The first time I watched K I was convinced it was a mess of a sci-fi fantasy with little direction held up only by a few interesting characters and some special effects. The second time I was content enough to not call it a mess. Having originally watched it as it aired, I find myself hung up on the possibility that there really was no clear direction, and that watching it again in one straight shot having already gone through once hides the seams in the pacing and writing, but again, I am content enough to not call it a mess.
The show, ostensibly about the amnesia-afflicted protagonist Shiro being accused of murder, is actually about the delicate power balance between two rival groups, the Reds and the Blues. Seven people are imbued with the standard fare psychic powers one would find in any shounen anime since Dragon Ball Z, but these people, known as kings, also lend their powers to those who swear allegiance to them, thus building a clan with which they stake a claim in the city. The Silver and Gold kings run the city from on high; the Red king presides over a street gang while the Blue king is head of an organized police squadron. Red and blue together in an anime means the two groups fight like cats and dogs, but in the very first moments we see the chaotic Red king Suoh Mikoto surrendering to the custody of the orderly Blue king Munakata Reisi in an attempt to prevent his powers from causing an apocalyptic disaster that would wipe Japan from the face of the earth. With his hands tied, the Reds are left in disorder, when a video surfaces of a man claiming to be the Colorless king killing one of their most loved clansmen. And what do you know, it is Shiro himself, monologuing to the camera with the smoking gun in hand.
While following Shiro’s misadventures around the city, dodging the vengeful Red clan and justice-driven Blue clan, we learn more about these two diametrically opposed groups, and their long history of war. The tenuous dynamic between Mikoto and Reisi, who want nothing more than to destroy one another and yet clearly couldn’t live without the other, contrasts sharply with the Red helmsman Yatagarasu and the Blue intelligence leader Fushimi Saruhiko, who has no agenda other than bullying Yatagarasu into complete and utter submission. Fushimi used to be a Red clansman before turning to the Blues; why he did it is never quite clear, as neither seems particularly suited for his brand of insanity. Other connections exist between the two organizations, and while it remains explicitly unstated it is fairly evident that both organizations would have little to no purpose were it not for the other, a bizarre phenomenon given that both have their own stated goals with or without their conflict.
The arrival of Shiro exacerbates this friction, although his story is far less compelling to follow. He forms a small band with the reality-bending cat (and cleverly named) Neko and a wandering swordsman who seeks to prove Shiro’s guilt in the murders held against him. Things only really become interesting towards the end as the face of the Colorless king comes to light, and before then we just get a series of meandering plot points and conflicts with the Red and Blue clans in an attempt to get the stage set for the final battle. In contrast the Red and Blue clans never do much to move the plot along until the end, but they actually constitute a force in the world of K, and have characters that are much more enjoyable to watch. Luckily enough the antagonist is kind enough to put them at the helm of his grand design, or they would be the side story that coopted the plot.
Ultimately their story is interesting because it brings the notion of clans—the one unique point of K’s brand of flavorless superpowers—to the forefront, and problematizes loyalty pretty nicely. When the Reds are out for blood, Mikoto risks bringing the apocalypse for the sake of his underlings, and Reisi is forced to choose how to deal with his sworn enemy and irreplaceable friend in turn. Yatagarasu’s hatred for Fushimi borders on tsundere, but Fushimi plays his part of their antagonism straight, to the point where we are left to genuinely wonder where he stands. By contrast, Shiro, ever the perfect optimist and strategist, eventually acquires the powers to become the ultimate deus ex machina he was meant to be; I maintain that K is saved by only a few of its characters. There is also a timeline about Nazi Germany and flying blimps that becomes central for the sake of maintaining the central mystery, and so I maintain that K has little direction. The rewatch really helps to ignore the central plot; I recommend the show if (and only if) you can watch it right the first time.