Wolfe reporting.
I'm liking Iorek's irrelevant info at the top of his reviews, so I'm stealing it. We've got a great team here. I just finished watching Another, and am currently watching Shiki. I'm actually getting to stay in a place away from home for two weeks, and I'm so happy about this. I'm going to play some Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, watch some movies, and be away from people (for the most part). That starts today. I'll also finish up my Ergo Proxy AMV sometime this week, although I may not post it until a month or so. I was getting some sound advice from some friends of mine who work with Media, and I want to make sure the finished product lands well with them before I release it to the Web. Again: my next AMV will be fast-paced, though I'm not sure for which anime...
So, I wanted to review the anime Another today, but I'm worried that I'll forget everything I wanted to remember about K. See, I tend to remember the darker anime better, probably because I enjoy them more. I wander towards the lighthearted stuff when I need breaks from the dark (not often). I've been in the darks for a while now, so I want to review K before its' light fades.
It's odd asking people "Have you seen K?", so I usually call it K-Project aloud.
On to the review!
K was a fascinating anime, to me. When it first starts, there's some English, and then it's all Japanese for the rest of it. If I was to sum up the anime as simply as possible: clans/gangs and leaders (both with powers) fight because of reasons and they all want the main character dead.
When it comes to the Japanese, it's the letter "K" in English. End of story.
There are 13 episodes for K, each being roughly the standard 24-minute length. I will say that it seems to switch genre twice in the first 3 episodes, so if you intend to try it out and dislike some of it, I'd tough it out all the way through. More on that under "plot".
Personal/Subjective Opinion: 11 / 14 (=78.6%)!
Score Without Edges: 10 / 14 (=71.4%)!
Objective Opinion: 4.5 / 5 (=90%)!
Altogether Score: 25.5 / 33 (=77.3%)!
Concept: Similar to Ergo Proxy, K has an interesting concept that takes you a while to figure out. However, since the concept itself is relatively basic and not a surprise, I'll explain it anyway. Somebody figured out that, thanks to some special rune (whose background isn't explained), these odd groups will form around a leader-figure. The leader-figure has a lot of power, as well as a Sword of Damocles (I hope I'm spelling that correctly). Anyone who becomes a member of this leader's gang/clan/group-thing gets the powers of the group. We're not sure if you lose the powers when you leave the group, although one piece of data suggests that you get to keep at least some of it. Leaving the group appears extremely uncommon. Anyhoo, there are 7 of these leader-guys (called Kings). Each King and their group has a colour associated with them ("Hey! There're Blues over there!"). Each group not only gets powers, but some behavioral tendencies come along for the package (though we only learn of one groups' behavioral tendencies).
It's also put in a highly-technical era. Lots of robots do all the cleanup, for instance. And yet, guns are hardly used.
Based on this concept, there could be a ton of spin-offs from this storyline. In fact, most groups don't even get involved in this anime!
Introduction Sequence: 1 / 2. All-in-all, this intro really gives you a taste of the anime, though it focuses mostly on the characters (almost solely). I won't mark it up or down, but I really don't like it for some reason. I skipped it every time after the first one. No spoilers, at least. Link to K OP.
Animation Style: 2 / 1. Edge given for animation style! The animation style is always, at any point in time, drop-dead gorgeous. It's also colourful beyond what I thought was possible, like the antithesis of Ergo Proxy's monochromanity. Iorek'll love the colours here.
Examples:
Music: 0 / 1. The music for this is actually nice... once you've made it past the first two or three episodes. There's some sweet action and tension music later on. But when it starts, it sucks. There's some rap (which I dislike personally, though it was fitting). My real issue though is a particular soundtrack which repeated itself hundreds of times during the first two/three episodes. I've heard the full OST, and there're plenty of nice soundtracks they could've gone with (and used later on). Why did they have to repeat that one?!
I couldn't find a playlist on Youtube, so I downloaded the full OST. By the way, all the K's in the soundtrack titles are capitalized, regardless of where they are in a word.
Plot: 3 / 3. I actually thoroughly enjoyed the plot, personally. You see everything from the perspective of Shiro, a student at a nice, big, peaceful school. Things change when a guy starts trying to kill him, believing him to have murdered somebody. Things also change when one day Shiro asks a question aloud and gets an answer from a naked girl next to him. (That girl, by the way? That's Neko. More on that in a bit.)
Basically, there's a video with a person who looks exactly like Shiro killing someone else. So everyone's after Shiro, because they think he did it. Did he do it? If so, why doesn't he remember anything about it? Only Neko's on his side, casting her illusions to keep him safe. After the initial "he's trying to kill me, run!" bit, the arc finally moves onto some other stuff. Neko keeps her clothes on and the plot thickens, the solution only being reached very close to the ending.
There're all these sparks flying between the Reds and the Blues, so you're sure to see a lot of action happening between those two groups. Both want Shiro, by the way.
The ending was pretty dang good. Very climactic.
Characters: 2.5 / 3.
So, the characters actually got some great backstory. Especially the one that was killed; I actually got enough backstory to really like a character that isn't even alive during the anime. Most of the characters are really well thought-out. The main character is pretty dang passive, though.
Oh yeah, Neko. So, she's the eye candy of this anime.
They keep her at least somewhat-well-clothed as the anime goes on, but not at first. She can make and enforce illusions on people, illusions of basically any perception. She wasn't as provocative as she could have been, but that's really not saying much. However, unlike what I've found in other anime, the eye candy was actually relevant in this one. Shiro forces her to wear clothes, despite her dislike for them-- she's part-cat, hence the name "Neko". As a cat, she doesn't like feeling enclosed. Anyway, that's their excuse, and she's actually a very necessary character through the entirety of the anime, so...
There's also a higher-up in Blue's group that seems to be intentional eye-candy as well. That one feels more forced to me, though, and her place in the anime doesn't seem as vital. So, intentional-eye-candy-wise, I'm marking it down for her. I actually grew to like Neko, so I wanted an excuse to put pictures of her on here.
Side note: Anna is adorable.
1.5 + great characters + some backstory- intentional-eye-candy = 2.5.
Combat: 1 / 1. The combat in K is awesome!! I really wish there was more of it, but I really enjoyed what there was as well.
Power Balance: 1 / 1. The characters that have powers are really even, and the Kings all have almost-equal power levels as well. No OP guys here, unless you count the Kings. But since all the Kings are OP, I don't review that as "over-powered", just highly powered.
Addictability: 0.5 / 1. I'm not marking it up or down in this category. K had a really strange start, with the least explanation and the most eye candy and the worst music usage all occurring in the first three episodes. It gets really good and addictive later, but that's later. However, I actually watched it all the way through my first time, so the first episodes weren't that much of a turnoff for me.
Darkness and Bloodiness: 0 / 1. Not much darkness or blood to be found here, guys. It's all about delivery when it comes to this category. Situation: guy trying to chop your head off with a sword. Solution 1: fear-based music. Solution 2: comedy-based music. They chose 2, which is why I'm not giving them a 1 here (see what I did there?).
Believability: The believablity varied here. There were some tricks that were nice and believable, while others clearly surpassed the invisible line. If I'd had an explanation as to the roots of lack-of-gun-usage and the rune, I'd believe it better. (Note: while such weapons would be illegal, I highly doubt this would stop the Kings/Clans from using them.)
Philosophy: Not much philosophy here. There was the morality question of "what is right?" and, later on as the possibility of Shiro having killed that one character increases, the question of "should I let myself be killed, whether or not I have memory of committing murder?".
Pros and Cons: Pros: plot, animation style! Cons: consistency, darkness & bloodiness.
Objective Opinion: 4.5 / 5. Animation style was the definition of gorgeous (1), music was alright alone (1), reality was represented somewhat-well (0.5), introduction sequence accurately portrayed anime (1), and there was good character development (1).
Wallpapers:
AMV's:
Angel With a Shotgun (The Cab) - S'alright, I guess.
Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) - This one's really good!
Next time: Seems I keep forgetting about my S;G Manga review. As for the next Monday post, I'm hoping to review the anime Another. Look forward to it, because I sure am!!
Shout-out to Subdued Fangirling, another anime blog out there. I got a lot of pictures from there, because the Project-K-Wikia wasn't loading properly for me. That link is to her review of K.
Wolfe out.
I'm liking Iorek's irrelevant info at the top of his reviews, so I'm stealing it. We've got a great team here. I just finished watching Another, and am currently watching Shiki. I'm actually getting to stay in a place away from home for two weeks, and I'm so happy about this. I'm going to play some Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, watch some movies, and be away from people (for the most part). That starts today. I'll also finish up my Ergo Proxy AMV sometime this week, although I may not post it until a month or so. I was getting some sound advice from some friends of mine who work with Media, and I want to make sure the finished product lands well with them before I release it to the Web. Again: my next AMV will be fast-paced, though I'm not sure for which anime...
So, I wanted to review the anime Another today, but I'm worried that I'll forget everything I wanted to remember about K. See, I tend to remember the darker anime better, probably because I enjoy them more. I wander towards the lighthearted stuff when I need breaks from the dark (not often). I've been in the darks for a while now, so I want to review K before its' light fades.
It's odd asking people "Have you seen K?", so I usually call it K-Project aloud.
On to the review!
 |
| Logo! Source. |
When it comes to the Japanese, it's the letter "K" in English. End of story.
There are 13 episodes for K, each being roughly the standard 24-minute length. I will say that it seems to switch genre twice in the first 3 episodes, so if you intend to try it out and dislike some of it, I'd tough it out all the way through. More on that under "plot".
Personal/Subjective Opinion: 11 / 14 (=78.6%)!
Score Without Edges: 10 / 14 (=71.4%)!
Objective Opinion: 4.5 / 5 (=90%)!
Altogether Score: 25.5 / 33 (=77.3%)!
Concept: Similar to Ergo Proxy, K has an interesting concept that takes you a while to figure out. However, since the concept itself is relatively basic and not a surprise, I'll explain it anyway. Somebody figured out that, thanks to some special rune (whose background isn't explained), these odd groups will form around a leader-figure. The leader-figure has a lot of power, as well as a Sword of Damocles (I hope I'm spelling that correctly). Anyone who becomes a member of this leader's gang/clan/group-thing gets the powers of the group. We're not sure if you lose the powers when you leave the group, although one piece of data suggests that you get to keep at least some of it. Leaving the group appears extremely uncommon. Anyhoo, there are 7 of these leader-guys (called Kings). Each King and their group has a colour associated with them ("Hey! There're Blues over there!"). Each group not only gets powers, but some behavioral tendencies come along for the package (though we only learn of one groups' behavioral tendencies).
It's also put in a highly-technical era. Lots of robots do all the cleanup, for instance. And yet, guns are hardly used.
Based on this concept, there could be a ton of spin-offs from this storyline. In fact, most groups don't even get involved in this anime!
Introduction Sequence: 1 / 2. All-in-all, this intro really gives you a taste of the anime, though it focuses mostly on the characters (almost solely). I won't mark it up or down, but I really don't like it for some reason. I skipped it every time after the first one. No spoilers, at least. Link to K OP.
Animation Style: 2 / 1. Edge given for animation style! The animation style is always, at any point in time, drop-dead gorgeous. It's also colourful beyond what I thought was possible, like the antithesis of Ergo Proxy's monochromanity. Iorek'll love the colours here.
Examples:
 |
| Anna and the Reds. Source. |
 |
| Shiro, the main character. Source! |
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| See? Colours, and lots of them! Source! |
Music: 0 / 1. The music for this is actually nice... once you've made it past the first two or three episodes. There's some sweet action and tension music later on. But when it starts, it sucks. There's some rap (which I dislike personally, though it was fitting). My real issue though is a particular soundtrack which repeated itself hundreds of times during the first two/three episodes. I've heard the full OST, and there're plenty of nice soundtracks they could've gone with (and used later on). Why did they have to repeat that one?!
I couldn't find a playlist on Youtube, so I downloaded the full OST. By the way, all the K's in the soundtrack titles are capitalized, regardless of where they are in a word.
Plot: 3 / 3. I actually thoroughly enjoyed the plot, personally. You see everything from the perspective of Shiro, a student at a nice, big, peaceful school. Things change when a guy starts trying to kill him, believing him to have murdered somebody. Things also change when one day Shiro asks a question aloud and gets an answer from a naked girl next to him. (That girl, by the way? That's Neko. More on that in a bit.)
Basically, there's a video with a person who looks exactly like Shiro killing someone else. So everyone's after Shiro, because they think he did it. Did he do it? If so, why doesn't he remember anything about it? Only Neko's on his side, casting her illusions to keep him safe. After the initial "he's trying to kill me, run!" bit, the arc finally moves onto some other stuff. Neko keeps her clothes on and the plot thickens, the solution only being reached very close to the ending.
There're all these sparks flying between the Reds and the Blues, so you're sure to see a lot of action happening between those two groups. Both want Shiro, by the way.
The ending was pretty dang good. Very climactic.
Characters: 2.5 / 3.
 |
| Neko eating. Cat-like symptoms recognized. Source. |
 |
| Neko worried about something. Source. |
They keep her at least somewhat-well-clothed as the anime goes on, but not at first. She can make and enforce illusions on people, illusions of basically any perception. She wasn't as provocative as she could have been, but that's really not saying much. However, unlike what I've found in other anime, the eye candy was actually relevant in this one. Shiro forces her to wear clothes, despite her dislike for them-- she's part-cat, hence the name "Neko". As a cat, she doesn't like feeling enclosed. Anyway, that's their excuse, and she's actually a very necessary character through the entirety of the anime, so...
There's also a higher-up in Blue's group that seems to be intentional eye-candy as well. That one feels more forced to me, though, and her place in the anime doesn't seem as vital. So, intentional-eye-candy-wise, I'm marking it down for her. I actually grew to like Neko, so I wanted an excuse to put pictures of her on here.
Side note: Anna is adorable.
1.5 + great characters + some backstory- intentional-eye-candy = 2.5.
Combat: 1 / 1. The combat in K is awesome!! I really wish there was more of it, but I really enjoyed what there was as well.
 |
| Combat! A skateboard is good for combat. Source! |
Addictability: 0.5 / 1. I'm not marking it up or down in this category. K had a really strange start, with the least explanation and the most eye candy and the worst music usage all occurring in the first three episodes. It gets really good and addictive later, but that's later. However, I actually watched it all the way through my first time, so the first episodes weren't that much of a turnoff for me.
Darkness and Bloodiness: 0 / 1. Not much darkness or blood to be found here, guys. It's all about delivery when it comes to this category. Situation: guy trying to chop your head off with a sword. Solution 1: fear-based music. Solution 2: comedy-based music. They chose 2, which is why I'm not giving them a 1 here (see what I did there?).
Believability: The believablity varied here. There were some tricks that were nice and believable, while others clearly surpassed the invisible line. If I'd had an explanation as to the roots of lack-of-gun-usage and the rune, I'd believe it better. (Note: while such weapons would be illegal, I highly doubt this would stop the Kings/Clans from using them.)
Philosophy: Not much philosophy here. There was the morality question of "what is right?" and, later on as the possibility of Shiro having killed that one character increases, the question of "should I let myself be killed, whether or not I have memory of committing murder?".
Pros and Cons: Pros: plot, animation style! Cons: consistency, darkness & bloodiness.
Objective Opinion: 4.5 / 5. Animation style was the definition of gorgeous (1), music was alright alone (1), reality was represented somewhat-well (0.5), introduction sequence accurately portrayed anime (1), and there was good character development (1).
Wallpapers:
 |
| [Red & Blue, Black & White] Source. |
 |
| The {small} team! Source. |
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| Reds, Blues, and more. Source. |
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| Found this somewhere, it's cool. Source. |
AMV's:
Angel With a Shotgun (The Cab) - S'alright, I guess.
Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) - This one's really good!
Next time: Seems I keep forgetting about my S;G Manga review. As for the next Monday post, I'm hoping to review the anime Another. Look forward to it, because I sure am!!
Shout-out to Subdued Fangirling, another anime blog out there. I got a lot of pictures from there, because the Project-K-Wikia wasn't loading properly for me. That link is to her review of K.
Wolfe out.
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