K series, animated by the studio GoHands and directed by Shingo Suzuki, follows Yashiro Isana (known by most as Shiro) a charismatic and easygoing teenager faced with a difficult situation when he’s randomly attacked on the street by a group of guys hellbent on killing him. When Kuroh Yatogami comes to the rescue, you think ‘phew, cool’ but then it turns out, Kuroh is also trying to kill him.

You find out that Shiro’s supposedly the murderer of Tatara Totsuka, and has quite a bit of people out for his blood, some to avenge the death of their friend, and others to stop evil. But as Shiro (barely) evades their pursuits you become rather engrossed in the mystery and great animation (them fight scenes!). So much so that you almost don’t care that some of the characters’ motivations are wishy-washy at best and if you nudge at the plot too much it could come apart. The story is told in 13 episodes about 20 minutes long, which I think would have been enough time to develop the backstory a bit further- because I was very interested in the history of the Seven Kings and how they came to be in power and to have their powers that they could then pass on to their clan members? Also what’s a strain? Because that storyline seemed to come out of nowhere, much like Shiro’s arrival.

However it’s an entertaining watch, so I recommend you give it a go if you’re keen for some escapism and good animation. I now pass you over to Motu.

The critical part of this review may come from Mata but I, myself, I loved this series so much, I can’t even begin to express how delighted I was to finally start watching it after waiting for so long (it was released in 2012- hey that’s long for a teenager!) and I was not disappointed.

I recommend getting the series, if you’re in New Zealand or Australia you can grab it from Madman Entertainment, the DVD series collection comes with the original Japanese Trailers and a Character Art Book. Also, there’s a movie confirmed for release this July- although who knows when us plebians in the Southern Hemisphere will get it.

Jam-packed with humor, brilliant fight scenes, a good plot with complex characters and (perhaps my own projection here but) ALL THE YAOI! I don’t even… Yaoi just brings me so much joy.

Seriously sobbing right now, because I can’t stop thinking about all of Shiro and Kuroh’s interactions which kept me giggling up until 2am and searching for fanvids on Youtube. Or Mikoto and Munakata’s flirty fight scenes. Like, c’mon. I dare you to tell me that there wasn’t something going on between those two. And Yata and Fushimi. I can’t even think of these two without bursting into hysterical fits of laughter, because they were so funny. Yata’s a crazy, swearing and short-tempered nincompoop who I love more than I thought possible and Fushimi’s a monkey. Lol, monkey.

WATCH THE SERIES AND YOU’LL GET THAT REFERENCE.

It was a roller coaster of emotions, keeping me on the edge of my seat and surprising me while also scaring me at certain points. Some of their scenes were down right creepy, but they still made you laugh. Except for the times you’d cry.

Sometimes out of sadness.

And other times, you can’t help but cry because you’re laughing so damn hard!

Which, wouldn’t be hard to accomplish if you watched the scenes with Neko and Kuroh. Or Yata and Fushimi. Or Kuroh and Shiro. Or Mikoto and Munakata.

So good, I’m so keen to watch ALL THE ANIME- for review, of course. For review. I wonder if this can count towards extra credit in English. I think it should.