「K」 03

I’ve come to the conclusion that this show makes little to no sense in terms of storyline. But you know what? That’s perfectly okay, because we get to see all this characterization and character interaction. Many of the greatest novels had no deepness, but incredible action and adventure; I can compare K’s blue-tinted world to that of those sorts of text. Of course, if K ends up not picking up the pace and just showing us bishounen after bishounen with a little bit of nekomimi fanservice, then we can simply compare it to Fifty Shades of Grey -  tempting, yes, but completely lack of anything.

Okay, that was a bit low. Perhaps K is better suited to the likes of my favorite book, The Night Circus. It’s so darn pretty, but once you think about it, there’s really nothing meaningful about it. I guess this is why I’m rather drawn to this anime: it’s aesthetics over quality.

GoHands never fails to ramp up the shounen-ai. I can just feel the Pixiv fanbase explode.

 This episode focuses less on Isana and Kuroh and instead we learn about HOMRA and SCEPTER4. From here on out, there are blatant Durarara!! parallels, much to my amusement. First, there’s the teenager high-school student/adult street gang storylines that both anime carry, second is how the fangirls turn every single little action into weird subtext. But you’ve got to admit, the above screenshot is pretty convincing, huh?

Anyway, it seems that SCEPTER4 is not only incredibly uptight, but rather heartless as well – or at least, in the presence of Awashima. Though she’s voiced by the amazing Sawashiro Miyuki, she really doesn’t seem to play much of a role except for fanservice. It seems that K wants to appeal to both genders – they’re just taking the wrong approach. Awashima would’ve been my favorite character if it wasn’t for the large chest and lack of character. She’s got a Yagami Namie sort of vibe to her. Speaking of Durarara!! parallels:

Izumo is basically just Izaya in Shizuo’s body, with the name of a twin-tailed exorcist.

There’s a bit of deja-vu from that hot-headedness…

HOMRA’s turn in the spotlight consisted mostly of skateboard-dude beating up random people and Izumo having no definite personality. I commend Anna for being able to keep up with these crazy guys. But hey, it seems that GoHands knows what people like; there’s a whole lot of skateboarder Yata in this episode. Or maybe it’s just me. Whatever the case is, the whole plot that’s attempting to revolve around the rivaling groups is getting more and more vague. Isana and Kuroh are certainly and suddenly a breath of fresh air.

Isana’s room has trippy wallpaper.

Komatsu Mikako does a fabulous job with Neko. In fact, Neko’s a fabulous character in herself, playing with Isana’s parasol, singing her little “Shiro is mine and I am Shiro’s~” song, she’s adorable and charming and so much better than the lot of these brooding bishounen. Now, if she would only put on some clothes…

The next screenshot is my absolute favorite of the episode, just because it’s so beautiful. It’s too bad that the scene it’s taken from is so out of context and so random that I’m sure that GoHands put it in as a possible “cliffhanger” or were purposely hoping to confuse us. I’m pretty sure we saw that guy from the first episode, but the woman with the fox mask doesn’t seem to have any real significance – unless the mask is trying to symbolize something.

Was I the only one who thought that Kuroh was completely and out of characteristically creepy? The insane devotion to his master is quite reminiscent of some other anime – if you can think of one, drop the title in the comments! But really, from a cool and collected swordsman to this blushing fanboy? I can’t buy it.

Rating: 7.75/10: Minus one point for creepy Kuroh. Plus one point for Neko. Minus two points for lack of plot. Minus one for awkward transitions and confusing fillers. Plus .75 for pretty fox-mask lady. Minus two for Awashima fanservice. Plus one as apology for comparing K to Fifty Shades of Grey.