So Kill la Kill? This episode really shows that it’s written by someone who DOES know what he’s doing. The balance is all there, and despite the simple plot, he knows how to use it. This episode for example needed to be a bit of an intermezzo inbetween the major fights in order to build up the atmosphere and tension. The big problem with these kinds of episodes though is that they’re boring and don’t really do anything. So the solution of this series? Just show a bit of character background. And with that you’ve got a perfectly fine building-up episode that was really fun to watch.
And the homages! The wonderful homages. This episode really managed to pay a wonderful tribute to school series like Utena, while at the same time doing them with a huge tongue in their cheek. Everything is taken completely over the top as usual, but the characters are also aware of this. The high school student being 20 years was a really nice addition: tons of high school characters in anime look way too old for their ages. This one actually has a reason for it. Another nice detail was the car, which at the end of the episode was completely wrecked. A big reference to Utena’s car symbolism that was everywhere, yet in Utena, cars fell apart at times. We never see them all dented up like here. This is a great example of taking ideas and cues from other series: sure, parts here have been done before, but this series uses them in its completely own way. This distinguishes the masterpieces from the ripoffs. It’s of course too early to tell whether Kill la Kill will become a masterpiece and it’s got a long way to go for that, but you get what I mean.
Ryuko’s past also didn’t add much extra, however it was also very much appreciated because we did get a glimpse of how she grew up, and why she ended up as the character she did. She clearly explained why she’s doing what she’s doing. This series really brings back the flaws that a lot of older series had, and fixes them. It’s combining the power of old series together with the power of new series. It’s full of these neat little details that make me quite excited to follow this.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)
Gamigori is the man among men, there is no end to his awesomeness xD
nice ep.
although i did notice they used a different animation studio, a bit off in the drawings.
This is a fanservice anime, a good one with a bit of plot and friendship on the side, but a fanservice anime nonetheless.
Author should stop discriminating A-type Otaku (and this is from a thin and fit B-type with a job), especially when his tastes are divided between B and A.