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I must preface by saying I have not read this manga. This was a difficult story to follow, which has influenced my review. That being said, no anime has ever made me want to light my head on fire as much as King of Thorn. By the end I could only laugh because I was so furious. The level of disorganization is absurd, and not in a cool way. King of Thorn is violently and sloppily absurd. Watch something else.

At first, I was attracted to the dystopian sci-fi premise: two sisters caught in a deadly pandemic flee the city. One sister opts for cryogenic preservation ... backed by a shady govt contractor, leaving the other sister behind. This is where all enjoyment of the movie ceased for me (~20 minutes in).

Watching KOT is like strapping your brain to a mechanical bull for two hours. Nothing is explained in order except a movie-long chase scene, which is just a frantic labyrinth of dead ends and dei ex machina.

Everything in KOT has the ultimate effect of a mosquito. Untimely, painfully annoying and disposable. The government, scientists, virus, monsters, computers, the castle, the characters… Everything marches to its own drum. It’s impossible to grasp a working relationship between anything at all, so it’s incredibly fragmented. There’s also a fairy tale theme throughout the movie. A fairy tale which, of course, nobody’s heard of. So, don’t be surprised to hear an aimless recitation about witches and spells from time to time. All of this is why I think the manga (hopefully) does this story more justice. It was obviously too complex for production.

Characters do nothing but appear spasmodically and say nonsense. They will bring everything to a halt or a painful pivot, then disappear. Seriously, this is the most haphazard anime I’ve ever seen. They have awfully developed personalities, but since they’re always being chased, there’s little time to think about them. Don’t bother listening to what they say, either. Especially anything seeming important; it's a trap.

The whole disaster is washed over with schmaltzy concept music, which no sane person would listen to in their free time. It does gets the point across, but not in a charming way.

Finally, I give KOT’s animation a 1. All it does is trick people into watching, and it's mediocre.

Unless you’ve read the manga, I do not recommend this movie at all. Even if you have, your chances of enjoyment are probably slim by the looks of these reviews.