Let's Review! Kill La Kill

I haven't done an anime review in a while...so time to review the most weirdest anime I've ever watched. Then again, all the anime shows I've seen are  equally weird. There is no comparison. 

Warning: The following post contains spoilers, And disturbing uniforms.

Plot 

Satsuki vs. Ryuko

Okay let me break it down for you; Ryuko goes to this school...or should I say a school that is somehow a civilization (let's say the civilization revolves around the high school)...and her primary goal was to search for her father's murderer, who left her with a half-scissor blade (yup, you guessed it. It's a weapon). So she arrives to this school, hoping to find the other half  of the scissor blade and eventually, the one who wielded it. Her ultimate suspect was Satsuki Kiryuin, the school president (or the alpha) of the entire student body. Let's say Ryuko finds her system very messed up, since your life will have to be revolved around these sailor uniforms that contain these powers, and these powers vary. And of course just like any Dystopian setting, the more "powerful" your uniform is, the better your livelihood will be. So yeah, Ryuko challenges Satsuki and threatens to tear apart the world she created . With the help of Senketsu, the super sailor uniform Ryuko becomes friends with, they fight every super-powered uniform until they reach Satsuki and Junketsu, which is her uniform. And  as the series progresses, we see how Ryuko proves to be not only the main deviant of the show, but we slowly get to see that the system Satsuki created is more than just a livelihood. 

This series did not take too long to let everyone know that Satsuki's dictating hand will be the least of Ryuko's problems. In other words, the point of view of this show is so good, to the point we actually get to see the bigger picture on both sides. The main characters may be completely different, but they have that one similarity that weaves the plot altogether, and that is them being--WARNING SPOILERS--siblings. Once I learned this big reveal, everything began to make sense and the entire story falls into place. Satsuki vows revenge against her mother Ragyo, who is the patron of the Alien Super Uniforms. Ragyo did a lot inhuman things just for the uniforms and Satsuki did not like that one bit of it, hence her motto, "You pigs in human clothing!" Then we have Ryuko, she wanted to know who killed her father and why. What she didn't know is that the answers she was looking for would lead to a much more serious arc in the plot, and most  of the answers were with Satsuki because she molded the school (and eventually the rest of the other schools) into one big army to fight against her mother. You could say the Satsuki did see some promise from Ryuko, especially when she saw her wore Senketsu, which is why she decided to let Ryuko do her thing. She was supposed to let Ryuko in on the plan, but in the series, that badly backfired because it turns out Ryuko is not just pig in human clothing. In general, the build up of the sequences were fairly good. The sudden change of atmosphere was very quick, and usually that doesn't work for many plots. Somehow it miraculously worked on this one.The humor may seem a bit cliched but the good thing about it was that it was pretty tolerable. And just like most anime shows, it remained consistent in the beginning. But again, what I like about it is that they break this consistency in just an instant. It may shown some small build ups in certain scenes, but when it was time to get serious, they get on with it. There was no need for any filler episode to explain things. Things have to happen at this moment, and there is no time to explain or show small hints on what is going to happen. Just let the serious shit come in and surprise the world. 

Ryuko at the ending theme, staring at a wedding dress

I'd also like to point out the whole analogy of wedding dresses and clothing to the idea of deprivation and dominant power because that is a pretty interesting way to describe a world with a powerful party and a submissive one. I think what this anime is trying to say is that, we accept the power dominating us just like how we simply wear clothes. And that is a very interesting way to look at the world we live in. There are times we don't like authority, but sometimes we just allow it empower us. And the sad part is, we don't immediately recognize it. Because it's something so mundane as wearing clothes. As for the wedding dress. I don't know how to interpret this. When Satsuki and Ryuko's father explained that Junketsu was going to be Satsuki's wedding dress, here is my own interpretation of what he said; for me, he was trying to warn Satsuki. This anime has done a great job of telling us that the clothes are the bad guys. If you are still not convinced then you can ask why Nudist Beach are so naked. And if you think of wedding dress, the first thing that comes to your mind is getting married. And the traditional yet brutal idea of a bride is that they become submissive wives; emphasis on the submissive. In other words, their dad warned Satsuki not to wear Junketsu, because he will take control of her. And his warning came true. Unfortunately, I think this was the only thing Satsuki had to miscalculate. It's a given fact that in this anime, that clothes want and can control you. Junketsu managed to take all the energy of Satsuki and the scary part is, he wanted more. Not only that, Ryuko nearly lost her willpower upon wearing Junketsu. These uniforms are the epitome of what power can truly be. It wants to control you and it can control you. You just need to be stronger. Such a strong metaphor.

Characters

Humans vs Clothing

Just like most anime shows, there were fairly a lot of flat characters in this show. Flat meaning, they are just complements (or supplements) to the series. The thing about flat characters is that, they are not necessarily bad. As long as they're not the main focus of the plot, then it's okay. This character can remain tsundere all throughout for all I care, just don't make him or her the main element to this series. So what I am trying to say is that, the flat characters did a great job at being flat. Most of the flat characters in the series shared one goal: support the main character in every way. If this show were like Mean Girls, just imagine Satsuki as Regina George and and Ryuko as Cady Heron or maybe Janis Ian (Because she was more of the instigator than Cady ever was). They have their own teams of consistent characters that only exist to support them with whatever they're doing. Satsuki has her team, and they all say that they will fight with her till the end! Ryuko has her team, which are Nudist Beach, Mako, and her family. They support her, too. I don't know why the Mankanshoukku family supports her but they're there, even if supporting Ryuko would mean going below the life they already have. As for the main characters, I love how they complement each other. It has been very obvious since the first episode, that this anime is going to be about them. The entire show felt like a game of volleyball, and these two were throwing the storyline at each other, and this fully supports the themes of this shows, which are rivalry, competitions, maybe nudity, and basically war. They were actually fighting while telling the story. Even if Satsuki had this secret plan from the beginning, she still competes against Ryuko because she still has beliefs that she would like to uphold to her audience and if there is one thing Satsuki valued before her own sister, it was her ideals. Same goes for Ryuko, the moment she entered the campus, she fights while storytelling. And both of them try to fight for their side of the story, telling us that their side is the right one until lo and behold...they're actually on the same page. Basically, Ryuko and Satsuki are just extreme competitors in telling the story. At one point, I started to question who should I side with, but I'm glad that was immediately resolved.

Senketsu, the black uniform at the left, and Junketsu, the white uniform in the basket. And no, they did not have sock kids.

As for the uniforms (yes they're characters too), I don't know if I should classify them as support or main, because they became integral parts to the main character. Junketsu may have not said much, but Senketsu has been a very great character. I thought he would be one of those random partners in crime who just exist to only annoy or leave the main character confused. But no, Senketsu is just as confused as Ryuko was and also very torn. Senketsu is a friend that anyone would like to have. It's like he's the Baymax of this series. He's a very supportive character that showed more variety compared to Mako or any of the flat characters I've classified earlier.

The main gist of the series were, Senketsu, Satsuki, Ryuko, and the antagonist...Ragyo. I know that anime characters have this tendency to be so weird and creepy. But can I just say, Ragyo is one creepy character. She worships the uniforms that can threaten your life...for no reason. Like seriously, Ragyo. Why worship clothes? Aside from becoming less human and more immortal, why. Why trust some strange entity that can actually eat you, irregardless of how powerful you are. Because the uniforms made it clear the once they took over the world, then nothing can stop them because they've engulfed all the inhabitants. Ragyo is only their patron, their sponsor, and their relationship is only until there. So why Ragyo??? If her love for the uniforms are so strong and unconditional, then yeah...she is officially the creepiest character ever. Never mind that she sexually abuses Satsuki, the fact that she mindlessly supports alien uniforms over her own for no reason is enough to write her off as someone freakier than your grandma.

Music

The music is really good. I may not have samples like last time, but I can confidently say that the music and show are totally in sync. They match the anime very well. The music screams war, urgency, terror, suspense, and kill all at once. The music will never fail to remind your ear that yes, there will be some serious shit going on. 

Art

The art style is very rough and edgy. Once again, it suits the anime. Apart from that, it gave off a few anime cliches such as perfectly-shaped female characters (petite ones, included). I also found it interesting how the funny and perverted ones are the ones drawn in less details. The Mankanshoukku family is one example. They were portrayed more loosely. But if you take a look at Satsuki or any important character in this anime, they have more edges, more sharp features, and more lines. However, this was personally my least favorite part of the show. It's not that I hated the art style, but it was something that did not really grasp my attention. Yes, the obscene uniforms and nudity did not alert my eyes, one bit. But that's just me.

Overall

I love how this anime is very consistent to the themes and how well folded out the plot sequences became. Did I like this anime? I love it? Does it deserve five eggs? Yes. It's a sunny side-up.

And that is it for my anime review. Apologies for not updating anything last week, so I will compensate for updating more this week (if I can). Let's just say my university has a funny way of teaching me about the hard aspects of life, and right now they are currently treating me like a random office person in a cubicle by dumping more group projects and reports for me to deal with in the future. Trust me, you do not want to know the rest. Till the next post~

Check my last anime review about: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles