A Dance with a King.
What They Say:
In modern Japan, where history has strangely overlapped with reality. There, seven “Kings” with great superpowers existed. Along with their clansman to whom they shared their own power with, the kings each formed clans. Order bound by blue, red flames that cause chaos, irregularities that shine in white, and reforms branched off into green. The Kings, each with their own abilities, now…
With “jungle” once again jumping back into action, the fates of the various Kings are brought together.
The Review:
Content: (warning, as this content will contain spoilers for season 1 of K and its sequel movie)
Having just finished watching K (aka Project K) and its subsequent movie, K: Missing Kings, just last month, this rather unique show has been fresh and at the forefront of my mind. Therefore, going into K: Return of Kings, I had a lot I was expecting and hoping for, and the first episode nailed it all. Picking up immediately from the credits of the sequel movie, Missing Kings, Return of Kings shows us a Japan recovering from the loss of the Red King and Gold King, a missing Silver/First King, and the mysterious plans in motion from the Green King. The opening scene, much like the initial scene from the first season, attempted to wow with visuals and great music. Though it is nowhere near the greatness that is K’s first scene, it still grabs your attention instantly.
Contrasting its first season, the show begins with the Red Clan’s rivals Blue Clan aka Scepter 4, emphasizing and hinting at a bigger focus on the Blue King’s crew. The flashback re-introduction of the members leads into a phenomenal fight between the Red and Blue Clans. This scene, though having no impact whatsoever on the plot and actually not needed at all, was easily the best action scene this year in anime. Studio, GoHands, continuously shows that despite its small number of animes produced, it is up there in terms of quality. Much like the rest of the episode, the scene was fast, fluid, and eye-popping. From there, the show fast-forwarded to present day, just a short amount of time after the events of the movie. The overall story picks up with the mysterious Green King and his Internet sensation, JUNGLE, once again hard at work trying to dethrone the other Kings and accomplish some still unknown goals.
On the run from the Green Clan and in search of their Silver King, we see main character Shiro’s clansmen going into completely opposite directions for help. Kurou approaches the Blue Clan, finding open arms willing to help and even shelter the two of them. Neko finds the same open arms from new Red King, Anna, but both deny their offers. It was nice to a real change in the state of affairs in not just the Red Clan, but the Blue Clan as well. The Red Clan, obviously under new leadership (RIP Mikoto), is much more compassion and willing to cast off its seclusion in favor of peace. The Blue Clan, too, is affected by the previous events, showing a Blue King somewhat saddened at the loss of a rival/possible friend, and several supporting members now having a change of heart.
However, one character’s big change can’t and doesn’t go unnoticed as my only gripe about this episode. The lieutenant and right hand woman to the Blue King definitely got much more endowed in the days following the previous events. In a very strange turn of events, K: Return of Kings features some very obvious and unnecessary fan service. Though I am not a fan of fan service myself, I do of course understand its value in a business sense. It is, however, a shame to see that suddenly appear in a show that had none whatsoever in any previous episodes or the movie. Greatly enhanced boobs, unnatural jiggling, and terribly poor in taste underwear shots all drag down what is otherwise a very strong female character and the only woman on the show to actually engage in the action.
Regardless, Return of Kings makes up for that in every single other area. The animation is some of the best, if not the best, we’ve seen all year, continuing to impress with its smart use of colors. In fact, the visuals are far better than the first season or even the movie, which were already praise-worthy. The music is nice to listen as well, remixing some fan favorite tracks as well as adding some not-as-good but still great new ones. Not to mention, the episode actually makes sense this time around. One of my issues with the first season with its unnecessarily convoluted plot, which is completely alleviated here. Everything is simple, understandable, and executed nicely. All these elements combine smoothly into what is easily the best premiere episode I’ve watched this fall season.
Summary:
K: Return of Kings is a breath of fresh air in the midst of a mostly lackluster season for anime so far. The animation, characters, story, music, and action are all top-notch, blending together to create the best premiere episode I’ve watched this season and a must-watch for fans, current and potential. If you haven’t seen K, but want to, now is the time to catch up so you can watch this beautiful show as it airs.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Hulu
