First Impressions / Kill la Kill

「とても不幸な朝が来た」 (Totemo Fukou Na Asa Ga Ki Ta)
“Dawn of a Miserable Morning”

 

The Kill la Kill Guide to Life:

  • Life is full of small challenges.
  • When driving, keep your eyes on the road at all times.
  • When grabbing on to something, always watch where you grab.
  • If you’re given a responsibility, you have a duty to perform it.
  • If you’re going to go out, you should always go out with a bang.
  • If life doesn’t give you what you need, then take it by force.
  • You can’t always get what you want.
  • The power of friendship can overcome any obstacles.
  • If you don’t get out of the way, you might just get C-sectioned on the spot by some back alley doctor.

    •  

    Did I miss anything? I probably did, didn’t I? Oh well, doesn’t matter. All of the above ain’t true anyway, because really, what this episode was about wasn’t so much a guide to life as it was a list of things the series satires. Ranging from the friendship elements that many series tout to gender roles and power-ups, Kill la Kill just takes no prisoners in regards to its satire, and it does so while maintaining a style that’s absolutely fabulous. What’s more is that a large majority of the more fabulous characters—Satsuki, I’m looking at you—didn’t even show up this week, and it’s something that just shows how much the series manages to give us with only a small portion of its cast.

    Speaking of small though, the actual plot development this week ends up pretty small in general as well, but again, it just goes to show how darn awesome the series is to make it so I didn’t really give a darn at all. I mean, jeez, seeing that arduous commute the zero stars have to go through in order to get to school… it just brings a tear to my eye. Reminds me a bit of my commutes, you know? (I kid).

    But yeah, part of me was wondering whether or not the series could last 2-cours just relying on fights with the student council and what not, and if this episode’s shown anything, it’s that I didn’t need to worry much about that at all. Because if this episode is any indication, it’s that there’s plenty of additional things in store for us aside from the pure, action-oriented fights. Essentially, what this means is we might just have an even wilder ride waiting for us than we ever imagined, and I gotta say, that’s saying a lot considering how wild the ride has already been.

    With that said though… how is my education supposed to work out from this point forward exactly? My classroom gets trashed every other day, the armored bus carrying the one-stars has been devastated, my non-stop ride has also been totaled, and I got people setting up traps all over the place in an attempt to impede my arrival. Gosh darn it guys, give me a break. Seriously. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t… hold in all this fabulous-ness.

    Full-length images: 05, 26.

     

    Preview

    68 Comments

    1. Nice post as always, but regarding the worries that ppl had about it turning into a monster of the week show, the official Trigger Newsletter this week put that to rest, hopefully!

      “KILL la KILL production report
      How did everyone like the third episode! I myself can’t decide if I liked the intense battle scenes or Satsuki’s transformation! Are we rushing the series a bit too much? Don’t worry! We have plenty more of where that came from!

      Some of you may already know, but KILL la KILL was originally planned to become the typical monster/villain of the week style of anime. The first time I attended the staff meeting was a year and a half before the airing of KILL la KILL started. And, that just happened to be the time when the staff decided to throw that style of composition out. With the static format gone, the weekly meeting became even more hectic, and it was almost impossible to keep up with the conversation if I were to take even one week off. It got a little long, but what I wanted to say is that KILL la KILL will really fire up after episode 3! Starting with episode 4, I bet it will sucker punch you with the out of the ordinary taste!
      Higuchi Reporting out!”

      FYI, I signed up for the newsletter when I ordered Little Witch Academia BD from their official store.

      Owa
      Reply

      1. I’m totally fine with monster/villain of the week, because its a tried and true method. What separates the good from the great shows is how they go about introducing the viewers and the little details help. KLK does this right as this week had a purpose and wasn’t just your standard villain show up and defeated kind of thing.

        ctscloud
        Reply

      2. I just hope the new guy being introduced next episode doesn’t steal any of Ryuuko’s thunder. I’d prefer to see her and Mako remain the only active heroes throughout the series.

        caramel_cod
        Reply

        2. @Ananas,

          I find myself laughing whenever the 3-star disciplinary member shows up. Everything for him is turned up to 11 from voice to pose to enforcing the rules.

          Ryouko is my favorite character but he is a close second.

          rh75
          Reply

    6. I get the feeling Mako is gonna be the badass dark horse of this series. She must be a really tough No-Star to be able to survive a barrage of killer tennis balls, walk up to and lecture a Student Council officer on proper sleeping clothes, AND talk back to Satsuki-sama.

      Zhinvu
      Reply

    8. Actually I’m more impressed by the other no-stars that made it to class before ryuko . Those no-stars survived 999 checkpoints without a kamui ! Too bad at the end they all got sent flying by ryuko. That is one heck of a way to commute though

      Fafnir
      Reply

    14. I died at the bus scene with the Silent Majority shooting off every variation of WW2 weaponry (especially our lovely breast-feeding mom with the Thompson SMG) and the bus itself having a 360 degree Vickers MG for defence.

      Satire is definitely the name of the game for Kill la Kill. Main message for this week? How to properly control a deeply divided society. Give the lower class masses enough bait to hope for a better life while actually weeding out the hopeless ones via a unique form of eugenics (who knew school could actually kill you). Then keep the upper class supporters content by giving them the cheats to avoid the test in the first place. Not much in the way of plot for this episode, but does help to define just how much this world is influenced by 20th Century history.

      Pancakes
      Reply

    15. Mako with a machine gun is awesome, hilarious and terrifying all at the same time.

      Trigger proves that you can make a really cheap episode (there are a lot of frame stills and and bizarre art) and still make it on par with the higher budget episodes just by virtue of manic and bombastic presentation. I was entertained all throughout since it reminded me of the wacky Saturday morning cartoons (with more fanservice!) I used to love.

      The final punchline with Ryoko silently raising her hand in attendance after all the crap she went through was perfect. Kids, whenever you complain about having to wake-up early and commute just remember that you had it easy!

      fragb85
      Reply

    16. I didn’t think it was possible to make the Kill La Kill art style rougher, looser, and crazier than in the first 3 episodes, but I suppose even THEY have their own B team with this! This was definitely a “filler” ep which didn’t progress the story, but I could NOT STOP LAUGHING THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH.

      Also, he have a Mako and a MAIKO?? Hey, Japanese isn’t my native language! It’s tough enough remembering all the names as it is.

      starss
      Reply

      1. Yeah, I got it as I watched the episode.

        I was just trying to emphasize how bad the zero stars have it in general, but I seem to have inadvertently made it look like the No-Late Day thing happens more often than it does.

        Apologies on that.

        Zephyr
        Reply

        1. Oh my God. That shot of all the zero stars giving up and holding a makeshift class to accept defeat…… .why did they have to show that?? It was the one sad thing about this episode!! Just….. ;____; I hate this society. I hope Mako gives Satsuki what for!!!

          starss
          Reply

    19. Been a while since I commented on this site. Last time was during the airing of Gundam 00. But this fall season has produced an anime series I have to start talking about once again as it airs.

      Kill La Kill.

      Episode four after the airing that was the epic episode 3 totally was not as epic. But it provided more comedy and entertaining moments during the whole Death Race to school bit.

      The tone of the series combined with exactly who is writing and animating it. Lets me know that we are all in for a very interesting ride.

      Bluevirage
      Reply

    24. I can’t help, but think that the ditz is actually just playing dumb and is actually one of them most powerful characters of the series. That and someone may ask Ryuko to join a club and begin some rebellion with the defeated clubs behind her.

      ion52
      Reply

    27. I am the only one who think, it would make much more sense sleeping in the school or somewhere near? They woke up at 4AM, it wouldnt have made much more difference lol.
      Or going even sooner before the even even starting.
      First I though its impossible because they need to clear the checkpoints or something, but that cant be since in the end they went up with the cabin.

      Anyway maybe its pointless to look for any logic since the episode was crazy and fun like hell. I really enjoy this show with the
      Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru. Far the 2 funniest show in the season.

      dangreg
      Reply

    28. So “Monster of the Week” Show?

      No more Arcs, that goes over 2-5 Episodes, to hold the Curiosity of the Watchers, what will happen next?

      Just now a “dont need to follow the Story line, because now every Episode is exchangeable”

      Dunno. Not my Style. looks like they are running “Lucky Star!” or something, where every episode is just for entertainment

      Germanguy
      Reply

    33. Mankanshoku Mako
      満艦飾 Mankanshouku = dressed up
      マコ Mako = Mako

      Matoi Ryuuko
      纏 Matoi = wear/tie/wrap
      流子 Ryuuko = not sure about it but the Kanji can mean “forfeit/exiled child”. It would be quite a plottwist if the Ryuu actually hints at Kiryuuin and she is Satsuki’s sister who was abandoned as a baby or something like that-

      Kiryuuin Satsuki
      鬼龍院 Kiryuuin = 鬼 (devil/ghost) 龍 (dragon/imperial) 院 (school/temple/institution). Not sure which meanings to use for each of them.
      皐月 Satsuki = fifth month of the lunar calendar

      Teacher
      美木杉 Mikisugi = “beautiful” “tree” and “cedar” = beautiful cedar
      愛九郎 Aikurou = “love/affection/favourite” “nine” and “son(s)” = beloved ninth son

      The four committee chairs
      蟇郡 Gamagoori = toad district
      苛 Ira = to scold/torment/chastice (he is the disciplinary committee chair)

      猿投山 Sanageyama = “Monkey” “throw/abandon/join/etc.” and “mountain
      渦 Uzu = whirlpool/vortex (he is the athletic committee chair)

      犬牟田 Inumuta = “dog” “moo (the cow sound)/pupil (eye)” and “rice field”
      宝火 Houka = “valuables/wealth/treasure” and “fire” (he is the intelligence and strategy committee chair

      蛇崩 Jakuzure = “serpent/snake” and “crumble/demolish/die”
      乃音 Nonon = “from/whereupon/accordingly” and “sound” (she is the non-athletic committee chair)

      Zannafar
      Reply

      2. That was supposed to be a reply to ShalaKairos.

        Regarding the four committee chairs, I want to add a bit:
        In chinese astrology, monkey and dog are considered a good match despite differences and many fights. Also the monkey is considered the top of the two, so Trigger seems to be catering to the BL-fangirls with them.

        Toad and serpent (and slug) on the other hand are mortal enemies in ancient japanese magic. The three-way stand-off between them works like RPS with snake > toad > slug > snake…
        If this is the hint at a future fight, poor Gamagoori is probably going to be trashed by Jakuzure.

        Zannafar
        Reply

    34. Holy cow, I wanna throw an Oscar’s at these guys… or at least, the anime version of it.

      Studio Trigger is so awesome at writing good stories and turning them into art. I was worried that with all of this action, they would forget something and create a fearful plot hole** (barring the craziness side of the plot) – and to my (happy) surprise, they didn’t… and even went beyond what you’d usually see in typical anime.

      In fact, the story and art bind so well that it’s scary. Really scary. And that’s why Kill la Kill succeeds. And this episode shows how awesome they are in doing so.

      As you might have noticed, this anime has a pretty tight budget***, with all of the stills and low animation quality in each episode. This particular episode is guilty, with them cutting all corners possible. But they do it in such creative (and sometimes hilarious) ways that you can easily forget about it.

      Remember how Senketsu refused to let that girl use the uniform? The animation for that was basically a single storyboard, animated with 2D/3D transforms… but it worked.

      Character/plot development also happened with these “crappy” animation shots. Remember when we saw Gamagoori going into the monitor room, and we saw the 2D woobly top? Yup, that was Maiko’s intent to try and topple the “top”. Remember when they crashed into the fake school? The background was completely (and cheaply) static, but the plot around that worked. (And no trickery from Trigger either – if you look back at that scene, the background was totally static. The background clouds were NOT moving.) And they way they execute the “fake school” twist is pretty hilarious – they basically reveal the 2D nature of the background, literally having a cube made out of the front, side, back, ground, and sky background shots. The fact that they can work a low-budget shot into a twist is mind-blowingly awesome. And indeed, after seeing all of that, Maiko’s character makes sense – the “accidental” pantie pulls, the arm “injury”, and the toppling figure – you can learn so much just from ONE episode.

      Not to mention the subtle jokes everywhere. The delinquent student fake class scene had those happy-go-lucky cats present as teachers. (As for the hidden significance of that…) Oh, and have you been admiring the bunnies lately?

      ** OK, one**** tiny hole – Mako says that her pajamas have “one Mt. Fuji, two hawks, and three eggplants”, but in reality (if you pause briefly at the fanservice Mako changing scene, and/or looked at ep. 3), they’re just plain. Either she’s a really good liar or she’s making metaphors…

      *** Or maybe they spent episode 4’s money on making a slight but subtle change in the end of the OP. (Ep. 3 and ep. 4‘s OP are different – check if you want.)

      **** OK, OK… they did slightly mess up the art for the cube scene. They had the school separate into both the front and right side panel in the first shot, but in the distance shot, the school was only on the front panel.

      Album of images can be found here.

      nanoed
      Reply

    36. dat family is sure something lol

      and after ryouko arrive at classroom i shocked all of her friends already at class
      so thats mean they are really strong 😀

      nice guide for life zephyr-san 😀

      deVacto
      Reply

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