First Impressions / Kill la Kill

「夜へ急ぐ人」 (Yoru e Isogu Hito)
“Into the Night”

If there’s one thing that last week bought to the forefront, it’s the fact that many of the developments in Kill la Kill haven’t exactly been the most unpredictable. Many of the events from last week happened as expected and were mentioned at some point either in my posts or via the comments, and it’s a notion that stays largely true this week as well. As it turns out, Satsuki and Matoi are indeed related—something predicted in last week’s post—and all things considered, this episode ends up doing quite well considering its predictability.

Because if there’s one thing a fair amount of viewers will likely agree on, it’s the fact that predictability doesn’t typically do any favors when used as a label for a particular work. It’s a positive contributor if it’s a story that relies on you hoping that something specific doesn’t happen despite all signs pointing to it, but this isn’t the case here. And it’s something that makes it all the more surprising that I actually liked this episode quite a bit. In fact, I’d go as far as labeling this episode as the best this series has offered us so far, because to me, this is the episode that finally declares what kind of show Kill la Kill wants to be: a series powered by its unique art style and action-oriented scenes.

Up until now, there’s been the occasional teaser that some deeper themes may be explored, but nothing ever materialized aside from what’s literally depicted or discussed in a particular scene. Suffice to say, it’s been frustrating trying to see whether or not they were going to go more in depth in that regard, and it’s something I felt has held the series back from its full potential. It was as if they were saying “look, we could tell a story if we wanted to,” but were intentionally choosing not to—a notion that reeked of wasted potential. Now that we’ve gotten the revelations we have and confirmation that things seem to have been intentionally predictable though, it’s easy to look at this series as something where the story comes second, which ends up making all the difference in terms of enjoyment. And enjoy this episode I did.

After all, how couldn’t I? This was the flashiest episode of them all—filled with all the action-packed goodness you could ever want and great usage of vocal inserts. Satsuki was taken down, Matoi’s heart’s just floating in mid-air, and there really isn’t much more you can ask for in this respect. To top things off, they’ve managed to build a tad bit of suspense as a result—an added bonus considering how predictable things have been up until this point—and it’s a perfect example of it being high time to just sit back and enjoy the show. Literally.

 

Preview

92 Comments

      2. What about the father? He didn’t seem too broken up about experimenting on his two daughters. He only seemed to be angry when Ragyo disposed of Ryuko as one would do with spoiled food or a broken toy.

        Echo
        Reply

    1. I pondered that potential. But given the amount of episodes left, I’d much prefer that they stick to the formula they’re clearly emphasizing at this point. Trying to pull in deeper themes may end up doing more harm than good right now.

      Zephyr
      Reply

      1. Unfortunately, “eldritch abominations are immune to backstabbing and vorpal effects” – D&D rulebook voiceover in my head…
        Ragyuu is OP, as a true boss should be. But I think even she will get some surprises – the first one being Matoi easily rending her mind control thread. I expect Satsuki to have something up her sleeve coming despite being dis-robed. Her willpower stat is off the charts, just like Ryuko. The two of them acting together will be unstoppable…

        ewok40k
        Reply

  4. Silly Ragyou, sailor school uniforms aren’t for you.

    Jokes aside, I’m pretty sure most people have already guessed that Satsuki and Ryuuko are sisters or at least closely related with each other. I’m just curious how Satsuki is going to react and change after the revelation.

    oliviaven
    Reply

    1. With her sword broken, I get the feeling that eventually Satsuki is going to wield the purple half of the scissor blade once Harime Nui is defeated.

      Two sisters, each wielding half of the scissor blade capable of cutting through Life Fibers.

      MasterDragonKnight
      Reply

    2. We will get the Surprise, that Satsuki can wield Ryuko’s Godrobe as well. Well, Ryuko is powerful in Normal mode. and perhaps the Mother forced strip her naked, so Satsuki try the chance to “forceful” Wield Ryuko’s Godrobe, but will be surprised that there is no fight back.. Perhaps because there are Sisters, and the Mind of the Godrobe, let her use it. Ryuko is full of Life fiber, you know.. She knows now the Truth

      And Her Sword, even if the Tip is broken. The Sword still cuts very well. And we should not forget the “Powerglove and Dagger” of the Beach guys…

      Germanguy
      Reply

      1. Satsuki willpower + Ryuko’s Godrobe own Mind = Temporarily Combine forces. You can see this a Override mode with a Countdown, when her Mind cannot handle the Stress of natural rejection of the Godrobe power. Well, it is a different one, she is used to wear after all

        Germanguy
        Reply

      2. Why the “Mind stress”?

        Well,
        1.st She would then be to Powerful. if she can cross-dress 2 Godarmors. Even if the other is not available right now
        2.nd she had a natural “no connection” rejection for the Life Fibers. She made that up with her Willpower. She forceful made the connection. But if you force something you will get exhausted

        Hope i could bring my explanations to you

        Germanguy
        Reply

    1. Classic villain mistake, instead of permanently killing their enemies they choose to throw them around doing almost no permanent damage. Just watch the show Supernatural for a great example of this. Every time a monster gets within arms length of Sam or Dean they choose to throw them them across the room instead of, oh I don’t know, actually killing them. It definitely helps to be a main character in this regard; supporting characters and extras get their necks snapped like twigs if they get too close.

      Absaroka
      Reply

  8. Although I think we can all guess whose going to be the final victor here, how that happens is definitely up in the air. Satsuki is effectively out of the action, Ryuuko is receiving a heart warming moment (literally) with their mother, and only the Elite Four remain as a form of viable threat.

    It’s a good thing though Satsuki had the sh*t beat out of her, it’s about time she learns nothing gets accomplished through strength of conviction alone. In the face of life or death you must often abandon your morals/principles to accomplish the larger goal. For Satsuki that is going to be what Ryuuko has already done: learn to live with the life fibres, neither seeking to annihilate them nor control them, along with accepting that she is not a perfect being who has no weakness. There’s going to be a lot of inner reflection for Satsuki in the episodes ahead.

    Pancakes
    Reply

  10. While it was somewhat predictable that Ryuko and Satsuki are related, the manner which it was presented did was not. In truth, I expected more of the same given how far we are from the final, more stalemated and action oriented battles, but this time we have Satsuki down for the count, the four Divas ineffective, Nui being shocked and Ryuko well, her heart is being held by her would be mother.

    All this being said, I think this whole series is an allegory of adolescent females growing up both physically, mentally and emotionally through the various aspects of school, family and frienship. I mean we have already established there have been elements of puberty in the Kamui, the frienship and social hierarchy represented in the series is like that of cliques and school social hierarchy. The whole thing even poses a question about standing out, of being outside the bland norm and being your own person or being the most popular student. Given this is from the creators that made TTGL, which is known to be a possible allegory itself to male adolescence, it’s possible that made a female version. It also as possible that I’m reading too much into this.

    And now for the future, well, I’m lost. I thought I had a good handle on this series now, I’m a little lost what will happen next how Ryuko will escape, how Satsuki will kill her mother, and whether or not any of the ships will be left by the end!

    Echo
    Reply

  12. WHile it was obvious they were related, I can honestly say I didn’t know about the other sister that was being experimented on. Its going to be interesting to see how Matoi was able to survive that as a baby

    SDFGS
    Reply

  16. Pretty much agree with everything Zephyr said.

    I was actually hoping that they wouldn’t do everything that people predicted and it was to no avail. That cliche really bothered me though, why couldn’t they have pulled a Jojo at least? Making Dr.Matoi turn out to be Satsuki’s grandpa while Ryuko could be Satsuki’s aunt.

    Matoi turning out to technically be a dumpster baby was at least a good twist i guess. It would explain why she had no problems eating the Mankoushou’s dinner full of worms and stuff. I don’t expect Ryuko and Satsuki to be like Majestic Prince’s Izuru and Asagi, suddenly embracing their sibling bond though.

    I would still laugh my ass off if Ryuko calls Satsuki Onee=chan.

    magoiichi
    Reply

  17. During the last scene when Ragyo revealed that Ryuko was indeed her younger daughter while holding her heart I instantly thought Ryuko would have gotten a heart attack after hearing that.

    To me I guess this was Trigger’s cruel way of expressing Valentine’s Day to the viewers.

    75ChaosFlare
    Reply

  22. Luke, I’m your father… But for her case it’s Ryuuko, I’m your mother…

    I suspected that both Ryuuko and Satsuki are sisters early on, but more like half-sisters that Matoi remarried to someone. I was a bit surprised that they are full-blooded sisters.

    SilentCid
    Reply

    1. Here you go.
      “Kiryuuin Satsuki, you bitch!”
      “Whats the matter?! Hurry up and do it, Matoi Ryuuko!!”
      “Ch… Nnn… tsu… Sat… Sa… Satsu.. ki.. Onee… chan…”
      “Hmph! You still have a long way to go!”
      “Hey! What’s with that nosebleed of yours!?”

      Giorno Giovanna
      Reply

  28. Seconding the epic scissoring that is going to take place at the end.

    My hope though, is that instead of a “You are my sister how can I hate you?” moment, we get something akin to the end of S-cry-ed. An old fashioned brawl where they beat the shit out of eachother till not even their Kamui remain.

    Tarage
    Reply

  32. I’m sure you know it, but even predictability with things happening as you imagined isn’t always a bad thing. There’s cases of shows being very predictable and yet still very enjoyable. My favorite two shows airing right now, Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live and Gundam Build Fighters especially are sometimes very predictable. They make up for it with other things.

    Rockmanshii
    Reply

  35. Personally, I think people are stressing over the predictability too much. If you watch enough anime, most plot-threads become highly predictable. Kill la Kill isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, it is simply making the wheel cool again, much like Gurren Lagann did.

    While things may be predictable, the delivery and style alone makes the entire thing an enjoyable and entertaining experience.

    Heck, we can all predict Satsuki will end up allying with Ryuuko to fight their mother, and with the other half of the scissors to boot, but it doesn’t mean I will be cheering any less when it happens.

    Zeru
    Reply

  36. The only way to make a plot twist fully unpredictable is to pull out of your ass, aka not have any build up, foreshadowing, etc. As such, truly unpredictable stories are usually horrible (I say “truly” because most people will not notice hints and foreshadowings anyway).

    The goal of a storxy is not to give unpredictable events and plot twists, but to make it well-executed and surprise the watcher/reader by choices they did not expect.

    Nayrael
    Reply

  38. The question this episode leaves me with is the true identity of Ryuko’s father.

    Was he just some scientist that ran off with Ryuko when she was thrown aside? Or did Satsuki’s father fake his own death and change his identity so he could run away with Ryuko to start his resistance?

    If we’re looking at the later then next week we could see Nui taken down not by the four but by an enraged Satsuki taking her turn at revenge for the murder of the father she thought she had already lost once. Would definitely set up for Satsuki getting her hands on the second scissor and then joining up with Ryuko to take their mother down.

    qwert
    Reply

  39. We knew Ragyo was messed up when we saw her molest her own daughter a number of times already. I wonder if there’s any meaning in Ragyo molesting Satsuki down there to remove Junketsu? That whole scene kinda represented a female orgasm.

    Is Sanageyama gonna die? Judging from the preview, maybe the death flag was raised.

    fishies
    Reply

    2. At least Gendou’s sternness was meant to prepare Shinji for the world-saving responsibility he was about to wield with a huge power named Eva in his hands, it was all for the sake of the world, even if it meant he had to forsake his fatherhood.

      Ragyou was just a selfish, war-mongering, beauty-obsessed, power-hungry egoist who saw her children as nothing but the tool to smooth up her goals.

      This comparison is too much of a stretch, the answer for it is a doddle.

      KingofConquerors
      Reply

      1. mm dunno .. i always thought that Gendo just kept shinji safe cus he needed him as the key to unlock unit-01’s prisoner (he never wanted to save the world.. he actually destroyed it just to save Yui)

        Gendo never cared , but he had to have shinji “alive” (even if his body and mind was destroyed… he only needed his soul)
        Ragyou never cared, her daugthers were just stepping stones to further her master’s wishes.

        IOW: i dont think any of them is actually better than the other.. they both crazy lol .. the difference is that Shinji was still “useful” for Gendo at the time of the manga/anime.

        PS: note that Ragyo still had an use for Satsuki… now i wonder what happened to Satsuki’s father Kiryuin Souichirou

        inanis
        Reply

  43. ahahaaaa XDD I’ve always got this feeling that Ryuko and Satsuki are related somehow but it just hard to relate that…lol

    but damn~!!! Satsuki knew Ryuko is her sister right??? Right??? If she knew then that would be freaking awesome! The ane that risk her childhood just to plan to kill her evil mom to avenge her dad while Ryuko is safe out there being a school tug :P…but i love that somehow…XDD

    Ohhhh Satsukiiiiiiiii-samaaaaaaaaaa

    onion warrior
    Reply

  44. Looking back on last week’s discussion, someone‘s prediction was a tiny bit off. While another person‘s guess barrage hit something.

    …and it‘s not getting old, nope siree, it’s not…

    ps. majority of us that were overthinking last week must’ve blew off a lot of steam with those wild mass guessing… 😀

    info600
    Reply

  47. If this is Trigger stretching itself before getting down to business, this is a heck of a way to stretch. Kill La Kill is definitely blazing a comeback trail from it’s slow start.

    J_the_Man
    Reply

  51. I think Ryuko will get the other part of the rending scissors next episode. The old guy was able to damage the Lolis eye before she killed him, a lot more than Ryuko has been able to do so far. This would be a suitable enough power up and would probably allow her to kill Ragyo

    Skyyyyye
    Reply

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