle (casual shot up all the school girls' skirts...)

While I think nearly all anime will have some form of fanservice (take Final Fantasy legend of the crystals for example) I don't think there was really a need for there to be a naked girl. Neko could have been exactly the same ditzy kawaii catgirl she is, with clothes on... I felt that was completely pointless!

Also, the fact that Shiro kept blushing at Kuro is annoying.

Either make it Shonen-ai, or don't put that kind of thing in there. Because many people will see that and say something along the lines of 'EW gay anime they're all gay ew' and will then not watch the anime, and also may very well tell all that they encounter about this supposed 'gay anime'. 

(and the misinformation will just go on forever)

[Characters] 8/10

At first, Shiro really annoyed me. (Especially because his VA is the same as Italy from Hetalia, that bugged me a lot). But his happy go lucky and carefree attitude grows on you.

Neko, seemed like nothing more than a nude catgirl, for fanservice, and she didn't have a very large role until about halfway, and then again near the end... I think she could've have a stronger role than she did.

Kuroh was a very interesting character. At first, he seems like your generic, cold, badass guy with a sword, but then you see him chasing after Neko and Shiro, and cooking, and with his recorder listening to the quotes of Ichigen. In a way, it's kind of cute.

Mikoto, Munakata, and all of HOMRA and SEPTER 4. There are many small tales and stories woven through all these people, their relationships and interactions, etc.

[Art] 10/10

Not going to skirt around it; Easily, the art is the best part out of the entire thing!

And certainly I'm not going to deny that it was one giant piece of eye-candy; what with the rich backgrounds, detailed, well... everything, and the nice coloring.

There was one thing, though, that did get on my nerves.

Every fight scene involving the psychic energy. They dimmed the screen down.

Why? It seems rather pointless, and for me, it ruins the flow.

[Sound] 8/10

The background music was very nice. There were a few themes that got repeated, but they weren't repetitive or boring, so that was alright.

The opening and ending themes were both very nice (Angela <3), but the ED was pure fanservice; I felt it was unnecessary.

[Ending] 7/10

I felt that the ending was kind of weak. It was left pretty much open with a cliffhanger, and some things were just flat out left unresolved.

(HOMRA? Colorless King? Shiro? Neko? Kuro? And what of the other two kings that weren't even shown, yet must exist because there are seven kings total?)

I do think, however, that it was entirely planned for there to be two seasons. They couldn't possibly have left so many different loose ends and not have planned for another season.

[Overall] 8/10

Overall I really enjoyed the first season of 'K'.

It had it's ups and its downs, though for me the ups were greater than the downs. I look forward to the next season, whenever it is released.

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Personal Rating: 8/10 Points, It was entertaining and maybe I'll watch it again.

Story:

First off, there are a few peculiarities: There is no "information dump" at the beginning to introduce you to the world in order to show you everything you need to now about what or why something is happening and every episode ends on a cliffhanger (now that [K] finished airing the point might be moot, but still). Every episode reveals a little bit more of the plot and the world until the "story arc" finishes in episode 13. Most of the time you know just as much as the protagonist, with a few exceptions of course...

The story in itself is rather simple: Our protagonist is an ordinary high school student who's suddenly accused of murdering the member of a wellknown gang and suddenly everyone is trying to kill him. Over the course of the 12 episodes that follow our protagonist tries to solve the mystery of whats happening to him while trying to keep living the way he did until now.

Animation:

Dont know what to say about this... the fighting scenes are well done and interesting to see. Its obvious a lot of detail went into this.

Sound:

All I can remember is the "generic combat theme" tha plays whenever two peoples with special powers are facing off. It appears there is more, but off the bat I can't remember anything else. Well... I watched this for the story, not the music...

Characters:

This series has a lot of sub-text in the interactions between the various characters you might be missing until the series shows you a flashback. Other then that I rather enjoyed the various characters, they were all believable and had their own funny quirks. They behaved more or less like I thought/expected them to, even if I was stupefied from time to time due to missing context or knowing nothing about their past.

Overall:

[K] tells us a story that happens in a world similar to ours, mixed with a bit of Fantasy and Mystery. I already mentioned that we are not given every bit of information that exists, only most of the things we need to know to make sense of whats happening. The "cliffhanger" at the end of every episode was my reason to watch every episode when it was released and I enjoyed the way this story was told, even if there were one or two questions I never got answer for, but since they announced a 2nd season I can live with that. We have an interesting mystery, great looking combat scenes and likeable characters. One of the better animes during 2012.

Note:

There appears to be a manga series that shows us more information about the "Red Clansmen" and the poor guy that gets killed before the series starts. It might be nice to know, but I don't think you need to read it to understand [K].