Author: Nakashima Kazuki, Trigger
Genre: Action, Comedy, Super Power, Ecchi, School
Episodes: 24
Production Studio: Studio TRIGGER
Introduction
Initially, I had thought Kill la Kill was your average mainstream anime that relied mostly on fanservice to keep watchers entertained and like most of my assumptions on anime I don’t watch, I was wrong. What had led me to watching Kill la Kill was the incredible promo video that was played during Kazuya Masumoto’s talk at this year’s Visual Arts Expo. After seeing all that action, I knew I had to give it a shot!
Storyline Premise
To start off, let’s just breeze through what the anime is about. Ryuko Matoi is a girl in search of her father’s murderer and eventually transfers to her new school, Honnouji Academy where she seems to have found a lead. Sometime later, she is attacked by a walking, talking seifuku (or a school uniform) that forces itself on her and that’s where her journey begins.
I find Kill la Kill justified in terms of overflowing fanservice because first off, the main concept is based around clothing. When your clothes are all you’ve got to give you special powers, the only way the higher ups can take away your powers is by, that’s right, stripping you. It’s a really dramatic way of showing that without these powers, the characters are vulnerable. I mean, if I was stripped butt naked I’d be vulnerable too, kudos to the characters who still stand tall after losing their goku uniforms.
It’s also not all about clothing and only clothing, the plot to the anime is fantastic in a sense that it touches subjects like familial betrayal, familial bonds and making sacrifices for the greater good.
Art and Animation
No questions asked, we all know that every anime animated by Studio TRIGGER will have great animation. The art on the other hand is incredibly expressive. The way the characters move, the facial expressions they make, it’s all portrayed in a very dramatic way that makes everything that much more exciting to watch!
Sound and Music
Goosebumps. That’s all I can say to describe the music as appropriately as possible. The first opening, Before My Body is Dry sung by Mika Kobayashi, will first seem like a super good opening but it’s really so much more. It’s used later in the anime in significant fight scenes even after the second opening is used. I believe it’s to show how much Ryuko has grown since her first encounter with the seifuku and it makes me incredibly emotional.
Characterisation
The characters in this series are fairly complex, not because they aren’t generic but because of the layers and layers of personality you see throughout the anime. They may come off as one thing in one scene and five episodes later they come off as something else completely. Though it sounds messy, it really isn’t. It’s clear that it was very well articulated to have everything fall into place when needed.
Overall
This is a must watch for everyone, even if you aren’t a fan of fanservice. The concept of the anime is unique and the characters develop incredibly well. The music is a fine bonus to the entire anime itself and let me tell you, none of all that fanservice has deterred me from feeling the feels of this very anime. If you think about it, the fanservice is really just a little something something to make this anime a little bit better than it already is, I doubt it’d be the same without it.
