Kill La Kill (Review)

Kill La Kill Proves Japanese School Uniforms are Crazy.

I’ve seen a lot of weird anime over the years, but none have really come close to Kill La Kill. Sure, there’s Gurren Lagann (which was also by writer/ director duo Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuki Nakashima) and there’s the ever popular One Punch Man and similarly absurd Mob Psycho 100, but none of them hold a candle to the insanity that is Kill La Kill. If there’s one series that everyone should watch, otaku (anime geek) or not, this is definitely it.

To be honest, I don’t even know where to start with Kill La Kill. It’s a high energy absurdist satire that mocks the magical garment girl cliche we’ve seen so many times before in anime. This time though the troupe is taken to a new extreme, because we don’t just get magical garment girls, but I whole damn high school filled with uniforms that give their wearers extreme powers and abilities that are more than just a little ridiculous. With how many anime series takes place in high school (Honnouji Academy), I can definitely say that Kill La Kill takes the cake for best fashion choices by its students.

At the center of the story is Ryuko Matoi, a tough as nails girl who has her heart set on discovering who murdered her father in order to avenge him. As far as protagonists go, I fell in love with Ryuko within the first few minutes of Kill La Kill. She’s got more attitude than you can shake a stick at and she borders on barbaric. She’s a far cry from the villains of the series who enforce school rules in the pristine uniforms. Instead, her own magical outfit (Senketsu) is more than a little tattered and tends to have just as much attitude as she does. The two of them propel the series to the next level, which isn’t easy considering how outlandish all the supporting characters are in Kill La Kill.

That’s where this anime really thrives though because Kazuki Nakashima creates such memorable and complex characters that it’s hard not to take this ridiculous series seriously. Not only that, but it cuts the absurd mockery of fan service that’s seen throughout Kill La Kill. Ryuko spends most of the series half naked when she activates Senketsu’s special powers, and many of the other characters tend to lose fabric the more powerful they become (especially in the case of Ryuko’s rival, the villainous Satsuki Kiryuin). Just to put a cherry on top though, Nakashima creates a revolutionary group of nudist doing battle against the barbaric clothing laws forced upon them by the notorious Honnouji Academy.

I know what a lot of you might be thinking already, “great another show that features scantily clad women with plenty of gratuitous panty shots.” Well, you’re right and I completely agree with you. That seems to be the very last thing we need in anime fandom. However, Kill La Kill is so incredibly well done that even those protesting the premise will find themselves wondering how something that seems to scoff in the face of feminism can be so incredibly enjoyable. The secret is that Kill La Kill invests in strong female characters and despite their skimpy clothing they’re never objectified. Sure there are a few inappropriate shots, but the eye never lingers long because these usually occur in the middle of one of the numerous epic battle sequences.

That brings me to another element of Kill La Kill that just blew my mind. Trigger studios creates animation that borders on euphoric in certain aspects. Overall the series seems to have a bit of a muted quality to the colors used and the animation, while incredibly detailed, is more focused on physical comedy than creating dramatic shots of characters striking poses. However, when the swords are drawn (or rather scissors) there are few series that can compete with the awe-inspiring action sequences produced for this series. Literally, everything about Kill La Kill is eye candy and I couldn’t get enough of it.

At its core, Kill La Kill is a comedy anime and one of the funniest I’ve seen in years. It’s not just goofy though, it shows a mastery of a lot of fundamentals of solid comedy. There are a number of recurring elements and themes used to cut tension when things start getting a bit too serious. However, it’s greatest strength is that Kill La Kill is not afraid to go big. It commits to the absurdity of the premise and plays it with such a straight face that you can’t help but just go with the flow. Despite the fact that all the characters take their roles seriously they never become insufferable. Instead, it only manages to make them all the more endearing because Kill La Kill is filled with perfect idiots that serve as the perfect catalysts to drive the plot forward.

I cannot recommend Kill La Kill highly enough. It has a solid runtime of about 24 episodes (with an additional OVA), so it’s an easy series to get through. More importantly, it’s an anime that is not only uproariously funny but is even gripping. It’s a show that you don’t want to start unless you can clear your calendar for a day or two because once you start, you’re not going to want to stop. I’ve “forced” more than a few people to watch Kill La Kill and despite their initial protests it was nearly impossible to get them to stop. So, whether you’re an anime fan or not, you should definitely take a chance on Kill La Kill. It’s one of the few anime out there that will change everything for you.