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Alternative Titles

English: K

Synonyms: K-Project, K -eine weitere Geschichte-

Japanese: K

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 13

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 5, 2012 to Dec 28, 2012

Premiered: Fall 2012

Broadcast: Thursdays at Unknown

Producers: Starchild Records, Mainichi Broadcasting System, KlockWorx

Licensors: VIZ Media

Studios: GoHands

Source: Original

Genres: Action, Mystery, Super Power, Supernatural

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.49¹ (scored by 311,568 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1630²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #181

Members: 621,541

Favorites: 6,633

7.49

Ranked #1630Popularity #181Members 621,541

Fall 2012TVGoHands

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Episodes: /13

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Synopsis

"Kings" are individuals who have been bestowed with incredible supernatural powers and granted the ability to recruit others into their clans. Protecting the lives and honor of their clansmen is an integral part of the Kings' duties. After a video depicting the heinous murder of a Red Clansman spreads virally, the unassuming student Yashiro Isana is accused of homicide. Now, a manhunt is underway for his head, bringing him into contact with the infamous "Black Dog" Kurou Yatogami—a skilled swordsman and martial artist determined to follow the wishes of his late master, the Seventh King.

Meanwhile, the current Red King, Mikoto Suou, faces his own imminent demise as the search for Yashiro narrows. But during Yashiro's struggle to prove his innocence, a greater conspiracy is unraveling behind the scenes; clouds begin to appear in his memory, and close friends start to question his very existence. What began as a simple murder is now leading towards a full blown war between Kings with the very fate of the world at stake.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

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Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	K: Memory of Red, K: Stray Dog Story, K Side:Blue, K Side:Red, K Side:Black & White, K: Days of Blue, K: The First, Gakuen K, K: Lost Small World, K: R:B
Sequel:	K: Missing Kings
Other:	K: Seven Stories Movie 1 - R:B - Blaze

Sakurai, Takahiro
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Nakanishi, Go

Producer

Suzuki, Shingo

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation, Character Design, Animation Director, Layout

Kanazawa, Hiromichi

Director

Kudou, Susumu

Director, Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"KINGS" by angela

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Ending Theme

#1: "Tsumetai Heya, Hitori (冷たい部屋、一人)" by Neko (Mikako Komatsu) (eps 2-5, 7-12)
#2: "Circle of Friends" by Tatara Totsuka (Yuki Kaji) (ep 6)
#3: "To be with U!" by angela (ep 13)

More reviews

Reviews

Jan 1, 2013

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Tatatatara (All reviews)

831 people found this review helpful

You're probably aware of the fact this anime is gettin' pretty low scores and most of the people who review it keep complaining about same stuff. No coherent plot, weak character development, rushed storytelling, blah blah blah.

Well, well. That's all cool and stuff, but why don't we show the other side of the coin, too. By the way, I'm a guy, straight and all. K is manly stuff, k. (fakken pun)

Story: 9 Simply put, this story is great. It's not the most original story of all times, but it isn't a complete cliche either, as many would like you to believe.

See, the thing read more

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Dec 29, 2012

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 6

thewinrar (All reviews)

364 people found this review helpful

K can be best described as a poorly baked cake covered with an excessive amount of icing. One can look at this cake and view it to be extremely succulent and sweet on the exterior, but after tasting it, one may find dissatisfaction from cake's lack of quality. Just like this cake, K attempts to attract viewers with its beautiful visuals and flashy soundtrack like icing, but the poor quality of an inconsistent story that felt rushed can dispel the exterior beauty and leave viewers sick to the stomach.

Upon viewing K for the first time, it is hard to disagree that it looks beautiful. K perfectly portrays the gorgeous aesthetics of an urban city landscape with tall majestic skyscrapers, bustling pedestrians in every street, and an abundance of detail in every nook and cranny. To add to K's beauty, is the addition of a very refreshing and versatile soundtrack that perfectly captures the emotions of each scene. The music in K includes a large range; from soft melodic piano pieces, to intense electronic beats and mellow hip-hop. The music is implemented in a very sophisticated manner and never feels out of place or repetitive. This wonderful combination of visual and audio appeal reinforces the sense of beauty of K.

Although K looks beautiful, one must be cautious of its beauty. The beautiful appeal of K is only icing on the cake and the actual quality of the cake itself may be a different story. K's biggest drawback would be the attempts to implement a wide cast of characters. Since K revolves around the theme of gang rivalry and leadership, the multiple characters from the different clans carry a large focus within the story and although this can be very exciting, the attempts have gone to waste due to the short time given in the space of thirteen episodes and lack of definition. The many characters are given many scenes such as flash backs or fan-service that attempt to reinforce their personalities and shine them in a likable manner. This is possibly the strongest element about K, but this turns out messy as many characters that are given lots of screen time hold no significance in the story whatsoever, leaving the story to be rushed and full of holes to fit the span of thirteen episodes. K gives side characters a chance to shine, but these efforts leave viewers wondering why these pointless characters are given so much screen time when the time itself could have been used to improve the story.

As stated before, K is extremely comparable to a cake. Too much time and effort was spent on trying to sweeten the cake, but the limited amount of time has left it undercooked. One may think that this cake is a failure, but in absolute truth, it is not. An undercooked cake is not ruined and can still be enjoyed, this is very similar to the essence of K as it all comes down to one's sweet tooth. Although the story of K felt rushed and messy, the character interactions and personalities truly sweetened this anime and the excessive amount of icing on this cake can also add to the appeal. If you're interested in an anime that not only looks and sounds beautiful, but goes in-depth of exploring different character relationships and personalities, this anime is for you. However, if you're looking for an anime with a consistent and well written storyline, you should look elsewhere.

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Mar 20, 2013

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

SeitenSoushi (All reviews)

297 people found this review helpful

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 really picks 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 ;)

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Mar 30, 2014

13 of 13 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 6

PeachYogurt31 (All reviews)

222 people found this review helpful

Art and Animation: 9

I'll start out by writing about the positive aspects of this anime, which is obviously the art and animation quality. Fantastic fluidity to motions. Very active scenes and active bodies. The color usage is bold and nothing to overlook, however, I did start to find the experimental color gradient to be a little bit of an eyesore at times. Yet, at other times it was definitely effective in setting the mood. The characters were cleanly drawn with slim, delicate figures. Smaller details such as clothing design and the cityscape are fun.

Character: 6

The show is similar to Durarara! in that it incorporates a medley of characters in a crowded city with some magical powers sprinkled in. When I saw the plethora of characters, I didn't expect to get a character driven story. And it wasn't. Unlike Durarara!, which was given 24 eps to tell its story, K-Project only got 13. The characters weren't given enough time to truly shine individually, but that is not to say that they weren't able to shine in conjunction with other characters. The relationships between Shiro and Kuroh, Mikoto and Reisi, and Misaki and Fushimi were good enough to add a little complexity to the characters and story. But the number of characters did leave me a bit overwhelmed.

Sound: 7

I am not a fan of the soundtrack, OP, or ED. But I can't say the music was bad. It was average for an anime like this.

Story: 4

Now we get to the part that explains why this anime failed. The story, in short, is too messy and poorly developed. Even though it's supposed to be a mystery about Shiro trying to understand his identity and amnesia, I found myself more drawn to the gang war between the red and blue teams. Yet, that part of the story was never fully developed enough and left me in the dark as to why they were fighting so much. Part of the mythology of the anime revolves around the colors and the powers that come with them. I would have liked to get a crash course on the history and involvement of these powers in their reality. When the mystery is revealed, the resolution is unsatisfying. You couldn't get a strong feel as to why the main antagonist is the way he is, because they spent so little time developing him. There are many subplots, which would have been okay, except that this is a 13 episode anime. Most of the subplots were let to ease to an end instead of approached and dealt with properly. This left me feeling a bit bereft and questioning the whole point of building this whole maze of story.

Enjoyment: 5

I got bored with it halfway through but kept going because it's not bad enough for me to drop. It took me a while to complete it because I got involved with other animes. Despite the incredible visuals, the poorly written story and flat characters failed to enthuse me. The cluttered storyline and mythology kept me confused most of the time as I was trying to play keep up with all the little subplots and characters.

Overall: 6

It's not a bad anime, but it is an example of an anime trying to take on too much at the same time and failing miserably. I would say that maybe if it was given 24 or more episodes, it might have been able to rescue itself. But its biggest flaw was trying to fit a 24 eps story into 13 eps.

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