K: Return of Kings

Superpower anime has been the main solution to attract many people in order to keep the Anime industry in balance. Since the success of such famous anime like the big three (Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach), there are dozens anime that uses the super power as an appeal and works as a direct jump to make profits. One of them are the K - project franchise, which has been ongoing since 2012. K Return of Kings is the 3rd project that exists in K Franchise. As the series go, K really didn't maximize any potential that it have. The 1st season started the story whileadding the mystery genre into it. While Return of Kings does a different thing, they're trying to build-up its world in this 13 episode. While doing that, the anime throw many flashbacks & scenes to build that, but they didn't succeed the 30% of it. For about 8 episodes K: Return of Kings brings us an endless "information dump". The blank paper is filled, they fill it with many chit-chat and useless scenes and they just did the same mistakes once again. As the plot drive slowly, K Return of Kings really just wasting the time it has. The story can be described as 'disoriented' and didn't have a clear direction, it just floating in the air with unclear reasons. As we expected, K strongest power is in the budget. The animation grows very colorful and beautiful. The town settings and the battle scenes are well produced. The character designs have hundreds of bishounen waiting for the fangirl to scream. To adding that, we have some useless fanservice scenes using boobs and many other round things to maintain the enjoyment of the fanboy. Well, those things remind me, "What if K animation similar like Ping Pong?", fortunately, the reality is not like that. Sound settings are okay, the new Opening & Ending Song are not too bad either. The background music was still great like its prequel. Voice actors did a great thing in doing their job. Another disappointment we have is there is no in-depth character development. They throw many flashbacks in this little amount of episodes but useless flashbacks indeed (especially the first 8 minutes of episode 1). The main character possibly didn't do as the main character, they just fleshed out by supporting characters, their role was actually minimum in this series. The green king's motive was relatively poor and slightly typical and we have the gray king in return. The problem is they unloaded a number of characters with not the right balance and I should say this "None of the clansmen has a particular role in anything...", they just as useless as ever and just filled the vacancy of the episodes. It's just so blank, useless, and ridiculous. The useless scenes that occur in the first six episode really bring a bad effect to the enjoyment itself. Actually, the battle scenes are pretty cool and colorful. But it got such an unexpected downfall especially for the story section and character section.

Mod Edit: Review may contain spoilers. -- Currently on episode 13/13 I don't think this anime can be properly appreciated with out watching K: Missing Kings Movie between episodes 1 and 2. Because there are huge bits of info "missing" between the first 2 episodes. The movie isn't a prequel. It fits directly in between episodes 1 and 2 and explains what happens Mikoto and how Anna becomes the new Red King. What happened to the Gold King and the Gold clan members. As well as other pieces of key information related to the events leading up to the 4 episode. I love everything about this series so far.It's exciting to watch, the fight scenes are some of the best I've seen in a while, most of the characters are already pretty powerful so not a whole lot of room for growth, but we're talking about a series with 7 kings and their vassals so they have to be OP from the start because there are only 13 episodes and the 1 hour long insert movie so some things need to already be understood about the story line. Lengthy character development should be left for series exceeding more than 20 episodes. There just isn't enough time to explain every single little detail in a shorter series. *edit* So with the series wrapping up it's final episode I have to say I enjoyed it very much. For those of you that haven't watched it yet but are interested in doing so, you should know that K is part of a larger project so get the full experience watching the Missing Kings movie is a must. Even though the movie is a year older than Return of Kings it's not a fucking prequel but an insert for Return of Kings. I recommend watching the movie after the first episode of Return of Kings. Then the second episode as it was probably intended. For whatever reason it was produced this way, the movie takes place after the first episode and before the second of Return of Kings. Explaining most of the gaps in the story between eps. 1 and 2. Also there are a few manga that go with the events of the entire K project. "K - Countdown" is a must read it takes place after the events in the movie and contains the information and character viewpoints after Mikoto's death. (8 chapters) "K - Stray Dog Story" - Kuro's story (5 chapters) "K - Days of Blue" - Scepter 4's story (10 chapters) "K - Memory of Red" Homra's story (15 chapters) "K - The First" Shiro and the Gold Kings story (16 chapters) I highly recommend watching this anime it's so good. So far 9/10 overall from me. Thank you for reading! Enjoy the show! ^_^

Too much style, less to none substance. That is how I see K: Return of Kings. Continuing from the events roughly after a year that occured in the first season and the movie, K: Return of Kings is a continuation of the series as it exposes the mysteries behind the seven kings and the Dresden Slate that was the cause of it all. Frankly talking, the story makes sense as all of the questions that were left behind in K is being answered but the narrative itself is very weak. What made K a successful anime was because it literally didn't care about anything. Youheard it right, K had little to no cohesive storyline to begin with. Stuff about Kings ruling the planet and keeping order to an inane teenager going around places to know who he was, where he came from as he remembered nothing about himself and being chased by gangster-like guys didn't make all that sense. But it was what that kept it going for thirteen episodes and made it a very charming show. Even if it had little to no plot whatsoever, K simply was a show that one could enjoy even it wasn't a masterpiece. K: Return of Kings tosses that reputation away. Too much exposition in the middle episodes assisted with a very slow start. Even at that the very first episode was nothing but a pandering to the fans with voluptuos breasts appearing in a way that would be unimaginable in real life. But still that is what unique about anime, right? Honestly the amount of fanservice in the show and the pandering of Awashima Sera to the fans would top any ecchi or harem shows and bring them to shame. And it didn't stop in the first episode. After K: Return of Kings got underway it immediately shifted gears to a very tranquil mode with demonstration of words joining the game. To my surprise the stupidity of the fanservice did not stop at the first episode, but it kept coming every once in a while totally throwing all the post buildup to a dustbin. It would've been forgivable if just for the pilot episode, as it did bring me back memories of the unique experience of K I got in the first season. But no, GoHands really had to please the closet fans with all their Blu-ray sale accumulation from the first season. However it appearing once in a while really made the whole show mundane and made me lose glamour for the series. K: Return of Kings has almost the same set of characters as the first season, with the addition of Hisui Nagare who has a main role as the Green King. Almost all other characters remain the same with not a lot of development. Neko the very same annoying mix of Human-Cat hybrid and Kuro who now has his intentions set on protecting the Silver King Shiro, who he was after to kill in the first season. The main disappointing for me was the characteristics of Shiro. He's the same old soft and inane teenager who really doesn't seem like giving a shit even when he's now the one who created this all. The Silver King. The King of Beginnings. He was mostly portrayed as a weak character even if he was the First King compared to Hisui Nagare, who really seemed to have the upper hand against him the entire series. One of the main reasons for failure of for the show was the exclusion of the former Red King, Suoh Mikoto. Mikoto simply was a fiery and striking character right from the start. I know he died at the end of the first season and they had to continue with it, but yet the rivalry between Mikoto and the Munakata Reisi, the Blue King was one that I wanted most. Anna is a pretty good character however not as brilliant as Mikoto. K: Return of Kings mostly focuses around Anna and the OP is dedicated to her characteristics. Talking about the OP, the sound aspect of the show does not really disappoint. The ED of K: Return of Kings was my pick of the season. However I do share the opinion of most people that it should have been the OP and vice-versa. I've seen people either really hating the franchise and supporting it. If I had to say I'm the one in-between the two. I really liked the first season of K and also the following movie, but K: Return of Kings for me was unnecessary. It did not have to explain all the things bit by bit to position K as a successful anime. It already had its fanbase and even I was on the good side of it. Three years later though they really had to bring it back, and I have to say that after finishing the whole series I'm disappointed.

Watching K: Return of Kings is like running inside walls of a labyrinth, trying to find a way out. The confusion sinks in more and more and by the time you reach exit, it’ll be a relief. No, I don’t mean that the second season of K takes place inside a labyrinth. That would just be plain weird. What I mean is that K: Return of Kings lacks entertainment when it comes to storytelling. Each episode progressively makes the show more and more mind boggling. For a show that makes its big return, it’s also a big disappointment. As the direct sequel of the movie, K:Missing Kings, this series also requires knowledge from the original season. Without it, watching the Return of Kings would be a dreadful experience. The first few episodes consists of setup that builds more and more for future events. Anna is now declared as the new Red King. She’s the little girl dressed in a goth loli outfit but has quite a confident personality when it comes to taking up the new role. Kuro also makes his return along with Neko and Shiro by his side as the original trio. Then, there’s new developments like the introduction of the Green Clan. Consisting of members with powerful abilities, they are labeled as the big bad of the season. The structure of storytelling for the second season feels more like a car assembly. The first parts comes, then the building begins, and finally, we get the test drive. But unlike a car, it can get a bit confusing. First of all, the Green Clan consists of a prominent group of characters with ambiguous motivations. We don’t find out more about them until later on the season. But what’s interesting is that they treat almost everything like a game. What’s more is they use the social media to play out their plans through unpredictable strategies while causing confusion among the communities. In retrospect, the Green Clan is the big question mark fans will have for this season. Who exactly are they? What do they want? What’s their ultimate goal? Plot twists are also integrated into the story that makes them look even more deceptive. Unfortunately, it isn’t very interesting in the end. This is because there’s a lack of character growth and their role in the series seems condensed into more of their actions rather than real purpose. Characterization for this season is also really a hit or miss. On a positive note, I think the show has chosen a suitable Red King and in this case would be Anna. She demonstrate her ideals, skills, and responsibility especially in her role against the Green Clan. In addition, she has earned the respect of her allies and is truly a character that is mysterious. The Green Clan also has some members that can be intriguing. Unfortunately, that’s really about it. The antagonists of the series are stereotypical and really lacks characterization. Shiro’s return to the show doesn’t bring anything special to the table. Not to mention, his sidekick Kuro still remains just as cat-like and almost lacks a personality. Her role is pretty much a cheerleader that again lacks any sort of prestige. And because the show has a large cast of characters, it’s really hard to pick out one to truly embrace. If there’s one thing that is somewhat interesting is some of the morality and philosophical dialogues. While this does spark interest, most of it is masked by the frequent amount of generic content. Relationship dynamics are shortened with frequent mood changes and even the comedy feels dense with the die-hard dialogues. It sometimes feels like the show is mindlessly trying to appeal the audience through the rivalries of the colored clans. While this looks okay on the surface, it still doesn’t do justice for its execution. On a technical front, the K franchise is a powerhouse. There’s a lot of emphasis put into the animation that is high quality with the setting. GoHands’ budget is put to use with highlighting the architecture backgrounds. The fluid animation also translates to character designs with their stylistic battle uniforms. While there’s lazy body movements at times, the action is mostly consistent with high caliber movements. The show is also known for some bits of fan service. While it doesn’t have the typical onsen or beach episode, there’s quite a decent amount of suggestive camera angles exclusively focused on Seri. It seems the cameras just love her. Soundtrack is more or less easy to forget or take notice. The OP song is a downgrade from the previous season with the lack of feature with other characters. It seems like they are making Anna the poster girl of the show as she is exclusively focused in the OP song. The lyrics combined with the choreography is sub-par this season as well. The OST seems to have improved in some aspects in particular with the Green Clan’s battle theme. However, when it comes to adapting soundtrack, K is less about what it wants you to hear but more what it wants you to see in the end. Return of Kings is really an underwhelming return. Storytelling is a weakness in itself combined with its lack of concrete characterization. While there’s an interesting amount of mystery developing for the story at first, its execution and inadequate timings are what keeps the show from excelling. If you’re ready for some porn scenery, coolness, and curiosity about continuity, then this might be a show for you. In retrospect though, K has lost its freshness and became a hollow shell of its former self.