Okay, I must admit that I came into “K” with low expectations. It hadn’t gotten noticeably good ratings before and wasn’t very popular when it came out because of all the fuss over other premiering anime shows at that same time such as “Magi” and “Bakuman” which received excellent reviews and recognition; therefore it was hard for “K” to stand out from their shadows. Also, my sister (17 YO) had previously watched the anime not a few months ago, telling me that it wasn’t worth watching. I decided to challenge this statement and witness the anime for myself, for I saw it on my recommendations list b/c of its reported similarity to one of my personal favorites, “Durarara,” and read the plot summary for myself that was provided by . Surprisingly enough, I decided to add it to my “Plan to Watch” List, coming back to it not a few days ago.
I decided to watch the first episode. It didn’t have a very strong start, which may also contribute to its lack of popularity and good reviews, but I didn’t let that phase me and continued to watch the show. I realized after about 5 episodes in, the show captivated me and I couldn’t stop watching it. Even after the weakness and confusing nature of the first few episodes, it soon proved to have great development, both in character and plot. Eventually, when I reached the end, I witnessed one of the greatest finales, in my opinion, in anime history. Please sit and read quietly while I explain this well-deserved 10 that this anime happened to receive.
Story: 9
The best way to describe this anime is a focus on many different viewpoints of different anime characters that somehow creatively make up one giant, amazing, unexpected puzzle that is finished at the very end of this anime. The main protagonist is a seemingly normal high school boy named Isana Yashiro, or “Shiro” that somehow gets involved with a murder case that took place on the rooftop of a bar. The murder victim unfortunately was one of a psychic clan known as “HOMRA” led by the violent short-fused red king, Suoh Mikoto. Unfortunately for him, the killer (who was captured on video) looks a lot like Shiro even though he doesn’t remember doing such a thing. With the help of his “guardian” Yatogami Kuroh, and “Neko” (I have yet to find her significance to the story), they try to get to the bottom of this framing without starting a psychic war between the seven kings. A well thought out plot, yes? There are indeed a lot of elements to the plot, and that’s why the beginning seemed so confusing and weak at first. And Indeed, the anime is very similar to DRRR. Some of the characters look similar to those in DRRR, also, the colored clan idea is a very similar, personalized element to the use of Color gangs in DRRR. Also, I find that both protagonists have very unusual and unexpected secrets that are revealed later on, which I won’t give away. The fact that all of the elements are summed up perfectly and fit together like a puzzle really adds to the plot. On many occasions, I experienced an “Oh my Gosh, That makes sense!” Moment in my head. I loved that. There were just certain occasions, especially at the beginning, when it seemed like all of the detail and elements ended up confusing and overwhelming me, leading to discomfort in some plot areas. Also, many good points were also brought up with the fact that there are noticeable holes in the plot and a lot of excess information was left out. I noticed this of course. On many occasions I would've like to learn a little more about the Silver, Blue and Red Kings; I would've also desired a little more history behind the Sources of their power, the 7 Swords of Damocles. This was obviously an issue mainly because of the span of the anime. If it lasted for 26 episodes instead of 13, I believe that K would earn 10 points in Story. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, instead the story gets a 7
Art: 10
This seems very opinioned, I’m sorry. But I love color. I love the idea behind color and their hidden meanings and themes. I believe that all of the colors incorporated in the plot and art style really added to the deeper meaning beneath the surface. Red marked the “Violent” clan. Blue marked the “Reasonable and Cool” Clan, and Gold and Silver marked the “Top Dog Clans” that were most powerful. These colors that were incorporated in the characters and hidden themes really added to the complex tones of all the elements in the story. The complexity and character of each little color, from personality, to mood, to comparison, (such as black and white) had a great impact. Also, I found the fight scenes, especially with use of the mix of psychic abilities, quite pretty and well designed. There was great movement and perfect camera angles in the action scenes of the anime and that was a really great aspect of the anime that just boosted the whole watching experience.
Sound: 10
when dealing with sound of an anime, people just look at the anime openings and endings; and while in K, both were very nice, the real highlights in sound for the anime were definitely the Character Themes and transitional OST tracks. All of the themes for each character fit them so well that it’s uncanny. You can listen to a theme song and have the ability to guess which character it fits they are made so well. Also, the OST tracks, you can tell that a lot of work went into making them just right for each scene. There are songs, such as my favorite, “Requiem of Red” that add so much emotion to the perfect scene to an already awesome ending. One of the best. Sound also refers to the voice acting, and I must say, I watched subbed and the casting was amazing. My favorite voice of course was the slurred heavy voice of Mikoto Suoh, played by Tsura Kenjirou. It wasn’t just him though, the other voice actors fit so well, whether their virtue was innocence, or pride, or cockiness. Everything worked.
Character: 8
If there was to be a main flaw with this anime, it would have to be with the characters. Don’t get me wrong, I fell in love with almost every single character in the anime, even with the ones I was supposed to hate, haha. It just seemed like every single character had their own personal piece of the puzzle and specific role to play, if it was to add to the pride theme of the anime, or to the comic relief, or to the innocence theme, all of the characters had a role that fit the plot perfectly. I just felt that there were some superfluous characters that I had trouble trying to find their main role, such as Neko. She is cat and has psychic abilities, yes; and she DOES help Shiro and Kuroh on many occasions, but I feel that her role was mainly fanservice and gaining views and that just took away from the anime itself. There are many other characters that I feel this confliction with as well even though many of the characters’ designs and personalities really clicked with me.
Enjoyment: 10
If you find me, and ask me what my favorite anime I’ve ever watched is, I would most definitely say “K.” And this is why: There are so many elements and themes that really captivate you as you continue to journey through this anime. From characters to plot, to sound, I guarantee you will enjoy this anime. If you dropped it after a few episodes, Pick it up and watch it again, because you will be missing out on a lot. Everything fit together in this show and I loved how it all worked out in the end.
Overall: 9
I highly suggest you watch this, and I guarantee that you will enjoy it. Unfortunately this anime hasn’t gotten the publicity it deserves and that’s because people aren’t expecting it to be great. That’s how I was. But if you take the time to watch around 6-7 episodes, I guarantee you won’t regret it. You’re missing way too much if you skip out on this anime. Give it a chance. There are some plot holes that take away from the anime, but overall I liked it and of you average all of my scores, they come out as a 9, even though I would've loved to give it a 10 :)
