K

K

K anime series cover art
K

Series Overview

K (that’s the whole title) is a supernatural action-mystery series about the struggle for power between 7 clans and their leaders known as kings. I’m also going to say right at the start of this review that I think it’s a horrible anime.

There are 2 main clans featured in the series — or at least in this season of the series. There’s also a movie and a second season, both of which I have no current plans to watch. But, anyway, these main clans are the Reds and the Blues.

If the series focused on the battle between the Reds and the Blues, I think it would be a bit better. However, it doesn’t. The protagonist of the series, Yashiro Isana (notice the shiro in his name) isn’t a member of either of these clans.

Where the Red and Blue clans come in is how they want to kill and capture Shiro respectively. The Reds believe that Shiro killed one of their clansmen and so want revenge. Meanwhile, the Blues want to capture him because they believe he’s the 7th King — the Colorless King.

Why would it matter if Shiro is the Colorless King? Well, every king has magical powers. And the more they recklessly use those powers, the closer they get to causing a magical energy meltdown and resulting explosion or something. They’re basically walking nuclear disasters waiting to happen.

So, the Blues, who stand for law and order, want to prevent the other kings from going down this destructive path. That’s why they’re at war with the Reds. And since they believe the Colorless King is unstable, they view him as a threat as well.

Kings and Clans

There are 7 kings with the 1st King being the strongest and the 7th being the weakest (technically). That doesn’t really seem to matter too much because it’s not set in stone that a higher-ranking king will beat a lower-ranking one.

The 1st King is the Silver King who doesn’t have a clan of his own. He’s also immortal and his magic allows him to control gravity. The 2nd King is the Gold King, and he’s the “true ruler” of the country. We don’t know much else about him.

Next come the 3rd and 4th Kings, the Red and Blue Kings respectively. Mikoto Suoh is the Red King and is honestly the only part of K that I like. He’s a good character with a good storyline throughout the series. I can’t say the same about any other character.

Mikoto is also voiced by Kenjirou Tsuda, which automatically makes him cool. Oh, and the Red King controls fire.

Scepter 4 led by the Blue King from the anime series K
Scepter 4 led by the Blue King

Reishi Munakata is the Blue King. The Blue King’s ability lets him create forcefields or something that can be used both offensively and defensively. Blue clansmen also fight using swords.

I should also point out now that it’s not just the Kings who can use their respective supernatural abilities. The clansmen who serve under the kings also gain their powers. So all the Red clansmen can control fire and all the Blue clansmen can use the forcefields.

We never actually see the 5th and 6th Kings in this season of the anime. I’m pretty sure they’re in the movie and second season.

Lastly, there’s the 7th King, the Colorless King. Although the Colorless King is considered the weakest of the Kings, he has the ability to control other kings. This is revealed in the late stages of the season when the plot goes off the deep end.

Everything* Wrong with K

It’s impossible for me to cover everything wrong with K in this section. But I’m going to do my best to hit all the major issues. And the first of these issues is how the anime looks. For some reason, the entire series has a gross blue-green gradient overlay. You can see it in the screenshots in this review.

The cover art for the series doesn’t have this overlay and looks fine. I’m really not sure why they added the overlay to the whole anime. It’s extremely distracting and just looks bad.

Next, the series incorrectly uses a literal “Sword of Damocles” to illustrate the stability of the kings. I don’t think the author understands what the Sword of Damocles is and they just thought it was cool.

It’s supposed to represent the constant stress of being a ruler and how they never know when they’re going to be killed. It’s not used in that way at all in K because the Kings literally control their respective swords.

Red King Mikoto Suoh from the anime series K
Red King Mikoto Suoh

The main characters also suck. Obviously, I like Mikoto and I guess technically he’s a main character. But by main characters, I mean Shiro, Kuro, and Neko.

Shiro is just a bland, generic protagonist. Kuro’s not really any better. And Neko is just there for fanservice. She’s literally a cat that takes human form and hates wearing clothes. She’s there because naked catgirls sell.

I also need to complain about the music. It’s used so awkwardly. There won’t be any music, and then when Kuro appears in a scene, his theme song starts playing. This is how music is used in the series. No music other than when a major character shows up and their theme plays as they walk into the scene.

And finally, the plot is bad too. Amnesia plots aren’t interesting. The “twist” when the main character regains their memories is never good.

Conclusion

K is a 2/10. It really is a mess. Also, considering how this season ended, I have a hard time believing that the movie and second season would be any better.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Leave a Comment