K: Missing Kings | Movie Review

While not perfect, it's a very worthwhile sequel to K-Project.

I’m a really big fan of K-Project. If you were a friend of mine on social media back when I first watched it, I really apologize for how I would not shut up about it. But it was an incredible series. It was a short and sweet thirteen episodes, packed with a fantastic story, memorable characters, absolutely incredible animation, a gorgeous soundtrack, beautiful visuals, top-notch voice acting (regardless of which dub you watch)... The amount of praise I can through toward K-Project is insane. The show sits firmly as not just one of my favorite anime of all time, but one of my favorite TV shows in general.

The end of the original series, however, left the ending a little ambiguous, and I was anxious to know what happened next. So when they announced a film that would serve as a sequel, K: Missing Kings, suffice to say, I was excited. However, with me watching the original in English, I wanted to wait for a dub of the film. One is in the works, with the entire TV series cast reprising their roles, but it’s been over a year and not so much as a trailer has surfaced. So I caved and finally watched it in Japanese.

Mind you, the Japanese dub isn’t bad. Hell, it’s just as damn good as the English dub. So I had no problem with this (however, the subtitles I had were purely awful, though I got the meaning behind them and it didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the film). Missing Kings is a good follow-up to K-Project, featuring the same great visuals and animation, and all the other things that made the original so incredible.

The visuals here are better than ever, with some excellent computer-rendered effects to make the Swords of Damocles even more beautiful. Characters look great, and the animation is even better than the original series, with by far some of the best action scenes in any animated show or film.

On top of this, humor comes off far more naturally in this film than it did in the TV series (which was notably one of my only complaints about the show: humor was usually jarring due to the largely serious tone). I got significant laughs out of the few humorous scenes in this movie.

However, one thing that stops this movie from holding up is its plot. Following up from the original series, the focus of the plot is Kuroh and Neko going on a journey to find Shiro, who mysteriously went missing after the final battle in the show. This was largely advertised as the main plot, and Shiro, Kuroh, and Neko are all front-and-center on the posters for the film. However, aside from brief appearances in flashbacks, Shiro does not appear in the film until the final few minutes.

As well, while Kuroh and Neko are still major characters in the plot, the story of the film focuses more on the appearance of the Green Clan hunting down Anna from HOMRA. The hunt for Shiro is largely just a side-plot meant to set up the second season of the TV series (K: Return of Kings. That’s another story, though). So, all in all, I felt there was a lot of false advertising with the film, and there wasn’t a lot of closure to the storylines it had set up in its own movie.

That being said, the story focused on Anna is fantastic. In the aftermath of K-Project, HOMRA has all but fallen apart after the major losses they’ve suffered, with Anna, Yata, and Rikio being the only members remaining. Yata, however, has broken, and can’t bring himself to fight for HOMRA anymore, nor care about the factions. Rikio, on the other hand, has lost his large appetite and has lost significant weight. When the Green Clan begins their hunt for Anna, Rikio is the primary person defending her.

There were some truly chilling scenes in this movie, with a major plot twist toward the end of the movie being a truly awesome scene. Topped off with excellent visuals and easily the best action scenes anime has ever had to offer, even if the story was a little bit lacking, the execution of it was fantastic. As well, there are some genuinely heartbreaking scenes that will have you, at the very least, feeling sad for the characters involved.

Another problem I’d have with the film is the blatant fan-service toward the beginning of the film. While this was present in the original series, it wasn’t so in-your-face about it. In the beginning of the film, there is a scene with Kuroh, Neko, and Kukuri all having coffee together, and the camera would constantly shift to a view below their table and give us completely unnecessary upskirts of Kukuri. Hell, even when it wasn’t below the table, her skirt was always at an angle where you could see her underwear. As well, there were constant close-ups on Seri’s body. Both of these were constantly taking away from otherwise serious scenes and completely unnecessary. Thankfully, it’s only largely present in the beginning of the film, and once the plot takes off, these are brought to a minimum (with Kukuri no longer appearing in the film and Seri taking a far smaller role).

Overall, if you liked K-Project, you’ll like Missing Kings. While not perfect, it’s still a very good follow-up that is great for anyone who watched the original and wanted more. As well, it leads into the second season of the series, Return of Kings. However, I’ve heard some very disheartening reviews about said second season, but we’ll find out soon enough.

+ Excellent visuals and animation

+ Excellent soundtrack and voiceovers

+ Incredible action sequences

+ Plot itself was good, but...

- Said plot wasn’t exactly what they advertised

- Blatant and distracting fan-service

OVERALL RATING:

8.5/10