K

The winner of the shortest anime title award is... K! This anime is beautifully chaotic and extremely fast paced. K is very much like what you'd expect from an orgy: nobody knows what's happening but you'll definitely enjoy all of it. Despite the strange story progression, you will always be engaged by the plot points and happy with their conclusions. I love the art-style, visuals and battle choreography in K, it has some real top tier stuff. It even has one of the best sound tracks in the anime world, guaranteed to get viewers pumped. A must watch for action fans; this is a story of loyalty, power, friendship and of modern day kings.      

K stands for 'King' which is a concept this anime revolves around. An ancient power allows 7 kings to exist in the world, the kings are assigned a color and abilities that they can share with their clansmen. The story will follow certain kings very closely and the relationships they have with their followers. We start with getting thrown into a turf war between the Red and Blue kings who fundamentally don't agree with each other's ideologies. Then added into the mix is a boy called Yashiro Isana who seems to be a regular school student but is suddenly targeted by other clans because a viral video has surfaced in which he claims to be the new colorless king and murders a friend of the Red king. this entire story unravels in a very engaging manner and does not fail to entertain. K is very good at captivating its audience, in fact, I challenge you to watch the first five minutes of episode one and not progress further. You'll have so many questions like, who is Yashiro? how will the conflict get settled? How do other kings fit in? and the only way to know is by diving deeper. 

Now I know that I've already described K as chaotic or confusing, but let me tell you to what extent. The anime has a unique world set up- different species exist, government/society structures are different, magic selectively is in play- but NONE of this is explained, like ever! You have to contextually figure everything out including what I've explained in the paragraph above, which tends to cross a line between intriguing and downright frustrating at times. I think that some blanks need to be filled, we as viewers can't just assume everything. 

       

My personal ratings are:

Story: 4/5
Character Development: 5/5
Dialogue: 3/5
Music: 5/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall recommendation: No blood! No Bone! No Ash!

K is on Netlix and Hulu in most regions. Use a VPN if not available in yours. 

Bungou Stray Dogs

                        

Bungou Stray Dogs is a top tier seinen anime (targeted to mature audience). It takes the dramatically overdone concept of people with superpowers fighting each other and gives it a refreshing new art style and uniquely interesting narrative. So what exactly makes it stand out in this crowded (and I mean ridiculously crowded) genre? It's the expertly choreographed fights, the stunning visuals, the imaginatively different power-ups, hilarious dialogue and an overabundance of style. It's like watching a bunch of pigeons wandering around the park, normal right? But then there's this particular one that's wearing bling and has dark shades on. This badass pigeon that makes the others look bad, it's Bungou Stray Dogs. Don't let this pigeon fly away, watch it as soon as you can... Okay, I promise that's the last of the pigeon analogy.

 Bungou Stray Dogs is set in the port town of Yokohama. It's established that there are certain people in the world that have super powers and as expected they are split between criminal gangs and law enforcement agencies. There's a brilliant dynamic shown of the criminal underbelly of Yokohama and the surface world much like a ying and yang that together creates the very workings and foundation of the city. The two parties of focus are the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency, both posses several powerful members and are ideologically very different. Their only similarity is their love for the city they run. Thrown into this mix is young Atsushi who is new to Yokohama and on the run from a mysterious tiger that is out to kill him. He bumps into Armed Detective Agency member Danzai who was trying to research different ways to commit suicide without experiencing much pain (it's um... his thing) and so begins their union. Atsushi discovers his own powers and joins the agency as a rookie, he gets attached fast as he was craving a sense of belonging being an orphan since his childhood. Atsushi's experiences as a new comer show us the intricate set up of this world and allows you to rush into those exciting scenarios with him, they've also incorporated comedy really well in this medium. Every character both good and bad have interesting backstories and are well developed. Before you know it, you'll be sucked into the happenings in Yokohama and that grip is truly binge worthy.

While Bungou Stray Dogs stays as an intelligent anime with many crafty and amusing schemes or strategies afoot, things can get a little too convoluted which is a put off. Also Atsushi's character is so whiny and self deprecating that it begins to get on your nerves. There is a cut scene that plays every time he pities himself that must have been shown at least fifty times by the time the series ends, the exact same scene. You could actually play a drinking game and take a swing every time he throws a pity party, if you want to get real drunk that is. 

                          

My Personal Ratings:

Story: 4/5
Character Development: 5/5
Dialogue: 5/5 
Music: 3/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Recommendation: Rashomon!
                       
Bungou Stray Dogs season one and two are available on Netflix. 

Psycho-Pass

                     

An absolute stellar recommendation to clear away lock-down fever, Psycho-Pass is hands down the best thriller and futuristic detective series I've ever seen. It might be the only one I've seen, but that does not take away from how good this anime really is! It demonstrates a refreshing and unique story that unlike most anime has no source material like a manga or a light novel. The rare gem that is Psycho-Pass is purely an anime original series with a big budget for animation and a surprisingly good English dub (for you anime beginners). The anime introduces thought provoking concepts about the future of society and the criminal justice system, this coupled with its well crafted dialogues and expertly made fighting scenes will keep you hooked for all three seasons (arguably three point five seasons). 

The plot is beautifully intricate but not in an overwhelming manner. Psycho-Pass is set in the future where AI makes most economic and social decisions for the Japanese government. They have cracked technology that allows people to be scanned for ability to commit crimes in the future, giving the police jurisdiction to enforce people even before the crime takes place. The members of a special police task force see the seedy underbelly of this 'Utopian' society through the course of their work and we follow their new inspector Akane Tsunemori who was supposed to be an ideal citizen but surprises even AI in how she begins to perceive their society. It gets more interesting when the anime describes how police personnel are at risk of becoming criminals themselves due to their prolonged exposure to violent crime. This exciting commentary on mental health, society and criminal thinking will leave you craving for more. 

I have to look for drawbacks in this show to find them. But a biggie is that Psycho-Pass can get a little too fast paced and leave a lot of important aspects to contextual understanding. I've found myself having to rewind quite a few scenes to fully grasp everything they just threw at me.       

                   

My personal ratings are:

Story: 5/5
Character development: 4/5
Dialogue: 4/5
Music: 4/5

Overall Recommendation: Dominator Enforcement Required

Both English and Japanese dubs of Psycho-Pass are available in India on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Outside India, Amazon and Crunchy roll should also have it.