K Project: Episode 11

[cammeh]

I've been watching the anime [K] Project as it comes out, along with following the prequel manga and all of the other accessories, and I'm so delighted with everything about it right now I can't even. I watched the subs of episode 11 at work during lunch, which was a terrible idea because then I kept having random little spasms of glee for the rest of the day, which was hell on productivity! LOL.

I've never been a huge fan of the “random derpy person gets thrown into the middle of chaos” trope that gets abused so often in anime, so as cute and clever as he was, I didn't really click with Shiro until I realized that he was the Silver King. I guess that was around Episode 9? And then it was on, everything was immediately 10 times more interesting. He wasn't some random kid who'd somehow been sucked into a mess, he was a freaking immortal, body-switched amnesiac who'd been cunningly framed for a murder, who maybe didn't remember anything partly because he didn't want to, because he actually loved living a new, carefree life. WHAT THE HELL. So awesome.

So I've been bouncing around with anticipation waiting for them to figure it out in the show and to see how it's going to affect all the events going on, and this was such an awesome reveal.

But okay. I'm jumping ahead of myself.

I love Mikoto's reflection on his conversation with Munakata at the beginning, reprimanding him for going too far and putting other people in danger and telling him it's time to step down. The way he was brooding on that reinforces that he's not doing anything mindlessly, here. Angry as he is, he's not blinded by his anger. As much as he brushes everybody off when they try to bring it up, his stoic silences conceal how he's been thinking about this over and over. Totsuka's death may have only pushed Mikoto over the edge about a week ago, but he's been mulling over his Weissman limit and his future as a crater for years. He's just fucking bullheaded enough that he's going to blaze forward anyway.

Incidentally, I'm no longer sure Mikoto has any idea how he's going to keep from killing everyone when he explodes, or if it's even factoring into his thinking. 8(a I mean, it's obvious that he doesn't want to kill anyone but the Colorless King, but ffs Mikoto, at least tell your men to get everyone the hell off the island once you've found him, okay? ...Maybe he'll actually abdicate? If only we knew what that meant.

Ugh, putting a hand on Izumo's shoulder and then just walking out, while Anna reaches out to him anxiously and can't quite catch hold of him. ;___; Mikotooooo, you uncommunicative jackass, I know you don't want to say goodbye and they don't want you to say goodbye but OH MY GOD DO A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THAT. ….So like him, though, lmfao. OTL

But anyway. Munakata's remembrance of the last episode... On the one hand, L M A O that it was just a short flash of him shoving Mikoto to the ground, because omg OTP could you get any more canon, but on the other hand... Munakata just broke my heart all over this episode. He's lingering there at the other end of the bridge, not making a move even though his men are getting restless because he doesn't want to do this. He's done everything he could to avert it. He'll do what he has to because it's his duty, and he does so without hesitation when the time comes, but he puts it off for as long as possible and dwells on it unhappily. And he hardly said anything at all this episode, when he's normally so talkative. ;_; Buuuu, Reishiiiii.

I love how meticulous the Colorless King has been in orchestrating this whole conflict. It's like Munakata said back in episode 7, “All of us might be puppets in that young man's scheme,” except he had the wrong guy pinned as the Colorless King. The bombs at the beginning, stolen way back before he even killed Totsuka, are deliberately set off to draw the Blues in by making them think the Reds are running wild.

The Red v. Blue fight scenes were pretty disappointing, though, I've gotta say. >_> Panning over static footage all over the place, and yet again Awashima has to be rescued by a dude. She's a badass second in command, let her fight her own battles, sheesh! Although of course since it was Yata, Fushimi was always going to jump in, hah.

As a side note, I don't understand why some people seem so annoyed with the Reds for being bloodthirsty. They've all been running around infuriated and grief-stricken since Totsuka died; their clan is summed up as 'violence' and the gentle person who did the most to tame them was brutally murdered. Sure, the Blues had nothing to do with that, but they're directly interfering with Homra exacting bloody vengeance. You put yourself in the path of a wildfire, it's gonna burn you, end of story. Both sides have sympathetic goals, here.

I'm a little bummed that we didn't get to see Izumo fight, because I REALLY WANT TO SEE HIM FIGHT *_*, but at the same time I understand it. He, Mikoto, and Munakata – while the others (except maybe Seri) are caught up in the clash between clans, they're focused on the big picture. The Reds aren't there to fight the Blues, they're there to kill Totsuka's murderer, and Munakata is there to stop Mikoto and/or the Colorless King.

I love how Munakata barely paid attention to the Reds, looking somewhere else distantly and then immediately leaving Seri in charge and taking off on those AWESOME BLUE DISKS WHAT THE HELL WERE THOSE ANYWAY. And rescuing Eric! 8D Reishi acts like such a dominant, self-confident dick sometimes that it's always so cool to see his inherent nobility come into play, the way he cares about everybody's well-being.

I'm not at all sure Mikoto would have done the same thing if the situation were reversed – if it were a kid or a civilian, then yeah, I think he would have flicked a hand and burned the falling rubble out of existence. But if it were a Blue? LOL, it seems totally possible that he would have let them fend for themselves.

And OMG I was so shocked when Munakata was stabbed! D8 NOOOOO, REISHI!! CURSE YOU, MUSHIKI NO OU! And then bugging out and shooting at Anna, man that guy knows how to push each side's buttons like whoa.

And then oh man, my FAVORITE SCENE. “Found you... Oi, oi, I came all the way out here because you called me. So stop playing dumb, will you.” Mikoto's not looking at Shiro when he says that! He's looking at Kukuri/the Colorless King, who's placed dead-center in the frame. And he continues that hard stare right at her as his flames surround him, alkjskdlfs RED KING IS PISSED OFF AND HE HAS HIS TARGET.

I thought it was pretty obvious that Mikoto had figured out the body-switching trick as soon as the Colorless King's fox-avatar tried it on him in episode 9. He says, “ なるほどな。そういう遣り口か。”(“Naruhodo na. Sou iu yarikuchi ka.”) Which is literally, “I see. So your way/method is like that, huh.” And then at the beginning of episode 10, when Kusanagi asks him to confirm that they're looking for the boy in the video (Yashiro), Mikoto just goes “Yeah... you guys go look for that guy” dismissively, and then pays no attention to the search whatsoever. He knows that in all likelihood, they're not really looking for the guy in the video, and that it's impossible to search for the Colorless King before he makes his move and shows himself because they don't know what he looks like.

Still debating how exactly Mikoto knew the other King was in Kukuri, but I'm putting money on him being able to track the dude when he's actively using his ability to jump around, now that he already did it once tracking him back to the island.

The negligent 'GTFO' toss of Kuroh was just b e a u t i f u l, lmfao. I love you, Kuroh, but I love Mikoto showing off what a fucking badass he is WAY MORE.

He doesn't call Neko “bitch” just before dispelling her illusion like a boss, btw. -_-'' I'm not sure why it's been translated that way, but it's not accurate. He says “これは。。。そっちのアマが？。。。おんな。。。”(“Kore wa... Socchi no ama ga? ...Onna...”) Which is basically “This is... that amateur over there, huh? ...Woman...” But then after that.... omg *floating with bliss* the way he snarls “Keep out of this.” *FAINTS* I just love so much that we're finally getting to see him show that he's angry. Like. Really fucking angry. Like. “Haha, you peons trying to stand in my way are cute and all, but that fucker standing behind you killed one of my most important friends, so get out – of my fucking – WAY.”

He acts so calm all the time, but you can just sense the way his blood is seething with fury if you scratch the surface to see. It's absolutely thrilling to finally see it showing. ...Plus.... hummina hummina, that pissed-off voice. ♥_♥

AND THEN ENTER REISHIIIII. \o/!!!! All stabbed up but playing it cool, and lol poor Eric slung over his shoulder. What an awesome entrance. I love that Mikoto smiles seeing him, and that Reishi is just solemn. There's no way that Mikoto expects anything less from Reishi but total opposition, but L O L the cocky way he tells him to just be quiet and watch. HA HA HA yeah you deserved to get charged at for that, bb.

Munakata said to Seri earlier, “Since we haven't found the Colorless King, our only option is to detain the Red King.” He's definitely aware now that the Colorless King can either hop into or control other bodies (I'm thinking it's actually body-hopping, since he didn't just release Kukuri when he was caught, he had to bail and run away while still in her), so Shiro isn't necessarily the one he's looking for. But after he spots Shiro and says, “I have a grasp of the situation now,” he still goes after Suoh. I'm wondering if that's because he's not 100% sure which body the Colorless King is in, or if he just figures that Suoh is going to keep raging even if he tries to interfere and kill the Colorless King himself, so now Suoh is the bigger priority? I guess we'll see.

And wheeeee, the reveal! Totally didn't see the stab coming, but OMG SO DRAMATIC. The Colorless King was definitely trying to jump into that body again, and with how he was talking to Shiro, telling him to fade into darkness/nothingness/sleep... I'm really curious as to how Weissman ended up in the Shiro body to begin with. I mean, we know it happened when his original body was taken over, but does everyone get switched into the last-controlled body when their own is taken over, or did that just happened because it was tried on the Silver King? I don't want to think that Kukuri's soul was switched into the random Blue dude who went 'splat' a second later... 0_o … I guess we'll find out on that, as well!

Mikoto and Reishi's fight...homg. Mikoto, you can't just say shit like that, I was at work and I had to cover my mouth to muffle the fangirl scream! HE ENJOYYYYS IT even in the grim circumstances, alksjdkfs. Maybe like a last hurrah? Even though Munakata is blocking him from his goal, he hardly ever gets to fight with Munakata like this, and he knows this is going to be the last time. Meanwhile, Reishi is all flat and grim for the exact same reason. ;_; Reishiiiiii.

But ahhhh, man, I can't WAIT for next week!! ADOLF K. WEISSMAN. What's he going to be like now that he's remembered his identity? He was so lonely before, watching the city all isolated in his aimlessly drifting ship. We don't even know if he had any clansmen – but he has Neko and Kuroh now, and he's not going to run from his responsibilities anymore, just because he suffered tragedy in the past. I'm super-excited to find out kind of power he has besides immortality, and how his presence is going to affect the current conflict.

...Maybe he can do something to help Mikoto? ;________; Buuuuu, wishful thinking, but alkjskdfsd DON'T DIE MIKOTO aaaaaaagh.

I was going to talk about the new K: Memory of Red chapter as well (SO FANTASTIC, TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO BE A K FAN), but holy crap this thing is already way too long.