I know this is a little late to be jumping into a recap for a show, but with how classy Kill la Kill is getting, I couldn’t resist the need to talk about how ingenious this show is.
So if you’ve been watching Kill la Kill, you probably know how subtle the show is. Filled with magical girl-esque transformations, nudists, and guns firing cold hard cash, the show is definitely one of the more laid-back shows this season. Yep, it’s definitely not over-the-top, out of this world, and totally insane at all.
All jokes aside, last week Trigger studios slapped us in the face with probably the greatest flashback episode in anime history (by basically not having one), rewarding us with a seriously awesome fight at the end that resulted in the destruction of a nudist army.
This week’s episode, “Tell Me Why,” may not have had an awesome fight, but it ended in such spectacular fashion that it didn’t need one. Since the start of the show, Kiryuuin Satsuki, successor to the clothes company RIVOC (and secret clothes driven world domination group), has been portrayed as a leader who stands below no one. So when her mother was introduced, I couldn’t help but feel that she wouldn’t stand for serving under her for long. Sure enough, Satsuki finally starts her rebellion against her mother and her literally alien clothing woven from “life fibers.” However, rather than just a declaration of war, we get a bloody, back-stabbing assassination by Satsuki in the middle of a grand stadium during the Grand School Cultural and Sports Festival. While I expected her declaration to be epic, I was not expecting it to be this epic.
Clearly there was not enough blood.
Probably my favorite thing about this episode (and show in general) is that, despite how bizarre the show is, it still manages to make you take it seriously. We learn why high school students were chosen as test subject for the Goku uniforms made from life fibers, and get to see why Nudist Beach member Tsumugu Kingase despises clothes so much (no, it’s not because he’s a nudist). That’s not to say we didn’t get our fair share of light-hearted humor and Aikuro Mikisugi’s glorious, shining, nudist nipples this episode either.
Apparently his crotch glows too.
As far as animation goes, it’s always hard to say whether Kill la Kill has fantastic or terrible animation. While the show is mostly animated amazingly, it sometimes has such blatant motion tweens that it hurts an animator’s soul. However, even these scenes are so totally obvious that you know it’s on purpose and doesn’t take away from your enjoyment of the show.
After seventeen episodes, Kill la Kill still manages to surprise me every week. I don’t know about you, but I’m still eagerly riding the crazy, overly-sexualized, hilarious, and absolutely awesome train that is Kill la Kill.