Anime Review: Kill La Kill
This was recommended when I was at Balticon this year. It sounded like the right kind of bizarre for me. When I saw it was the same creative team that brought us Gurren Lagaan, I knew I had to see it.
The series is set at Honnouji Academy, a high school ruled under the iron fist of school president Satsuki Kiryuin. The school hierarchy is defined by the uniforms they wear. While the lowly rabble "zero star" students where normal clothes, higher ranked students wear uniforms that give them special powers called Goku Uniforms, up to the three star uniforms worn by the student counsel who call themselves the Elite Four.
Into this school arrives Ryuko Matoi, a student transfer who wields a sword that is half of a large pair of scissors. She is in search of her father's killer, who owns the other half of the scissors she wields. After confronting and being defeated by the student counsel, she makes her way to the ruins of her father's home, where she finds a sentient sailor uniform called Senketsu. The uniform gives her the power to fight the Goku Uniform wearing students of Honnouji Academy.
As with Gurren Lagaan, the action is way over the top and the situation escalates as time goes on. There is a good balance between the serious and zany. It keeps the fun up even when the stakes get higher. You have a rebel organization, Nudist Beach, who is all about not being a slave to clothing and therefore doesn't wear much. Eventually the who lets you in on what is really going on, and some twists make enemies into allies and allies into enemies. In the end, it is very well done how the plot is executed.
The panel at Balticon suggested it was very much a feminist anime, but I had my doubts. Senketsu, when in battle mode, is, um, rather skimpy. (Something Ryuko isn't exactly happy about.) But, as you go through the story, you realize that just about every character in the show ends up naked at some point or another, so it isn't so much a big deal. That being said, all the major characters are girls or women and they are taken seriously as the strongest out there, so I can see the argument.
Personally, the show comes highly recommended for those who like their anime action over-the-top and insane.
The series is set at Honnouji Academy, a high school ruled under the iron fist of school president Satsuki Kiryuin. The school hierarchy is defined by the uniforms they wear. While the lowly rabble "zero star" students where normal clothes, higher ranked students wear uniforms that give them special powers called Goku Uniforms, up to the three star uniforms worn by the student counsel who call themselves the Elite Four.
Into this school arrives Ryuko Matoi, a student transfer who wields a sword that is half of a large pair of scissors. She is in search of her father's killer, who owns the other half of the scissors she wields. After confronting and being defeated by the student counsel, she makes her way to the ruins of her father's home, where she finds a sentient sailor uniform called Senketsu. The uniform gives her the power to fight the Goku Uniform wearing students of Honnouji Academy.
As with Gurren Lagaan, the action is way over the top and the situation escalates as time goes on. There is a good balance between the serious and zany. It keeps the fun up even when the stakes get higher. You have a rebel organization, Nudist Beach, who is all about not being a slave to clothing and therefore doesn't wear much. Eventually the who lets you in on what is really going on, and some twists make enemies into allies and allies into enemies. In the end, it is very well done how the plot is executed.
The panel at Balticon suggested it was very much a feminist anime, but I had my doubts. Senketsu, when in battle mode, is, um, rather skimpy. (Something Ryuko isn't exactly happy about.) But, as you go through the story, you realize that just about every character in the show ends up naked at some point or another, so it isn't so much a big deal. That being said, all the major characters are girls or women and they are taken seriously as the strongest out there, so I can see the argument.
Personally, the show comes highly recommended for those who like their anime action over-the-top and insane.