History YMMV / K

** The ridiculously over the top fanservice centered on Awashima in Return of Kings. The first season was nothing compared to now and that despite the pan from her butt to her boobs used every time she faught. Now barely a scene passes in which her panties or boobs aren't on blatant display and episode 1 almost strips her completely. It's gotten to a point that even male fans - who are supposed to be drawn in by this because MaleGaze is a thing - started complaining that it took away from the drama of the show itself.

GeniusBonus: For those familiar with the legend of Damocles and the king of Syracuse the whole concept stops being just "cool names and awesome powers". The Seven Kings represent Damocles, the Slate his King and their Swords of Damocles the heavy sword the king hang over Damocles' head with a horse hair when he made him acting king, as a reminder that his luck could run out at any time and that there's always a danger. Just as Damocles, the Seven Kings can never be sure when or if their sword is going to fall and kill them.

** Munakata acts like such a sadistic son-of-a-bitch one could easily mistake him for a villain. While he seems to be a force for good, how much of what he does is for the sake of protecting people and how much is simply an excuse for him to do as he pleases without consequence? His preference of toying with his opponents lends credence to the latter interpretation.

*** Even so, the general StalkerWithACrush impression he gives off in the first season, the way he's so quick to settle into "ThenLetMeBeEvil" when Misaki thinks he's a traitor, and the way he interacts with Misaki in several places - including but not limited to actually throwing knives at him in a fight (though he did heat the knife first) - have led a lot of fans to see their relationship as irredeemable and toxic, and Fushimi as a completely awful person. [[BespectacledBastardBoyfriend Not that they all see this as a bad thing]], but that's a different issue.

** Seri Awashima x Red Bean Paste ( Seriously ?! )
*** Apparently she eats a hundred kg of it a year.

** Members of Homura. Espesially Izumo, Anna, and Yata. Kamamoto is very popular on [[Website/FourChan /a/.]]

** Also, Saruhiko/Misaki 'sarumi' is notably more popular than Kuroh/Yashiro, despite the latter technically being the protagonists. In {{pixiv}}, the number of entries for 猿美(Saruhiko/Misaki, approaching 8000) is ''extremely'' higher than that for クロシロ(the most commonly-used tag for Kuroh/Yashiro, only about 650). In ''Baidu Tieba'', a Chinese website community, the number of subscribed members of 伏八 (Saruhiko/Misaki, approaching 120000) also triples that of 夜伊 (Kuroh/Yashiro, not even reaching 40000!) This is not lost on the producers regarding merchandise-wise, as Fushimi and Yata get the bulk of attention in order for fans to spend more money buying merchandise featuring the two.

** Definitely some between Fushimi and Yata, as Fushimi was [[StalkerWithACrush practically stalking Yata]] in episode 3. He is also the only person to call Yata by his first name, "[[GenderBlenderName Misaki]]". In Episode 5, he wasn't just a stalker--he was utterly crazy over Misaki in a creepily sadistic manner reminiscent of a {{Yandere}}, enjoyed seeing him cringe and purposely presses his BerserkButton, complete with a SlasherSmile and PsychoticSmirk, and he positively flips out at anyone who tries to get between them.

** Shiro. The end of the first season cleared up the business with the murder video, but he's still hard to pin down. He seems to be a kind, compassionate King, but he does tend towards a lot of irresponsible actions.
*** He knew what would happen if a King killed another King, but he still made the Red King kill the Colorless King who was trapped in his body in Season 1, thus pushing Mikoto past his limit, and forcing Reisi to kill him to save him, thus leading to the Blue King's situation in Season 2.
*** For over a year or so in between Missing Kings and Return of Kings Shiro kept Neko and Kuroh in the dark as to whether he was even alive or not without giving them the slightest hint of his whereabouts. He only finally appears to them when they are targeted by Yukari in episode 3 and Kuroh was about to be killed.
*** And how he ran away in the first place - leaving his only friend Daikaku to manage the Slate for the decades Shiro spent in the sky mourning the lost of his sister.
*** Shiro then asked that Izumo and Anna keep an eye on Reisi because his Sword of Damocles was falling apart, but this puts him in even more hot water by not having a backup plan when trying to stop the Green Clan from taking the Dresden Slate, but never did anything to help the Blue King beyond that. The only way he actually helped the Blue King was by [[spoiler: destroying the Slate]] in the last episode of Season 2 before he suffered Mikoto's fate.
*** Was the [[spoiler: destruction of the Slates]] really the only option? The only one who'd know for sure is Shiro... who's also the only one who has a [[GrandTheftMe few good]] [[WhoWantsToLiveForever reasons]] to ''want'' them gone.
*** For that matter, was his way of defeating the Colorless King really the only way? Did Mikoto really have to die, and did Munakata really have to be the one to kill him and take on that burden, or was Shiro just going with the plan most likely to get himself killed as well? (and for that matter - death wish, or martyr complex?)

** Also in Episode 11, they shoehorn a panyshot into the scene where [[spoiler: Shiroh gets stabbed.]] The drama was instantly diffused!

** Members of Homura. Espesially Izumo, Anna, and Yata. Kamamoto is very popular on [[{{Imageboards}} /a/.]]

* ComeForTheXStayForTheY: Come for the beautiful animation or tons of {{Fanservice}}, stay for the engaging plot and deep inter-character relationships.

** Reisi is similar to [[Manga/SakamotoDesuGa Sakamoto]]. Not only do they look ''very'' alike, but both are {{Trolls}} who act professional on the surface.

* DieForOurShip: [[HetIsEw Any female characters]] are likely to be bashed, along with Seri who is obviously intended to be paired with [[BadassBartender Izumo Kusanagi]]. Poor [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Kukuri]] gets this the most, for being close to Shiro when the {{fan|PreferredCouple}}s prefer him with Kuroh and not having much connection to the main plot other than [[spoiler:getting [[BodySurf bodyjacked]] in Episode 11]]. It's silly, since the creators obviously prefer him with Kuroh as well, and Kukuri shoots down the idea of her liking Shiro in the ''very first episode'' (and she looks like she means it). Not to mention the fact that [[spoiler: she doesn't remember who he is]]. [[CatGirl Neko]] also gets this, but not to such an extent because of her general childlike personality and involvement in the central storyline.
** It's not just girls - Reisi Munakata gets this as well, from Mikoto/Totsuka shippers, and sometimes even [=SaruMi=] shippers.

** Fushimi and Yata - [=SaruMi=] by the Japanese fandom and part of the English one, while [=SaruMisa=] is generally used by the English fandom.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[spoiler:Given that he was doing research in Dresden, Germany during World War II, Weismann almost ''definitely'' worked for the Nazis. His scenes in the past even depict him with a red armband (though NoSwastikas are ever shown). It all worked out in the end, but it's still somewhat jarring that the adorable white-haired boy we meet in the first episode turns out to have the Nazis as previous employers. Though, in the setting he was born into, he might not have had much of a choice, which is tragic in itself.]] See also "Headscratchers".
* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The lack of information regarding the plot during the promotional stage along with the beautiful artwork and animation are what drew attention to the series at first.
* TheWoobie: Shiro. [[spoiler: Turns out all his memories from ever since he was a child was one big lie. Just imagine calling your friend to realize that she doesn't even know who you are, calling home to find out that ''the number does not exist'', and finally taking a train back home - to realize that where your home is meant to be, there is nothing but an abandoned stadium...]] This isn't even getting into how ''everyone'' wants him dead. And even when he's scared enough to cry, the poor guy refuses to give in and still strains to remain upbeat about it.

** [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Yata]] and [[TokenMiniMoe Anna]] by the end of the anime. They both seem to see HOMRA as a sort of surrogate family and have to deal with losing Totsuka before the series starts and [[spoiler: Mikoto]] in the last episode. For Yata, there's also his [[WeUsedToBeFriends issues]] with [[spoiler: [[TheGadfly Fushimi.]]]]

** [[spoiler: Subverted as the manga, K: The First revealed that the green king had been the one to suggest so. But all his actions are still considered unforgivable.]]

* DieForOurShip: [[HetIsEw Any female characters]] are likely to be bashed, along with Seri who is obviously intended to be paired with [[BadassBartender Izumo Kusanagi]]. Poor [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Kukuri]] gets this the most, for being close to Shiro when the {{fan|PreferredCouple}}s prefer him with Kuroh and not having much connection to the main plot other than [[spoiler:getting [[BodySurf bodyjacked]] in Episode 11]]. It's silly, since the creators obviously prefer him with Kuroh as well, and Kukuri shoots down the idea of her liking Shiro in the ''very first episode''. Not to mention the fact that [[spoiler: she doesn't remember who he is]]. [[CatGirl Neko]] also gets this, but not to such an extent because of her general childlike personality and involvement in the central storyline.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Shiro really who he says he is, or is he as evil as the snuff film suggests? The former is by default more likely due to how consistently not-evil Shiro seems to be, but he has proven to be a great actor and good at improvising. This, coupled with his distinctive manner of speech (he constantly projects a happy persona even when he's feeling down, which makes him sound insincere at many points) and his lack of seriousness could be interpreted as signs of him hiding something dark. Notably, Kuroh keeps the latter interpretation in mind as he "evaluates" Shiro. On the other hand, the few times we see Shiro while no one else is looking, he still acts like his goofy, compassionate self.
** [[spoiler: It's neither. Shiro isn't who he says he is, or even who he ''thinks'' he is, and he also wasn't the one to kill Totsuka. His true identity is Adolf K. Weismann, the Silver King. The one who killed Totsuka was the Colorless King, just like the video claimed--just that the Colorless King is a being who snatches the bodies of others and eventually absorbs their personalities. After killing Totsuka, he met with Weismann using the excuse of introducing himself to him, only to attempt to rob him of his body and his powers. Though the Silver King's own abilities protected his soul and his powers from the Colorless King, he still got body-snatched. [[OurSoulsAreDifferent His errant soul]] thus went into the nearest body available--the one the Colorless King had just left, the one who we would come to know as "Yashiro Isana". The shock and strain put on Weismann from this event gave him amnesia, just perfect for the Colorless King, now in Weismann's body, to drop him from his own airship and frame him for his murder. Shiro's personality is actually just like how the young Weismann used to be, before World War II happened and his sister was killed.]]
** Also, Shiro knew what would happen if a King killed another King, but he still made the Red King kill the Colorless King who was trapped in his body in Season 1, thus pushing Mikoto past his limit, and forcing Reisi to kill him to save him, thus leading to the Blue King's situation in Season 2.
** For over a year or so in between Missing Kings and Return of Kings Shiro kept Neko and Kuroh in the dark as to whether he was even alive or not without giving them the slightest hint of his whereabouts. He only finally appears to them when they are targeted by Yukari in episode 3 and Kuroh was about to be killed.
** In hindsight Shiro did also this to his only friend previously by leaving Daikaku to manage the Slate for the decades of years Shiro spent in the sky mourning the lost of his sister.

** Shiro then asked that Izumo and Anna keep an eye on Reisi because his Sword of Damocles was falling apart, but this puts him in even more hot water by not having a backup plan when trying to stop the Green Clan from taking the Dresden Slate, but never did anything to help the Blue King beyond that. The only way he actually helped the Blue King was by [[spoiler: destroying the Slate]] in the last episode of Season 2 before he suffered Mikoto's fate.
** The second season brings up a whole new set of AlternateCharacterInterpretation. Is Shiro a MessianicArchetype who truly believes in the goodness of humanity, or is he a SmugSuper who oozes CondescendingCompassion and is only so infallibly good [[BlueAndOrangeMorality because he cannot comprehend why people would do bad things?]]

** Then again, his power is ''absolute immortality'', and it has been stated in the movie that as long as a ''single cell'' of him remains, he can come back to life. Regardless, the topic still can be debatable among fans.

* BaseBreaker: [[CatGirl Neko]]. While a lot of fans enjoy her, many others find her extremely annoying, and a few have even dropped the show because they couldn't stand her.

** Kuroh is unbelievably blushy when discussing his late master Ichigen.
---> '''Shiro:''' "Creepy!"

* DieForOurShip: [[HetIsEw Any female characters]] are likely to be bashed, along with Seri who is obviously intended to be paired with [[BadassBartender Izumo Kusanagi]]. Poor [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Kukuri]] gets this the most, for being close to Shiro when the {{fan|PreferredCouple}}s prefer him with Kuro and not having much connection to the main plot other than [[spoiler:getting [[BodySurf bodyjacked]] in Episode 11]]; fans of other Shiro ships frequently decry her as a SatelliteLoveInterest used only for queer{{bait|AndSwitchLesbians}}ing. [[CatGirl Neko]] also gets this, but not to such an extent because of her general childlike personality and involvement in the central storyline.

* FanPreferredCouple: Though there are some other popular shippings such as Mikoto/Munakata, it's clear that the Saruhiko/Misaki pairing gets far more attention from fangirls who make up the bulk of the fans. The endless barrage of very suggestive ''official'' art that do more than just hint a little does not help.

* HarsherInHindsight: In Episode 2, Kuroh finds out that [[InventedIndividual Shiro's story about his "little sister" is fake]], and confronts him while dropping the badass line ''"How's your sister doing, Yashiro Isana?"'' Then in Episode 11, we discover Shiro's true identity...

* TheScrappy: Kukuri. Despite being hardly relevant to the plot, she gets a ton of screentime and is sometimes even pushed as a love interest for Shiro or Kuroh, which obviously garners her hate from the [[FanPreferredCouple KuroShiro]] fans. It doesn't help that in all of her appearances, [[FlatCharacter she has displayed the same stereotypical]] NiceGirl personality, which fans are sick to death of, and never given any sort of backstory or motivations. [[DamselScrappy Then when she actually becomes relevant...]]

* UnfortunateImplications: [[spoiler:Given that he was doing research in Dresden, Germany during World War II, Weismann almost ''definitely'' worked for the Nazis. His scenes in the past even depict him with a red armband (though no swastika is ever shown). It all worked out in the end, but it's still somewhat jarring that the adorable white-haired boy we meet in the first episode turns out to have the Nazis as previous employers.]]

** Kuroh and Neko in the K:Black and White Side Novel.[[spoiler: Both lost their parents when they were children. Neko used her powers to trick a couple into thinking that she is their child. She realizes that what she did was wrong when confronted by the Gold clan and undos the illusion only to have the couple brand her as a monster. She leaves deciding to live a solitary life as a cat from then on. After the death of Kuroh's parents everyone else who took him in seemed to have met untimely deaths or bad luck causing him to be left to die by himself. It's even sadder when Ichigen first met Kuroh and saw that the only way to save Kuroh from his misfortune was to turn him into his clansmen.]]

Shiro then asked that Izumo and Anna keep an eye on Reisi because his Sword of Damocles was falling apart, but this puts him in even more hot water by not having a backup plan when trying to stop the Green Clan from taking the Dresden Slate, but never did anything to help the Blue King beyond that. The only way he actually helped the Blue King was by [[spoiler: destroying the Slate]] in the last episode of Season 2 before he suffered Mikoto's fate.

** Also, he knew what would happen if a King killed another King, but he still made the Red King kill the Colorless King who was trapped in his body in Season 1, thus pushing Mikoto past his limit, and forcing Reisi to kill him to save him, thus leading to the Blue King's situation in Season 2. Shiro asked that Anna keep an eye on Reisi because his Sword of Damocles was falling apart, but put him in even more hot water by not having a backup plan when trying to stop the Green Clan from taking the Dresden Slates, but never did anything to help the Blue King beyond that. The only way he actually helped the Blue King was by destroying the Slates in the last episode of Season 2 before he suffered Mikoto's fate.

* AssPull: [[spoiler:Shiro returning alive and well without a scratch in season 2 despite [[YourHeadAsplode having his entire upper body blown clean off by Mikoto]]. It's {{Hand Wave}}d as [[AWizardDidIt his King's power]], but it's still a less than satisfactory explanation for surviving something as powerful as Mikoto's attack. Made even more confusing by the fact that the attack allegedly killed the Colorless King, despite the fact that he was trapped in Shiro's consciousness, therefore being able to live within him. It happens again at the end of season 2 with Shiro returning to his old body without a scratch despite his original body being around ninety years old.]]

** Sumika appears to have something for her friend Kukuri. She also blushed furiously when she saw Neko.

** Main complaints for Episode 2. Instead of getting the plot progressing or answering questions, it's filled with a comical chase between Shiro, Kuroh, and Neko.

* AssPull: [[spoiler:Shiro returning alive and well without a scratch in season 2 despite [[YourHeadAsplode having his entire upper body blown clean off by Mikoto]]. It's {{Hand Wave}}d as [[AWizardDidIt his King's power]], but it's still a less than satisfactory explanation for surviving something as powerful as Mikoto's attack. Made even more confusing by the fact that the attack allegedly killed the Colorless King, despite the fact that he was trapped in Shiro's consciousness, therefore being able to live within him.]]

** Also, Saruhiko/Misaki is notably more popular than Kuroh/Yashiro, despite the latter technically being the protagonists. In {{pixiv}}, the number of entries for 猿美(Saruhiko/Misaki, approaching 8000) is ''extremely'' higher than that for クロシロ(the most commonly-used tag for Kuroh/Yashiro, only about 650). In ''Baidu Tieba'', a Chinese website community, the number of subscribed members of 伏八 (Saruhiko/Misaki, approaching 120000) also triples that of 夜伊 (Kuroh/Yashiko, not even reaching 40000)

* FanPreferredCouple: Though there are some other popular shippings, it's clear that the Saruhiko/Misaki pairing gets more attention from fangirls. The endless barrage of very suggestive ''official'' art that do more than just hint a little does not help.