***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for K Return of Kings and the rest of the K series. Reader discretion is advised. ***
Series Synopsis
A year has passed since the occupation of Ashinaka Island and the death of the Red King. The feud between the clans has died down and to a large extent, things have returned to a state of peace. Yet that stability is beginning to falter.
The Green Clan, also known as Jungle, has started to make louder and bolder moves for control. Supported by a social networking infrastructure, the Green’s spread their power to its members. Only a select few have access to full power of the clan. These are the people who have received the blessings of their King, Nagare Hisui (voiced by Kazuyuki Okitsu).
Nagare seeks to lure out the elusive Silver King, Yashiro “Shiro” Isana (voiced by Daisuke Namikawa). To do this, the Greens have started targeting Shiro’s friends, Kuroh Yatogami (voiced by Daisuke Ono) and Neko (voiced by Mikako Komatsu).
To stop the coming war, Shiro turns to Scepter 4’s Blue King, Reisi Munakata (voiced by Tomokazu Sugia), and HOMRA’s new Red King, Anna Kushina (voiced by Yui Horie).
Series Positives
K was not the series I expected to get a continuation. After noticing the sequel’s existence, I got excited. The original was good. I remember liking it a lot.
Unfortunately, I only remember liking it and not much else. That's a little disconcerting after re-reading my original review. I stand by what I wrote, but there was one line that stuck out.
“I have no problem saying that this is now one of my favorite anime of all time…”
I can’t or won’t claim that’s inaccurate, but it is something I am willing to revisit. Something made me write that. Return of Kings made it clear I said this for a reason.
The Visuals
Most, if not all the details of the original story have left me. Although some major plot points I have managed to retain to some extent.
The main characters left an impact and it didn’t take long to recall who was who. That said I don’t remember the boob physics of some of these characters being this eccentric.
Regardless, there is one aspect of this series that I can never forget.
The K franchise is gorgeous. And Return of Kings was beautiful.
Even when not a lot was happening, this show looked crisp and clean. The world was calm and pleasant. This was a strange combination of feeling at peace and knowing something was going to break.
Then there were the action scenes. They were breathtaking. Bright, vivid colors clashed together. All the while, swift, fast-paced movement paired itself with an outstanding soundtrack. The first episode was a refreshing reminder of why I liked the original so much.
Whenever the clans went at it, everything became a myriad of blues, reds, and greens. Both seasons did an incredible job. But the edge goes to the original due to the nature of its story. A story which focused on Scepter 4 and HOMRA. These rivals clashed on occasion here and it was awesome. Except this wasn't the point.Red and blue complement each other better than green and silver. Return of Kings did the best with what it had, and it did it pretty damn well.
The Clans
Loyalty, in terms of storytelling, has always been an empowering concept to me. I’m not talking about the kind of loyalty a person has to someone else. Rather it’s the loyalty a group has with its members.
This is a family bond that is so strong it's impossible to break. This is the “you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us” mentality which, when done right, has a lot of power behind it.
Return of Kings captured this.
Every clan, the Silvers, the Blues, the Reds, the Greens, was one entity. The power of the Kings may have drawn them together, yet that was not what kept them together. Each member was ready to put their life on the line for their leader. At the same time, the leader did everything in their power to make sure that didn't happen.
HOMRA best encompassed this. The death of their previous King was eating at their hearts. They hadn't gotten over it. Nevertheless, they had accepted and put their faith in their new King, Anna. In turn, Anna loved her boys with all her heart.
To my knowledge, the film K Missing Kings covered Anna’s ascension. Unfortunately, I can’t comment anymore because, at the time of me writing this review, I haven’t seen the movie. If it turns out her rise had more internal conflict, I will be disappointed. But I doubt it will lower my opinion on this series.
What Return of Kings managed to portray struck a major chord with me. Any show that can do this is alright in my book. Thus, this allows for a few more mistakes I'm able to tolerate.
Series Negatives
Again, what the hell was with the boob physics in this show? I’m not crazy, am I? Something changed between seasons, right? There were a few notable times where this series reached a “are you freaking kidding me” status. This is not the worst I've seen, but it was distracting.
This didn't detract from Return of Kings’ enjoyment. Plus, every character felt like a fleshed-out person you enjoyed having around. Unfortunately, there were other things that were harder to overlook.
Slow Down
The climax of this series was exciting. It was a satisfying payoff. The beginning of this show was so much fun. The action, the colors, the characters, the magnitude all came together. Return of Kings demonstrated it knew how to be entertaining.
Too bad this was a double edge sword.
The story was good. The dialogue was fine. The characters were interesting. This season was as long as it needed to be. Still, it did slow down to a crawl halfway through.This halt in the action, if you can believe it, came during an action scene. The Silvers, Blues, and Reds were finally going to have their first serious face off with the Greens. The lead into this moment was okay. It was setting the stage for the Green King's entrance. Up to this point, Return of Kings set Nagare up to be a bad ass. And he was.
The problem was, though he looked cool, Nagare didn't do much. This was not the guy I would want to mess with. Yet all he did was give a pretty light show. It was epic to look at, don’t get me wrong. But I was expecting a fight. A fight which did come. Except during this segment, this show took a questionable turn. One it didn't recover from it until the climax.
The Blue King was waiting to face Nagare. Then from out of nowhere, a sudden plot twist came in and removed all the color and movement. This scene took place in a thick fog. A fog that, by design, diluted the vividness of this series.
Since this was the midpoint, the fallout from this moment was huge. The earlier half of this show was enthralling. But after this, there was little this series could do to re-grab your attention.
And the finale tried this stupid fog trick again. But it was quickly dropped.
Final Thoughts
This would be the point in a sequel review where I would determine which was better. But like said, I don’t remember the first well enough to make such call. I will say this though.
If K Return of Kings is the inferior, then we have an amazing franchise. This was outstanding.
Despite slowing down midway through, this show had plenty of fast action. There were a ton of brilliant colors. The characters were fun. This is a complete package worth checking out.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise K Return of Kings? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
And if you liked what you read, be sure to follow me on my social media sites so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this review across the internet to help add to the discussion.
I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.
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Others in the K Series
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