First Impressions – 「K」
Few of the Metanorn team members join forces to peg this psyched up anime and dish out their first impressions.
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The anime production that seems to have absolutely everything going for it has arrived! K seems like it was the right amount of excitement and setting up the world that the characters are in. …On the other hand though, I don’t think they explained a whole lot else…. |
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So, I must admit not having even heard of this one until the 1st episode came out. But with such a small title, perhaps I can be excused for missing it. K is an original production by GoHands, a studio I know mainly for Seitokai Yakuindomo, one of my favorite comedies ever. But can it deliver the high octane thrills as well as it can the gut-wrenching laughs? |
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Yo! How’s the Fall season? Having fun, yet? A lot of people have been looking forward to K after seeing the jaw-dropping trailer, so maybe K can be that great series that makes your heart race every week. Maybe. That’s part of why you’re here now, isn’t it? |
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Woooooooo! I am so excited to see this at last because it has an amazing cast of voice actors and slick looking artwork to boot, but is that really enough to push K straight to the top this season? I certainly have some high hopes for this to be amazing! I just want there to be an interesting story that keep us watching every week… |
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This is what you call a ‘psyched up’ show. From too much footage available (I ran out of the number of promos for this one), to too much talkability on the mysteriousness behind original material and the new direction of GoHands (mostly known for their pervy shows and Mardock Scramble). We are here in numbers to give you a detailed impressions after which you can make your own mind of following this or not. |
Production Staff Pats
//Kara: GoRa (Creators) & GoHands (Producer) – Where do I even start with talking about this production? It’s just so… huge. GoRa (the creators) consists of a TON of popular novelists including the author of Kieli; Kabei Yukako, the author of Black Blood Brothers; Azano Kouhei and possibly even the author of Shakugan no Shana (However, his name does not appear on the current site and this was found through some google search, so read into it what you will). There are more people to GoRa than that, but they seem to like operating without revealing their names to the public for now. …I can see a possibility of the story derailing since they seem to have so many people working on the same thing, but let’s hope that this is a case of geniuses coming together to create something amazing opposed to geniuses coming together and creating something utterly confusing and complex. As for the animation, the people behind Mardock Scramble (GoHands), obviously worked their animation employees hard on this project, because it looks absolutely amazing. From those camera angles shown with the skateboarding scene, to the effects used in the battle between the kings at the beginning, the entire anime looked pretty damn good. Hell, even the angles used for all of the other scenes were interesting. The people behind this are giving us yet another supernatural action anime, but they’re being totally innovative about it.
//Overcooled: Character Design & Key Animation – The lovely man behind both the directing of K and the character design is Suzuki Shingo. He also did the character design for Mardock Scramble, the extremely bizarre movie series about talking mice and a dude named “Welldone the Pussyhand.” The designs in K are a little less unsettling and more on the showy, cool side. Everyone looks like they just stepped off the runway of a fashion show – sporting all manner of fancy clothes, accessories, and high-maintenance hairdos that take entire mornings just to style. It works well with the effect they’re going for, which seems to be just putting as much cool stuff into 20 or so minutes as they can (and maybe actually having a story, who knows!). The direction Suzuki Shingo is going for appears to be making a badass anime. I am convinced he sat there and decided he wanted to show off with drop-dead gorgeous animation, a killer OST, a pocket-emptying seiyuu roster, and flashy characters and fight sequences. His eye to detail in focusing on all the little details is great, such as the close-up skateboarding shots and the way every fight is framed. K undoubtedly looks great, but I’m not sure if the way the plot is being handled is working. Episode 1 felt like a Frankenstein monster of a bunch of different scenes that had little to no importance because we don’t understand the motives of any of the characters. Sure, we know they’re after Shirou and Red hates Blue, but that’s not a lot to go on. Suzuki Shingo succeeds in making K look badass, but not so much at telling a comprehensive story so far.
//Fosh: The Music Shenanigans – Ohhhh damn did you hear the opening for K? We haven’t seen the ED yet but it was still awesome! I think the only thing I remembered about K originally was probably this track from one of the trailers, but I should mention the actual singer for the opening is Angela. I’m not that familiar with her stuff other than her opening work and endings for Asura Cryin, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Shikabane Hime and Jinki:Extend. Now the ending singer I just know her as Captain Marika Kato from Mouretsu Pirates or Mikako Komatsu if you want her real name and I totally forgot she also did the opening for Mourestsu Pirates as well, but I guess singing is in her blood? Along with doing the ending, she is also voicing the Neko character which tells me she is all over this series in terms of production. As for the in between music, it is done by Mikio Endo who is fairly new, but so far I love the music because it has a mixture of techno and a bit of hip hop. The combination reminds me of a mixture of Air Gear and Samurai Champloo style music, but I can’t wait to get my hands on the K soundtrack because I am already addicted!
// Kyokai: The Glorious Seiyuu Cast – For a seiyuu fag like me, some of whose most favourites are present in this series… Why would I not look forward to this even if it’s such a celeb-fest? Of course, we all know what happens when too many celebrities come together in one title but I had a ball recognizing all of them in promo stage. And same happened while watching this episode, even if Yuuichi Nakamura (Rikio) did nothing but grunt (he voices the hoodie character), and Mikako Komatsu (Neko), just nyaa’d. What stood out most is Takahiro Sakurai‘s (Izumo) Engrish, which was not as bad as I thought it would be (Fosh has already put it up to good use in his funnies section). However, these do not cover even 10% of the main cast because our main guy on the run is voiced by the versatile Daisuke Namikawa (Yashiro), whose deeper timber I appreciate more. Joining him is Daisuke Ono (Kuroh), who would have done better as Izumo (ref), but still has lived up to the mysterious Knight’s role running after a supposed bloodthirsty killer and the mysterious seventh King. The Red gang is ruled over by Kenjiro Tsuda (Mikoto) and has an unruly bunch of members including Jun Fukuyama aka Skateboarder-gakki (Misaki), Yui Horie (Anna) the loli, Izumo, Rikio and Tatari (Yuuki Kaji, the male version of HanaKana these day); while the Blue gang is led by Tomokazu Sugita (Reisi) with a lot of sword-wielding bishies, his right hand man Mamoru Miyano (Saruhiko) and left hand woman Miyuki Sawashiro (Seri). Out of the whole cast, the only seemingly normal person is voiced by Satomi Satou (Kukuri), the Miss healthy-food nut. See? I’m sure this is not the end of credits and more names will be added as episodes roll.
Expansive Premise
// Kara: The Setting – According to ANN, K takes place in a world where the history is slightly different. I didn’t really see it in the first episode (I assume it has something to do with the Kings), but I must say that the world they live in is nice. It’s not super high tech like Accel World, and it could easily be our own, but it does have its own moments here and there. Like when the skateboard guy sent Shiro’s picture to his gang members and it showed it flying off in the glass. It’s small details like that which impressed me. I would have never realized that what the kings were using were psychic powers if not for the plot summary I read online. It could have been easily mistaken for magic or something like that. That being said, is it only kings that have those, or does it extend to their vassals? Kuroh had them, but at the beginning, it looked like it was only the red and blue kings going at it. I wonder how they’ll handle that in the future. It makes for an interesting premise though.
// lvlln: Mystical Powers and the ruling Kings – Kings seems to be the new thing in high budget near-future scifi action anime. It’s a romantic concept, I guess, contrasted against the aforementioned near-future setting. Though considering how most of decided a while ago that monarchy wasn’t a great system, I sometimes have a hard time rooting for a king. I see that anime writers are continuing to abuse Western mythology, with those floating “Swords of Democles.” I hope the name is a foreshadowing that one of them will come down and kill its own King at some point. Their look sure reminds me of the Soul Edge from the Soul Calibur series, though clearly they’re not meant to be used the same way. As for the Kings themselves, I’m guessing each one gets a color and some magical ability that he gets to spread around to his minions, like Red’s fire. I don’t think they’ve shown Blue’s yet. And the 7th appears to get the special Colorless designation, and some sort of telekinetic ability, based on Kuroh’s Diclonius-like magic hands, and how the Shiro in camera seemed to move the camera from afar to turn to him. A pretty neat one to have for our protagonist. There are still many question to answer; I wonder if it’ll be some crazy-stupid DNA crap like in Guilty Crown, or if the show will just never bother justifying its premise. I think I’d prefer the simplicity of that option.
// Kyokai: Nobody touches the GANG yo~ We have a huge cast in a metropolitan city with supernatural powers and everyone important is supposedly answering to their respective bosses because it’s cool to be part of a coloured gang yo! Ring any bells yet? Well now, who can forget Durarara!!? Brains Base produced it quite well with Narita’s novel material and Omori’s directorial talent. Though, mimicking a successful story is not going to earn K any bonus points but even in the whole flurry of disjointed scenes, one message is clear as day: Everyone is very loyal to their respective gangs and they take pride in it. It’s literally like a brotherhood of allegiance, starting from a logo design (check Izumo’s cellphone cover), to donning uniform in terms of Blue. It’s clear that the latter has governmental connections with modern tech and lots of manpower. I’m sure it’s same for Red but with added swagger and ghetto style. The first episode didn’t do much except for introduction of characters but it has made me curious enough to know what is this gang deal and why are they even divided as they are.
Main Characters
// Fosh: The Reds – Oh boy another redhead dude who kicks ass and no I am not talking about the super cool Takuto from Star Driver. In the world of K there appears to be two main gangs or if you want to make it super easy Red verses Blue because of their “fire to ice like” attacks. The Red leader is Mikoto Suoh and with a name like Mikoto, he is already winning in my book. So who is this guy anyway? Mikoto is the Third King or simply put, the Red King from HOMRA. Now in the actual episode we only get to see a small preview of his power after summoning the Sword of Damocles from space or another dimension. However, near the end we saw him chilling in some random jail cell and I can only assume he was captured by the evil Blue gang! Damn them Blues! I know Skylion and a few others will like Mikoto just because he totally has some cute little gothic loli named Anna Kushina voiced by Yui Horie following him around everywhere he goes, but she is the unofficial mascot character for HOMRA so you can’t really say much. The gang has a lot of members as introduced by Kyo in the beginning and we’ll be meeting them in detail soon enough.
// Overcooled: The Blues – Scepter 4 is the dreaded Blue gang that seems more like an official organization of people than the rag-tag Red. They have a uniform, intricate levels of command, and even specific formations. When seen facing against the Reds, they all prepared to draw their weapons at the same time, and acted almost like an army. Even though they seem to be working for the city, it’s unclear if these are actually the good guys despite their prestigious reputation. While the Red gang seems to possess nothing much more than some cellphones and a chick with a marble, the Blue is in charge of all the TV screen feeds and seems to be able to arrest people directly (such as the Red King). Their leader is Reisi Munakata (known as the Blue King – one of the 7 Kings), with his second in command appearing to be a very competent woman named Seri Awashima. Basically, these are the upstanding police keeping the city in order with their magic powers. It’s hard to get a feel just how much they actually believe in justice when each character said maybe only a handful of lines, but they do seem like the kind of uppercrust people who only work for the interests of the powerful and wealthy, leaving ruffians like the Red gang to eat their leftovers.
// lvlln: The Trio –
- As with all the characters, we didn’t have a chance to get to know Shiro terribly well, but he has a sense of unflappable optimism that I find charming. His introduction was him begging practically every student in school for lunch food and actually getting it. Yet he doesn’t have any friends, we’re told, and he does indeed seem lonely when he’s eating lunch by himself or when he’s the only one of his classmates not participating in preparing for the culture festival. Oh, and he’s probably one of at least 2 personalities, or suffering from amnesia, or the good twin to someone claiming to be the “Seventh King’s successor, the Colorless King.” There’s also the possibility that he’s just a really good liar, or it really is just a wild coincidence. In any case, he has that “liked by all, loved by none” quality of a king. Also, I like to pretend that he’s Waver in another life. I’m liking hearing more of Daisuke Namikawa.
- Neko is the only one at his side, and I guess she’s some ghost cat or something, based on seeing her clearly flying when going up to the roof in her human form. Though the humans couldn’t see her, one of the robots certainly did, so perhaps there’s a technological explanation for her. That’s about it at this point. I hope the title of the next episode, Kitten, is an indication that the Cat will become more than just a mascot character, though the preview isn’t promising.
- Of course, if Yatogami Kuroh has his way, neither our hero nor his furry friend will survive till the next episode. At the very least, he’s obvious about his intentions, though he’s largely just as much of a mystery at this point as the other characters. Well, I like to base his character off of another swordsman I’m reminded of. I’m sure once he puts down his sword, we’ll learn much more about just why the 7th King wanted his apparent successor killed. Considering the crush Shiro appears to be developing for this dashing gentleman, I can’t imagine he’ll stay a bad guy for long.
Fosh’s Corner of Funnies
Overall thoughts & Impressions
The Kings are all fighting each other. Great. My main question right now though is why. My mind goes directly to Higashi no Eden, people saving Japan (or in this case, they’re probably fighting to rule it since their titles are Kings), and having a bunch of people allowed to do whatever they want since they’ve been ‘chosen’ in some fashion to be above the rest of society. What do they win in the end and how do they win? Those are questions I have as well and I assume that’s what the anime will be following. This first episode showed more than just how Shiro’s life was changed by being randomly attacked by a group of thugs, so hopefully the rest of the anime will be like that as well. …I wasn’t so taken with Shiro acting like an airhead around campus as I was with the Red and Blue factions at each other’s throats.
So overall, I have to say that I’m impressed and confused. The animation has a ton going for it (as does the seiyuu cast), but hell if I could have understood the plot if not for internet summaries. The narrative seemed a bit shaky, they introduced a ton of characters way too briefly for my liking, and I have no idea what any of their names are aside from Shiro and Kuroh (…obviously because their names match their hair colour). Oh, also I remember Neko. For obvious reasons. …So with all of this being thrown at us at breakneck speed, but with pretty animation, I’m reminded right away of Guilty Crown. Please don’t let this end up like Guilty Crown. Though that being said, Guilty Crown was actually really, really popular despite being terrible, so maybe the animation industry has figured out that things like that sell. …I guess I’m just worried that K will try to be too pretentious for it’s own good. We’ll see how it goes.
Anime producers seem to find the near-future endlessly fascinating. There’s an allure to wondering about what might be just around the corner, within our lifetimes. Though that holographic UI for sending MMS was rather stupid, I liked the use of the smartphones, especially emphasizing the extremely high quality camera that allowed that one Red thug to take high quality video of Shiro from afar. The show took time to show off the abilities of the cleaning robots, which were precise enough to screw in bottle caps and containing an elementary AI to respond to humans (bringing to mind the lovable lock-picking Ryobo 230r from Humanity Has Declined). I must admit that I’m a sucker for such settings, though I hope K actually does fun things with the setting – more like Evangelion, less like A Certain Magical Index.
I’m also a sucker for fancy camera effects in anime, and this episode had a bunch. It’s a shame that so much of it was wasted on boring (and extremely pointless) tricks on skateboard. Come on, the sky’s the limit in animation; if you’re gonna have a guy be on skateboard and use fancy CGI effects to show it, have him do tricks better than what the average hobbyist can do. To be honest, I think the skateboard was a mistake to begin with; it’d be much more fun to see him run and jump to traverse these obstacles. But I admit I might be biased. In any case, even outside the action scenes the art was solid, with plenty of great camera work. I loved the zoom-out during Shiro’s lunch on the roof, as well as the way the shots were framed when busybody girl Kukuri was following Shiro to try to give him vegetables, always just a step behind. There’s a lot to this show that makes me facepalm, and the choreography and direction of the action scenes are uninspired but the cinematography alone makes me want to keep watching. I’m even willing to put up with that needlessly oppressive blue filter.
The verdict for K? It’s good. Good, but soulless. K is a very visceral anime that treats the senses. It lavishes your eyes and ears with lovely sights and sounds, and provides nothing much else. Little pieces of jewellery glint while being nudged out of place by a character’s gait. Background characters you aren’t even paying attention to will move and interact with each other. There isn’t a single corner being cut in action sequences, as almost every movement is shown with stunning finesse. It almost overloads the senses with the amount of detail and bright colour filters I’m seeing per square inch of my glowing laptop screen. I feel like I was invited to a really loud party, met a bunch of people, then forgot them all. The introductions were all so shallow that only Shirou stands out among the crowd as someone to relate to. Thank goodness, since he’s the main character. Everyone else is just a pretty face without a personality because it either wasn’t shown, or it just didn’t rub off on me.
However, K has a lot of potential. For one thing, it’s hitting all those “AWESOME” notes just fine. It has a gang war and a great potential mystery about the main character set up. This could very well blossom into a wonderful story jam-packed with action (AND MAYBE EVEN A CANON HOMOSEXUAL COUPLE YEAAAAAHHHHH). I think they wanted to show us everyone and everything from episode 1, and it just backfired. Episode 2 will hopefully be more focused, and start to explain just what Shirou’s deal is. He doesn’t seem to be particularly inclined to fight or interact with the gangs, and yet he doesn’t seem too surprised or genuinely afraid either. I wonder just how much he knows about the existence of his other personality. Is he unaware it exists, or does he know about it and just chooses not to mention it? His reaction to the video isn’t one of shock and horror, but one of “well ain’t that the darndest thing.” He can’t be that easy-going…right? I’m looking forward to seeing just who Shirou is, and if he forms some sort of special bond with his savior-turned-assassin later on. If you expected me to be above falling for fujoshi bait, then I’m afraid you’ve misjudged me. Come on K, give us the good stuff and don’t just stand there looking pretty! Work it!
Well, that was FANTASTIC! GoHands are really going places and yes pun totally intended along with cool artwork, even the CGI was nicely done, but I was blown away by the background and building designs. Did you see the school? Good god I WANT TO GO THERE! Anyway I am sure you don’t want to hear me ramble on and on about how impressive the artwork was, but what about the overall story for the first episode, were you as confused as me? Then again since this is the FIRST episode I don’t expect anyone to have a full grasp of the story right now. Now faction war is really nothing new to the world of anime or should we say rival groups/clans in general? Just look at shows like Bleach, Index, Ao no Exorcist, FMA, Gundam and so on but honestly that just makes everything more fun because we get to watch two opposing teams fight against each other resulting in epic battles! At least I hope we get to see some FIGHTING next time.
Next week I fully expect to see Mikoto break out of the Blue jail and rejoin his team? I assume the first few minutes of the episode was a before or maybe it was an after story? I will root for the Red team all the way because they look hardcore compared to the militarized Blue team, which totally screams something like the Shinsengumi from Gintama but less crazy and off the wall? What else…ah yeah the cat girl! When are we going to see her? Well, the next episode is called Kitten so maybe we will hear her talk? I just can’t wait to hear Mikako Komatsu voice another cool female character after Marika from Mouretsu Pirates, but I know most of the girls just want the bunch of bishies spout some more lines, right girls? Fufufu.
What the hell is going on? I’m sure a lot of you had the same line going through your head while seeing this episode. I even heard a lot of coughing and hacking on twitter about visuals not being that great to graininess and even ugly CGI usage. Now, I’m not that hipster enough to make such comments (god forbid), but I expected better. I think the first mistake was too much footage reveal via promos. Because I had already seen most of the locations and glimpses of Misaki skateboarding, Red Vs Blue fight that it just didn’t feel new and awesome to me. The disjointed transition from the fight to daily-life stroll of Shiro was a irritating. Not to mention, most of the characters we would like to see more just came and went. Like Kara said, I hope this does NOT turn into another Guilty Crown even when it had a huge fan-following. I hope GoRa has enough material for the remaining 12 episodes and make this work!
On speculation end, if we are going to repeat that HoTD‘s Hisashi (voiced by Miyano Mamoru no less!) death in first episode with Tataro, I’m just going to laugh. Hard. Which I did, because the character shot dead in the weird recorded video shown by Kuroh is voiced by Yuuki Kaji (commie, it’s Tatara not Takara!). He looks pretty dead so except for some flashbacks or he having some rejuvenating powers, we should not be seeing much more of him. I also have a feeling that our Neko is more important than she’s letting on. A muse? A protector of the 7th King? I want to know about the remaining kings and why an oyaji is so blatantly announcing the end of the world. However this goes, I’ll be blogging it. This is too early to call this bad; I’ll definitely giving this more than a chance.
Preview:
Let’s find out if Shiro’s suffering from MPD or not? And of course, more catgirl for the boys.
So, now readers tell me how you found this first episode and any theories about the alter-ego of Shiro and what’s up with the Kings? And for an end, leaving some fun gifs for you to enjoy.
Let’s get Giffy with it (ノ^_^)ノ
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Whoa! Five bloggers Tag Teaming one anime. It must be love at first sight. If the animation doesn’t hook you, the cast will. With the first episode alone, I’m already drawn in. A story with a turf war at the center is very compelling. To me, both sides look like the anime versions of Bloods and Crips.
I like the setting and the drawing and it’s pretty unique. The motion of Misaki Yata skateboarding was very smooth and attention to details was excellent. Contrast with shade and brightness of open surroundings is very sharp. The movie style intro was very fluid and the essence would easily be compared to Guilty Crown or Index.
Regarding the characters, it looks like it’s going to be fun getting to know each of them. At first, I thought Mikoto would be the lead. Didn’t expect it to be the weak looking one. Personally, Yashiro has Shounen Ai written all over him but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, I’ve survived the likes of Shion, Rook and Freecell. LOL. OC knows where I’m going with this.
Honestly, I’ve seen too many animes. So many characters that look alike:
Yashiro: Shion (No. 6)
Kuro: Nezumi (No. 6); Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)
Misaki Yata: Zelman Clock (Black Blood Brothers). Both played by Jun Fukuyama and have similar abilities.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 304 comments
Cool. I wasn’t the only one who noticed these look-alikes. You also can’t forget that Shizuo clone.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
GO TEAM METANORN! -high five-
So far the story is up in the air for me because I was confused, but the red vs blue stuff is easy to follow and LOL so true BB
That skateboard scene was awesome! Even though they spoiled it with the trailers it was still quite impressive to watch and yeah I was thinking the SAME thing about K! A mixture of the index universe with Guilty Crown visuals and the opening was aaaweesomeee <3
There are sooooo many characters like Kyokai said I hope this is a Durarara-ish set up where we learn about all the characters and why they fight and so on...oh...god yeah there are a few Phibrain-ish characters running around LOLOL
The sword dude at the end I thought it was the sword kid from D.Gray Man and the red king = Gammon from Phi-brain trolololl
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You guys ROCK! -high five- This Fall season seems promising and “K” is part of the reason.
Hmm.. A plot may or may not be necessary depending on your point of view. Jormungand was very scarce on plot development and it was still absolutely enjoyable. Though the premise here suggests there’s more going on than meets the eye, like those sword-like objects floating in the sky and the guy who looks like Yashiro.
If you look at it another way, the gang in blue could pose as the army from Central in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Well, Guilty Crown spoiled some stuff with their trailer but I didn’t really mind because it was impressive and made me want to see it more. Since each side has power, I wonder if each member was classified like Index did with Levels 0 through 5.
I don’t really see the red king, Mikoto, like Gammon. Gammon is loud, impulsive and all over the place. Mikoto is more composed, quiet, reserved, somewhat calculating and potentially merciless. I’d peg him as more of an Itachi Uchiha type.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
There could have been six bloggers if Sushi wasn’t late with his dibs. Too many people wanted to join in the fun and all of us did. :3
Because I researched on it, I knew about the MC (Yashiro) but that doesn’t mean the world will revolve around him because well, it’s about the Kings and they will be important too.
You are not the first one to see resemblance between Shiro/Kuroh with Sion/Nezumi, but still there are many interesting characters out there keeping this fun. Even if it doesn’t live up to my Durarara!! expectations, I’d still be happy if it meets halfway with more limelight to supporting cast.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I personally thought Allen and Kanda from D.Gray Man, but that’s how Shion and Nezumi appeared to me at first too.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Fk ya Allen and Kanda for the win Kara!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
It’s a shame, it has such pretty visuals and an all-star cast, but the first episode, after you wipe away all the sparkle, leaves a bland taste in your mouth. I’ll try it out for another episode or two to see if it picks up (and as Sea Slugs puts it, “Well K, you got me for one more episode. You got me good.”
The skateboarding scenes just made me go lol. Really? Ground up shots of the guy riding rails and jumping stairs was artistic and stupid. “I’m chasing a guy so I can beat the shit outta him… oh look, a railing! Hold on, gotta grind that… ok, now where did he g… oh look, stairs!”
orz
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
Lol yeah. There are things we accept as part of the suspense of disbelief when watching an action anime, and someone changing his route during a chase just to grind rails is not one of them. And it wasn’t even particularly impressive! A waste, using such effects to show such a stupid, boring, and pointless scene.
Also, why didn’t Shiro just climb up some stairs? I noticed he passed at least one bridge that he could’ve gone up.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
AHAHAHAHA and here I was just impressed that they bothered changing the camera angles for that. Now that you point that out, it IS really stupid. xD
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Grinding is an effective way of getting cool points while chasing someone!
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 304 comments
Shiro is a freaking cutie~
Anyway, I have no clue what’s going on, but I liked it. I think this will be more entertaining than anything else though.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I like Namikawa Daisuke’s MANRY voice more but then hey, Waver was pretty cute. :3
Whenver you have lots of expectations, it’s hard to meet them but hopefully, this is not going to be a downward spiral and things would pick up.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I loved it! Especially that special opening which felt like I was playing some fancy new video game xD
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Wow, a lot of you guys are on this! I’m glad, since it seems like you all have different ideas about this. I like to see all the different opinions.
I was rather confused about this episode, I feel like they forgot to make a main plot for this episode. They’re throwing us into this crazy world, forgetting the whole “explain everything necessary to the viewers” thing a lot of animes do. Now, I don’t like how anything gets explained anyways, so I didn’t really mind the lack of it. But seriously, even just a short narrated section, like in the beginning, when they had the weird city panning part.
As for the obvious Guilty Crown relation, I get the feeling Guilty Crown started off stronger than this. K is just pretty. Guilty Crown had some things working underneath it, some mystery. Of course, that went nowhere, but still, it was interesting at least. K does have a lot of pretty guys with wonderful seiyuu, but they all seem kind of stock-ish. We have the gang group, the military/police group, and the alone partners. So what?
The setting is also very nice, but it’s also very idealistic. It’s the kind of city you would want to live in. Not the kind that creates an interesting world around the characters.
I’m also having issues with Yashiro’s voice. I just don’t like it. I’m worried it will turn into “I don’t like this MC at all.” Maybe he’ll end up killed quickly, or something. That would be ground-breaking.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yep when more of us get together everything turns out really exciting I love these kinds of posts <3
Oooh you are not alone there my friend Gecko because I was confused as well, but I shut my brain off and enjoyed it for what it was aka kick ass action and AWESOME animation and I agree they should have did a better job of saying "this is what were doing and what not" however they went for shiney graphics and pretty character designs to keep the viewers watching.
GC to me had lots of things going for it like Redjuice designs, Supercell for music and a badass OST, but for K it still has plenty of time to shine and maybe they will look to GC and avoid the same problems? Yes puns for the win <3
Yashiro? Yeah it will take some time to get used to him even though every time he squeels I continue to think oh its Waver again! That thought just makes me laugh because Waver was a fun character, but I have no idea how Yashiro will act maybe he will grow on us like Haru from Tsuritama?
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
See, I’m not thinking it’s Waver for Yashiro at all. I’m thinking it’s a different role his seiyuu did a while ago… And it’s sadly making me think there will end up being some uh, BL.
K does have plenty of time to prove to us that it is worthwhile, but I’m just worried there’ll never be any explaining. Like some shows put off explaining to make us think one thing when it’s the other, but K doesn’t seem to have that kind of undertone. Unless the “Colorless King” thing goes somewhere.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Man, you guys can have this one. From the very start, I didn’t like it. I hated the stuttery “action” sequences, I didn’t like the blue-white color palette, I didn’t like that nothing was explained, and that there’s tons of characters in tons of factions with opaque motivations. And nothing about the story that I could figure out was interesting at all.
So I hope you guys enjoy it, but I’m out.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I wonder how much of a budget they burned through for this premiere episode. Even the shots of the city filler scenes were really detailed, with huge crowds all drawn and animated.
I’m interested if they can keep it up for the entire series. I had a few vibes at the beginning of Durarara!!, then it quickly disappeared. I get the feeling the studio is trying *too hard* to make it “cool”. After watching the first episode, I really don’t ahve any interest in any of the characters yet. The girl with the vegetables was probably the most interesting and I already forgot her name.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Awww that is to bad! Maybe you will find something fun about K later on? I know this first episode had little to no story for a decent “plot” but I think we have to give it some time…hopefully by the 2nd or 3rd episode we have something to look out for.
I look forward to your thoughts on the other fall anime <3
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 71 comments
Ha! I could not stop laughing through the episode. The cheesiness of each character’s skill set/powers were so bad that it was good (kind of like Basara). As for the story, I agree, this episode did not do a great job in explaining the setting or what exactly is going on except for the fact that they are in a city (looked like western Tokyo), there’s a school on an island with a high tech security system, two super(natural) powered sides: red gangsters and the blue police/government domestic forces, and one (two if Kuroh teams up with Yashiro through a series of events) white haired rouge. The exacts of the story/setting is not explained, but I think there is room to improve. So story wise, I think K (Kings?) is promising. In other aspects animation, choreography, and music’s pretty good so I’m in 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
YES! Basara is a good example and the first OP for Basara sounds a bit like the opening for K! There is something similar but also yeah I know they are VERY different.
Location of K is AMAZING! I want to live there even though my brain was thinking Index/Railgun with upgraded graphics especially with that smoking guy? That is something I could easily see Stiyl doing and also that redhead leader is totally named Makoto which is awesome.
Story wise it is kind of a mystery, but gang vs gang should be an easy concept for anyone to follow right? And throw in a bunch of crazy ass super powers and you have yourself some fun <3
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
i liked about…everything it was really awesome the episode i just hope the others match the awesomeness
and
i think that team blue needs a loli…
loli battles are the most moe
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Team blue has BISHIES with swords!!!!!!!
Teams Bishies: 1 Dollar Rejects: 0
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
The blue team had me with that megane guy voiced by Miyano Mamoru. I think he had all of 3 lines this first episode, but he won me over nonetheless.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
LOL. Team Blue? Team Bishies? Do you have any idea what that sounds like? That’s bringing back what I’m sure everyone will consider an unwelcomed memory.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
team red…team blue… not a lot of creativity from the creators…
how about
team LOli and team Megane police *-*9
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, Team red and blue are hardly creative. Maybe they can get ideas from animes with legion and guild names like Accel World and Sword Art Online. The red side could be like the Knights of Blood Oath.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
iie iie iie, bishies make everything good.
Not sure what you are referring to though.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’m referring to the keyword “Team”. That was being used a little too much in western media, particularly with a certain clan of crazed fans. And the hint is: its last movie installment plays in November.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Are you by chance talking about Twilight?
I had to ask my sister, because I was so confused. I don’t read supernatural books and Twilight has werewolves and vampires. Just not my thing to read about. For some reason I was thinking “Harry Potter? But isn’t that finished? I think?”
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
@akagami: Yep, Twilight is what I’m referring to. I’ve seen the “Team” term used in forums so much for over a period of months that whenever it’s implied, my mind immediately goes to that. Just like you, I haven’t read the book (Neither do I have the intention to). The last movie for it is supposed to be released next month.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Pssst. No talking about Twilight. There’s enough bishie sparkles here to last us a lifetime and nobody wants to see a guy shoot rainbows off his skin. >>;;
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I thought girls liked Twilight XD
Team?? Like Team Ayase > Team Inori 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Shhhhh D-LaN! Those are mindless chicks. Expect something better from us! =P
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Pssshh I am rooting for the red team yo!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
One of the most common rules broken in storytelling, an anime is no exception, is that the narrative should show and not tell. K breaks that rule. Hell, they don’t even bother to tell much of anything either.
As for the hype, I ignored it. Maybe I’m old and jaded by hype rarely, if ever, lives up to the hype. My tautology aside, none of the endless promos should have been relevant.
I was actually thinking of you while watching those skate scenes, Lvl. To me, it looks like they rotoscoped the hell outta Fuel TV. And yes, it was pointless. And yes, you are biased. But biased towards something that would have at least shown some creativity.
This is one of the first shows of the new season that I honestly think I can pass on. But for the Yui Horie Loli. 2012 is the Year of the Loli, and I gots to keep tabs.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, I didn’t much get into any hype for this show (I don’t really get into hype for any show). The trailer was completely incomprehensible, and if you stack up too much talent, it all gets lost in a sea of ‘no time for anyone’. And that’s what this opener felt like too: “We have to get all these story elements in, plus these great visuals, so just throw everything at the audience.”
Plus, there’s always the opportunity to catch up if it seems good (for me). But there’s very little to indicate any motion in that direction from the opener.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
For my time, it looks like Tempest is setting a high bar for action, character, and story.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Tempest feels like the second coming of no6 to me, but magicians fighting other magicians is always fun! Even though I see that weekly with Fairy Tail <3
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Dude, there’s no homo in Zetsuen yo! Stop wearing homo goggle you peeps! =P
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hopefully, that won’t be the case. Tempest is another interesting anime this season has. It also looks like there will be some tragedy in it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Never got into NO.6, so I guess this is my first coming. Oh, you devil, look what you made me say.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Btw may I know is any1 blogging Tempest here?? Just curious.
No gay ships on Tempest….. They are too emo/angsty for tht XD but who knows.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I also enjoyed the opener of Tempest, even if it was a bit random-ish. For whatever reason, it worked much better for me.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
щ(ﾟДﾟщ)
“How much weight can a simple promise carry?”
Tomorrow will never come!
(ﾉ `Д´)ﾉ ~┻━┻
I’m raging. I really like Tempest so far, but I’m still raging.
Bromance or the girl, which will win in the end?!?
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
@akagami, It’s okay yo! ┬──┬ ノ( ゜-゜ノ)
Hopefully the romance for the girl will win. :3
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Hmmm yeah maybe they just wanted to hook us in with the fantastic animation in favor of a dialog overload similar to something like Horizon? That show loves to talk and it doesn’t even make since 90% of the time…
I am guilty of falling for hype of certain shows just based on trailers because they always show the good parts in the trailer…it happens with real movies as well for me LOL
I loved the skate scene because it is new to me! Sure Air Gear did the whole “cool stake scene” before K did, but still at least they are trying something NEW instead of a normal chase scene followed by X character running away! I mean Durarara had lots of scenes with Celty chasing someone or car x car chases.
Yeah of the loli indeed my friend.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Year of the Loli and a metric ton of Metanorners blogging the show. I’ll watch just to keep up with you guys. But really, I get Guilty Crown vibes. I think they have a shot for that….
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I remember most of us who stuck around GC, still had fun (making fun of it). So, if K does turn out like that, we’ll still keep having fun. :3
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I’m not worried that the first episode provided neither a sensible story hook, nor engaging characters. It was showing off the action sequences and introducing us to the setting. If they don’t start digging into the characters soon, it will be a shame, however. “Hey, that looks cool,” can only take you so far.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Agreed Joojoo I am curious to see how if K can continue to have great animation quality from here on out, but I really hope they give us a addictive and cool story! They might run into issues with having lots of random characters because they might get thrown to the side in favor or the mains…
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 192 comments
@Karakuri: I think forgetting names is quite common in anime or any other show. We haven’t had time to hear that name until it’s stuck in our heads. Still, ‘K’s really pushing it with the lack of names.
Lvlln: YES, I was wondering when someone would mention the blue filter spilled all over the show. It felt like a cheap trick to cover flaws and make it ‘polished’ in my opinion.
I’m not so fond of near-future stories, but I can see the appeal. They’re further enough to inspire wonder, yet close enough to make it seem plausible. Still, the tech so far seems pretty mundane to me, although they’re quite advanced.
@Overcooled: For me, K’s huge cast brings to mind DRRR!. I sure hope ‘K’ spends more time on exploring the characters like the latter show, because this episode isn’t making me confident.
@Foshizzel: I’ve a soft spot for neat uniforms, so I’m afraid I’ll have to disagree with you and pick Blue (which is my favourite colour as well). =)
@Kyokai: Jarring transitions are a big no-no for me. They feel lazy and inconsiderate somehow. And as for oyaji’s brief dialogue, that was one of the few parts that made me curious during the episode. Much better than random ‘Kings’ fighting, if you ask me.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
fufufufu Yippy! I love the color blue, but I am always a rebel and I love rooting for the other team! Whenever I read any shounen manga I follow the villains and I am like OMG GET EM and yeah I know they lose 100% of the time it still makes me laugh <3
Their uniforms thou are awesome though and they have a FMA vibe going for them which works and having everyone in uniform line up looked awesome so good luck team blue!
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I’m invested enough on this to wait for more information. It’s clear that one episode was not enough for everything to sink in. Let’s hope second episode does better.
POWUH: 400-499 with 489 comments
why did this anime remind me of Durarara. I better not see a headless female motorcyclist. Or maybe it reminds me more of D Gray Man. (It’s the long black haired samurai dude)
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Fk ya! Durarara in the house! <3
Yep me and Kara thought the same thing about that sword dude from D.Grayman and the white haired kid = Allen xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Hey, Heiwajima Shizuo. Seriously.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 47 comments
E-eeeh….Are my eyes playing tricks on me or does red-haired dude looks like Gammon from Phi Brain, and blond guy with sunglasses like Shizuo Heiwajima from DRRR. I haven’t watched episode yet so I got this from pic’s here >,> but I will soon enough ^___^
I have to at least take a peek at eye candy like this. I saw trailer long time ago, so I don’t remember it that well, but I know it left quite some impression. ‘K’ promised a lot with such flashy presentation. Let’s see if they can fulfill it 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
No, that’s really Gammon and Shizu-chan. Well, at least I’d like to think so. :3 Hope you have fun with the first episode because you might enjoy it more if you don’t remember the actual promos.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I loved the visuals in K and the characters look very distinct from each other(which is always an awesome plus). I think the storyline jumping and pacing was a little jarring to me. It felt odd somehow, like they were trying to cram as much information as possible into the one episode. I’m hoping that it will mellow out in the second episode since presentations are already out of the way.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I agree on the character designs; sometimes its’ a bit jarring to see all characters look the same minus the hairstyle (does someone remember that Bread anime? THEY ALL LOOKED THE SAME except for hairstyles).
This is GoHands most ambitious work so we should at least give them some slack for trying hard. Looking forward to episode two and what unfolds.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 95 comments
There is no Izaya so no DRRR feeling. I love the visuals though. At times, I feel like the only person who never watched Guilty Crown.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Well, you can’t really categorize Durarara!! as an Izaya anime only, can you? Did you forget how awesome Dollars was and not to mention that bartender? ^^
And for Guilty Crown, I think it’s safe to say that you didn’t miss much. Though, do check out its music, it was pretty awesome.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
wow eden of the east with durara? hehehehe
i might continue with this series just because i like
the design of sword of damoclas 😛
dont see much from this anime, but it is still a possibility
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I think it’s just going to be an entertainer. I don’t expect to find much DEEP PLOT into it. I’ll be hanging for the entertainment value and seiyuu awesomeness.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
seiyu awesomeness it is 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
There’s Ixion Saga that I’m trying to continue just because of the same reason. ><
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
K outspam SAO comment!?? What madness is this!?? (Jk)
But srsly, this is the 1st time I saw a non-SAO show outspam SAO comment count lol.
Speaking of GC… (==–> Zetsuen no Tempest Iron Syndrome… sounds familiar?)
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Heh, this is just the First Impression. They tend to draw this many comments in one sitting but right now, this and Sword Art Online have equal numbers (Though K will get an extra one after I finish posting this comment). I can say it has this many because of the hype. Guilty Crown has over 40 with its First Impression and that was because of its hype. We’ll really start comparing K to SAO on the second episode.
Yeah, they do sound familiar: Zetsuen no Tempest: Iron Syndrome; Guilty Crown: Void Genome.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Well, you can see the fangirliness on this series and hey, usually our special posts get more comments than these. But yeah, HYPE is the keyword here.
And you are right about Zetsuen, I just hope that it’s better than GC.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I can’t WAIT to see how K will turn out!!! Everything is flawless so far, except for plot and characters. I agree with OC on this, characters seem really shallow. But eh – it’s just the first episode! Otanoshimi deeeesu ^,^
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Well, even the episode two is out so you should definitely check it out. :3
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
I was both confused and bored by K.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I had to lower my expectations a LOT for this one. Episode three wasn’t so bad though.