Information:
Other Names: KLK, キルラキル
Studio: Trigger
Writer: Kazuki Nakashima
Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi
Music: Hiroyuki Sawano
Type: Original, TV Series
Length: 25 mins per ep. approx. 24 Episodes + 1 Special
Genres: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, School.
Rating: R+ (17+)
Air Dates: 4 October 2013 - 28 March 2014
Alternate Recommendations: Rolling Girls & Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
Synopsis:
Ryuuko Matoi is a vagrant school girl traveling from place to place searching for clues to the truth behind her father's death—the "woman with the scissor blade." The journey has led Ryuuko to Honnouji Academy.
Review:
The story of Kill la Kill starts of amazing and over the top with main character Ryuuko travelling the
Honnouji Academy and immediately getting into fights so over the top that nothing else will compare, featuring girls wearing skimpy battle costumes, giant scissor blades and weird over the top enemies with moves so crazy they will make you laugh. Now for the actual plot which can be broken down into three different arcs that fit around the story that made this the saviour of anime, the first arc: is based upon Ryuuko entering Honnouji Academy and fighting Satsuki, the student council president of the school who rules with an iron fist as well as her elite four and just about every school club who all have their unique personalities and abilities making each episode feeling more fresh as well as dealing with Ryuuko change as a person from a loner to a more social person and is guaranteed to be a wild ride.
Honnouji Academy and immediately getting into fights so over the top that nothing else will compare, featuring girls wearing skimpy battle costumes, giant scissor blades and weird over the top enemies with moves so crazy they will make you laugh. Now for the actual plot which can be broken down into three different arcs that fit around the story that made this the saviour of anime, the first arc: is based upon Ryuuko entering Honnouji Academy and fighting Satsuki, the student council president of the school who rules with an iron fist as well as her elite four and just about every school club who all have their unique personalities and abilities making each episode feeling more fresh as well as dealing with Ryuuko change as a person from a loner to a more social person and is guaranteed to be a wild ride.
The second arc is the least promising of the arc featuring a boring story line set when Satsuki attempts to take over other schools in the region which presents some amazing and different battles but falls due to poor new characters who are uninteresting and serve no real purpose.
The third and final arc is the best of the two and leaves a satisfying ending; the arc has a more story driven plot than the last two and has even bigger battles that go so over the top you won't even care how stupid it just got and will love every second of it; while also featuring one of the best villains in a long time.
The characters of Kill la kill can be amazing at sometimes and others can be downright forgetful and boring. Starting of with the main characters Ryuuko is the delinquent teenager who is rebellious, anti-social and refuses to listen to anyone but slowly evolves over the course of the series into more friendly character and listens to her friends more often so that she doesn't lose her way; speaking of friends next their is Mako, Ryuuko best friend who is well Mako she offers advise to her friend in strange ways and develops a bit over the course of the series but is mainly a gag character who does stupid things. Another friend Ryuuko has as well as main character is Senketsu who is Ryuuko's clothes who serves as Ryuuko's light in the darkness making sure she doesn't lose her way and begins to change her as a person, but the character himself has a unique appearance and funny personality while acting a fatherly like role during the series.
Now moving on to the antagonists starting with Satsuki, the not so typical student council president ruling with an iron fist who taunts Ryuuko though out the series but slowly develops over the series into a more friendly character. The next characters I will talk about the Elite four and club leaders in which the elite four get plenty of screen time and a little bit of development but not a whole lot but are interesting having varying personalities and appearances as well as combat outfits each with their own set of abilities which can also be said of the club leaders who are the same but don't get much screen time which is a shame as they where all quite different and interesting. As for the antagonist of the third arc Ragyo who is an interesting and well portrayed villain who is both powerful and mysterious with a dark and proud personality that makes all the more better.
The animation feels like a breath of fresh air from the generic anime styles floating around, as it is unique and the only thing I can compare it to is Gurren Lagann having similar over the top animation that blows fights out of proportion and having fast flowing animation all around but there are some problems similar to Gurren Lagann where you can see where the budget was stretched thin and the quality drops ruing the mood in some scenes.
The OST of Kill la Kill was done Hiroyuki Sawano who is responsible for Attack on Titan's and Aldnoah Zero's Soundtrack so its amazing, featuring a mixture of orchestra tracks and well as some electronic and J-Rock real set the mood of scene that they care in as well as the use of the Song 'Don't Lose Your Way' by Mika Kobayashi ft David Whitaker which is used as the theme for the anime and plays during most fight scene and serves as theme that bonds Ryuuko and Senketsu.
Final Verdict:
Story: 8
Characters: 7
Characters: 7
Animation: 7
Sound: 9
Final Score: 8/10
