K: Return of Kings (2015) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	More…-Textless Opening Song "Asymmetry" More…-Textless Closing Song "Solution" Trailer-x 3 for other anime
Rating
Year Of Production	2015
Running Time	326:00
RSDL / Flipper	No/No Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Shingo Suzuki
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Daisuke Namikawa / Sam Riegal Daisuke Ono / Matthew Mercer Mikako Komatsu / Stephanie Sheh Tomokazu Sugita / Patrick Seitz Masakazu Morita / Chris Hackney Kazuyuki Okitsu / Robbie Daymond Yui Horie / Colleen O’Shaughnessey Jun Fukuyama / Ben Diskin Mamoru Miyano / Johnny Yong Bosch
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Mikio Endo

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, after credits episode 13

     K: Return of Kings is the second season of the anime series K, although it does not follow on directly from that series. Instead, it picks up the story after the events shown in K: Missing Kings – The Movie which introduced the clan of the Green king into the mix so some knowledge of the movie is pretty essential to understand what is going on at the commencement of K: Return of Kings. My review of K on this site is here and K: Missing Kings – The Movie here.

     As K: Return of Kings starts the clansmen of the Green King, Nagare Hisui (Kazuyuki Okitsu / Robbie Daymond), have been constantly fermenting public disorder incidents, thus harassing the clan members of the Blue King, Reisi Munakata (Tomokazu Sugita / Patrick Seitz), who provide the security forces. Also targeted by the Greens are Kuroh Yatagami (Daisuke Ono / Matthew Mercer) and Neko (Mikako Komatsu / Stephanie Sheh) who continue to search for the missing Silver King, Yashiro (Daisuke Namikawa / Sam Riegal). The Green King also wants to find Yashiro, so hoping to lure him out sends his lieutenant Yukari Mishakuji (Masakazu Morita / Chris Hackney) to kill Kuroh and abduct Neko. The ruse apparently succeeds, as Yashiro returns and intercedes.

     Yashiro has not, however, been unaware of what has been happening and brokers an alliance between the three kings, Silver, Blue and the newly revealed Red King, Anna Kushina (Yui Horie / Colleen O’Shaughnessey). The intention is to join their clans and their lieutenants, Kuroh, Kusanagi (Takahiro Sakurai / Todd Haberkorn) of the Reds and the buxom Awashima (Miyuki Sawashiro / Tara Platt) of the Blues, to fight the plans of the Green King to wrest control of the “Dresden Slates”, the source of the Kings’ powers, from the Blue King. The plan to cooperate seems to be working despite the enmity between the hot headed Red clansman Yata (Jun Fukuyama / Ben Diskin) and the Blue Fushimi (Mamoru Miyano / Johnny Yong Bosch). When the Greens launch an attack to capture the Slates they seem to have been defeated until a new player, the Grey King, emerges from obscurity and successful steals the Slates. Yashiro then has to come up with a plan to neutralise the Slates before the Green King releases their powers to all humanity but he is hampered by the failing powers of Blue King and a high ranking defection from the Blue Clan to the Green.

     K: Missing Kings does explain the source of the powers of the Kings as well as revealing the real name of Neko and providing information about her background. This third part of the K series also raises some interesting questions; is a world where every person can be as powerful as a King and have the free will to choose their own destiny desirable? Or will free will and power only bring destruction and chaos? Is control and order more important than absolute freedom? The final episodes of K: Missing Kings provide an answer to these questions and a satisfying conclusion, although whether the answer is the desired one is up to you.

     K: Return of Kings aired on TV for 13 episodes in Japan from October to December 2015. This DVD K: Return of Kings – Season 2 contains all 13 episodes on two discs.

Video

     K: Return of Kings is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, in NTSC.

     This is still not the sharpest anime but lines are clean, blacks fine. Some colours, such as the green of the High School Island, blue skies or the reds and purples during the action, are bright. Elsewhere, colours can be are muted as director Shingo Suzuki continues to use some very fluid, dizzy camera moves. I did not notice any artefacts or marks.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is approximate in either audio track.

     The subtitles are in US English in a clear white font. There were a couple of minor errors.

    The layer change on disc 1 occurred at 95:46 during episode 4 creating a pause at the end of a scene and before the end credits. On disc 2 it was at 83:28 at a scene change in episode 11.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Japanese or English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo at 224 Kbps. Both share similar characteristics.

     While the audio tracks are surround encoded they are quite front oriented with only music, the explosions during battles and slight ambience in the surrounds and rears. That said, dialogue is clean and the clashes during fights are loud enough. The subwoofer added some depth to the explosions.

     The original music by Mikio Endo remained intrusive, with a jaunty tune even as a main character is cut down in a fight.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Textless Opening Song “Asymmetry” (1:32)

     The opening song without the credits.

Textless Closing Song “Solution” (1:32)

     The closing song without the credits.

Trailers

     Trailers for Blood Blockade Battlefield (1:58), One Punch Man (1:34) and Terror in Resonance (2:10).

     The back of the DVD cover indicates Episode 13 Director’s Cut as an extra. There is no separate director’s cut in the menu or reference to it on the disc itself although episode 13 is slightly longer than the others.

     In Region A / 1 US K: Return of Kings is a Blu-ray / DVD combo; the extras are the same as on our DVD. In Region 2 Japan individual episodes have been released separately.

     K: Return of Kings brings to an explosive and satisfying end the series that began with K and continued with K: Missing Kings. Fans will not be disappointed.

     The video and audio are fine. Extras are minimal.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall