Okay, so I guess everyone is waiting for what that infamous episode 8 is going to do. Anyone who has seen Gurren Lagann knows what I’m talking about. However, I think that the twist isn’t the most important, and only a means to an end. I’m one of the people who wasn’t a big fan of that “twist” (not that the twist wasn’t good, but it didn’t improve things in the long run to me).
But yeah, this episode: I have no idea why but it worked. Again on paper it sucks: poor people taste the life of high standards and learn to appreciate being poor with drama, and at the end of the episode they revert again like nothing happened. If there ever was a whiplash episode, it’d be this one.
And yet, I liked this. Perhaps it was a combination between the premise being so ridiculous that it worked (which fits perfectly with the rest of this series of taking just about everything over the top), along with the actual context of this episode: the entire school is going to change and be rebuilt. I’m actually pretty excited for what they’re planning to turn it into. And at the same time they ended up giving a very good solution for the fears that everyone had been having of this series devolving into a formulaic monster of the week.
Knowing Hiroyuki Imaishi, there are two things that he’s probably going to turn up to eleven: the school and the clothing. On one hand this school will either drill into heaven, or will become the visual embodyment of hell times the power of infinity, and in terms of clothing everyone will end up either running around naked or with some of the most ridiculous costumes imaginable. I’m currently putting my money on 1 and 2 respectively.
Oh yeah, and am I the only one who thinks that the setting here is a big wink to Revolutionary Girl Utena?
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)
Seems relevant.
http://nargyle.deviantart.com/art/Ooohtena-188066340
“Oh yeah, and am I the only one who thinks that the setting here is a big wink to Revolutionary Girl Utena?”
uh..you bring this up just now?
http://i.imgur.com/jtxvzkR.jpg
R.I.P. Makou’s Banchou ;_;
There’s also this:
http://acidberry.tumblr.com/post/64370260837/did-kill-la-kill-just-make-a-fucking-utena
>Oh yeah, and am I the only one who thinks that the setting here is a big wink to Revolutionary Girl Utena?
Of course not =) As a big Utena fan, I was thinking about KLK this way after watching the first trailer for the series %)
I was watch Gurren Lagann which was better from episode to episode, and that naime is the same for me 🙂 after first episode couldn’t believe how good this anime is 🙂
From the very start, Utena is everywhere. Now I’m starting to cringe from not knowing Gurrenn Lagann.
The plot of the episode could actually be a plot for a full series. That would suck. But there is some kind of charm of getting a somewhat cliched plot, rushing through it in 20 minutes and making the execution be all over the top.
While a good episode in and of itself, I guess I no longer buy the “poor and happy” vs “rich and poorer in character as a result”. Even though its easy to carried away by wealth, there are people who can manage that just fine.
Awesome episode. I enjoyed the hilarious clubs that got ripped off. bad pun I know.
Kuriyin is crafty as ever
Kiryuin sure is
I loved mako’s 2 Star uniform. I was kinda hoping she would keep it for the rest of the series. Easily my favorite uniform of the series.
Kill la Kill is an homage to the entire school brawler genre, specially Utena. It offers a deconstruction of it as how the setting really has to be for a school to encompass the entirety of an individual’s life.
Fab episode!
I don’t think I consciously thought much about the Utena link, but I think it definitely flashed through my mind with Lady Satsuki in that uniform and a sword. If you think about it, it’s obviously paying massive homage to Utena, no doubt. Utena – Gurren Lagaan style.
I don’t know about deconstruction, but it’s definitely taking the trope of poor good/ rich bad and using that to showcase their animation style, they jumped very quickly from poor to rich, to gleaming golden statues (that statue was brill).
I”m already eagerly awaiting whatever the Trigger Studio will do next!
The rich/poor dichotomy has been hinted before in the series but was mostly limited to this episode, but the genre deconstruction has always been present and is almost the basis of the entire show.
The school-centered approach is not limited to these genres alone, but it’s almost always present in (but not limited to) most Shonen series. Weather in Code Geass, Guilty Crown, Utena or anything with the word “school” in the name there are overarching grandiose plots of great importance and consequences yet the characters attend their schools (sometimes with the rival/villain) on offdays like nothing’s at stake. Part of this is because the young adults are the main demographic of the anime industry and also partly due to the great importance that is placed on education in their culture. But this trend is somewhat illogical when faced with scrutiny and takes away from realism and the urgency of the story.
Kill la Kill gives a deconstructive reasoning to this issue as in their story the school IS the society. IT DOES encompass all aspects of their lives and it is a militaristic academy where fighting is not only allowed but promoted and the student counsel DOES have absolute power over the individual and every other city is ran by just another branch of the same school.
Gainax did this with Evangelion regarding the issue in mecha animes where for some reason only children became mecha pilots, as in their setting they were the only ones that could (project GEHRIN).
It may be a bit of a wink to an oldie called Saint Seiya too…
Psgels, this may be a bit out of the topic, but could you review the mahou shoujo madoka movie for me. downloading it is becoming a hassle so i wanna know if its worth the effort. thanks
I’ll make it easy for you, watch the first 2 movies if you don’t mind seeing the exact same thing with somewhat prettied up graphics
Watch the 3rd since you’re probs gonna watch it no matter what anyone says