Kill la Kill

Zach Goodier

Note: I am reposting this with editing as a final review, since the rest of the series has been released and a full review is now possible.  Most of the material is what you may have already read, but I had made changes to reflect my final views on the series.

Summary:

Kill la Kill is a series that follows the character of Ryuko Matoi as she seeks to find the person responsible for killing her father.  Using her scissor blade, and her special kamui school uniform that transforms and gives her incredible powers, she takes on Honnouji Academy's army of super powered students, using goku uniforms that give them immense powers as well.  Ryuko fights and gains a friend along the way, in this comedic anime romp from the dynamic duo that brought us Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

 

Ryuko is on girl you don't take lightly.

Plot:

Right off the bat, this sounds just as outrageous as good ol' Gurren Lagann, and in many ways, it does take up the mantle, albeit rather slowly.  What made Gurren Lagann brilliant was the seamless melding of comedic and inspirational elements to make you laugh, tear up, and ready to go take on the world.  This show works at it, but in many ways, it doesn't have as many of the strong characters that drove the narrative forward in Gurren Lagann.  You can see a lot of the same style, and even moments where you really see the same soul, but if you go into this thinking it is going to be just as good for the same reasons, you'll likely feel disappointed. 

 

Satsuki is the leading antagonist, and she's another girl you don't wanna tangle with.

Ryuko is a deviant, a punk who gradually starts to understand that fighting isn't just about being the craziest person on the block... except when it works.  She is on a vendetta to find the person who holds the other half of her Scissor blade, her father's killer.  Ryuko has no other family, but that's where her new friend Mako comes in with her family.  This is a means for Ryuko to explore the family she never had, and that helps her find a reason to keep pressing forward, and having somewhere to eventually go home to.

 

Mako isn't really much of a sidekick, more of a comic relief/moral support for Ryuko

Action:

The action is there, and like Gurren, it starts out fairly grounded and gradually becomes more and more over-the-top as the series progresses.  The action is all there by the end, but don't expect galaxies to be thrown, it doesn't ever reach that scale.  Where Gurren Lagann had moments that made you wanna jump up and go run a marathon or some other extremely badass thing,  Kill la Kill is more on the comedic side of things, usually.  I found myself frequently reminded of FLCL, mixed with Gurren Lagann.  

Because this is how any awesome female warrior should dress... or not.

Ryuko's sentient outfit transforms into a skimpy battle armor by consuming her blood, which is... well, a little weird, but I can roll with it.  Lots of things explode, which is always a plus in the action department (Michael Bay would be proud), and lots of things transform (also would make Michael Bay proud, I'm sure).  Since it keeps coming back around to this, this show is very similar in action to the feel of early Gurren Lagann.

You will see this. a lot. Make sure you're aware that she'll bend and flex every which way, too. It gets to be more than distracting, which is a shame since there could have been a really neat story if it was paid the respect it needed.

Animation:

The style reminds me a lot of FLCL, and the obvious Gurren Lagann influence is there, as well.  This is a whimsical show, and the animation only makes that more obvious.  This has a very cartoon-like aesthetic style, with lots of stuff that explodes, even if it really doesn't have to.  Like the aforementioned shows, Kill la Kill doesn't do a lot with realism, so characters never quite feel detailed like they would in other shows, but that's part of the style, too.

 

As you can see, this show has a mix of serious and whimsical characters, all based on their general look and style.

Overall:

While Gurren Lagann was never short on weird, over-the-top antics, it always felt passable.  This show is good by most standards, but this isn't going to replace the classics.  However, that doesn't make this show a pass, either.  Kill la Kill is a very fun, action-packed, comedic romp, but it only seems to barely clear the average bar in each of these categories, and doesn't quite take up the Gurren Lagann mantle until near the end of the series.  This show is good, even sticking its' toe into great, but not quite deserving of the status of "legend."   Would I recommend watching it? Sure, it's really a fun show.  Would I say you'll fall in love and place it on the top shelf with all of your favorites?  Well, that's not so certain...

 

If there were less of this, and more character/story development, I feel like we could have another Gurren Lagann, but at this point in time, this show feels doomed to fade away behind greater titles.

That's exactly what disappoints me most about this series; it really seems like it did everything right (except for character development), but I still didn't feel like it hit it strong for me.  Maybe it's because it seems like it's all been done before.  Sure, this carries its own weight well, but it all feels like it's been done before, with elements being taken from various other shows.  Still, this show does carry itself well, and provides a lot of fun, even if it doesn't cross any new frontiers to speak of.  I repeatedly compared it to Gurren Lagann, and that might be what led to my impressions of this show as a bit of a repeat done-wrong.  So if you decide to watch, don't hold it next to its' older sibling and don't take it too seriously and it all becomes a very enjoyable ride.

Good:

-Action, explosions, the fun stuff.

-Same aesthetic you'd find in shows like FLCL and Gurren Lagann, giving it some style while freeing it up to be whimsical.

-Strong female leads for both the protagonist and antagonist fronts.

-Satire of education, aesthetics, and cultural norms.

Bad:

-Doesn't really do anything all that fresh or inspired, borrowing too heavily from other shows at times.

-Skimpy transformations really feel a little excessive after a while. While it all seems to be in the spirit of comedy at first, it eventually starts to feel like an attempt at getting away with excessive fan-service and recycling animation material to take up screen time.

-Characters don't really feel at that fleshed out, aside from one or two main characters, the rest are just sideshows.

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10