King’s Game, Anime tv series (2017)

Okay, this might actually be very hard for you to believe but before March of this year I did not own a mobile phone. At least not one that could be called a smartphone. No, I had one of those phones that people used in the past to make phonecalls with. You know the thing that cellphones were originally meant for. These days smartphones seem to have evolved into mobile computers and are used for so many things that I can’t even keep track of it all. Or maybe I’m just getting old. Anyways, the things that people really seem to enjoy on them is the offering of mobile games. And the selection is getting better and better. There seems to be a game for everyone and the graphics almost look as good as though you were a playing a game on a console. But there is also a darker side to it. And that darker side comes in the form of deathgames. Wait…nope sorry, that’s just in this anime. But, I do think after seeing this you will think quite differently about sending someone a text.

You will see this image a lot in this show. Then again, is the real world any different?

Nobuaki Kanazawa is a highschool student that has just transferred to his new school. When he gets introduced to his new classmates he tries to avoid them as much as he can. Even though a few of them try their best to make friends with him, he just won’t let them in. Naturally people are beginning to speculate as to what the reasons for this strange behaviour might be. But that reason soon becomes apparent as everyone in class get’s a strange text sent to their cellphones. The message says that they are now participating in the King’s Game and that they are not allowed to withdraw. It is concluded with an order that two of Nobuaki’s classmates are to kiss each other, and if they don’t they will get punished. At first they all think it’s a prank devised by Kanazawa. But as time passes by and classmates are beginning to lose their lives, the true horror is beginning to become clear. Nobuaki is the soul survivor of a previous King’s Game and now history is about to repeat itself in his new class. With tensions running high because of increasingly more extreme orders, and people that are beginning to turn on each other in order to survive, the question soon becomes who will be the next victim of this deathgame…..

This guy looks a bit like a pizza. All that’s missing is some ansjovis.

King’s Game is a mess of a show. But at the same time I quite liked it. You know those horrormovies like for instance Sharknado that are so bad that they actually become fun? You can definitely add this one to that list. That’s not to say that there aren’t things that are going to annoy you though. In the beginning of the series we spent a lot of episodes in the past with the outcome of Nobuaki’s previous King’s Game. That’s all fine, but in the meantime the story in the present takes a backseat and doesn’t really go anywhere. The same goes for the enormous cast of characters that this series contains. As we spent so much time in the past and get introduced to characters there as well, you tend to forget the names of the people we are supposed to care about in the current King’s Game. I really had some trouble indentifying a few of them. Later on though, the show does pick up speed and focusses on the events that matter, and becomes better for it.

Some people take being hot a little bit to the extreme.

If you are not a fan of plotholes or illogical events, I would say skip this one. For King’s Game is full of them. To give you a small example: at one point a girl is burning up, and she keeps on talking slowly as if nothing is happening, not even screaming once. Now, I can look past certain things, but at times this show really makes you wonder who came up with this script. Because of the enormously large cast, most of the characters are highly underdeveloped. The star of the series, Nobuaki Kanazawa, is your basic hero type of character that is trying to do good in every way he can. He is certainly not a character you will hate, but he’s also not someone you haven’t seen in other forms in countless other animes. His biggest opponent in the game who shall remain nameless in order to avoid spoilers, is a person you are definitely going to hate. But in a good way. To call this character the devil made flesh is probably the best description. Deliciously evil and manipulative you seriously want this person to fail, but at the same time get out on top as well. All of these are the marks of a great villain.

Please don’t be in shock, this anime isn’t that bad.

So why should you be watching this? Well, it’s actually kind of hard to explain. I watched this one along with Karandi’s (Who probably needs no introduction for most of you, but if you are not following her yet go press on the link and do so now please), weekly posts for the show, but she also had at times trouble to explain what there is to like. But I can honestly say it’s definitely great horror. The death’s are at times truly horrifyingly gruesome and inventive. The story, even though it has numerous plotholes, is still quite entertaining. And as with any game you do want to see who eventually is going to win. This is by no means a good show, I’m not going to lie to you about that. But if you are a fan of lowbudget horrormovies, and take some of the shows plotholes and events for granted, I can pretty much guarantee you are going to be entertained by this one. I have been weighing things of in my mind all day as to what grade I was going to give this. In the end I decided to give it a reasonably decent one, as I had fun watching this, no doubt about it.

I give King’s Game a 7 out of 10 score.