blog好き

Nov 03 2013

Categories: episodic review, kill la kill
Tagged: kill la kill

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Trigger

Tsumugu breaks out a Yoko-class Suou-class sniper rifle and then proceeds to not use it? My biggest complaint about this character design, other than a decorative PTRD-41, is that he looks like a rooster. It’s hard to take a guy who is supposed to be some badass balls-to-the-wall character who looks like a rooster. Who the hell leaves hair on the sides for a mohawk and then colors the mohawk? What’s Studio Trigger’s next character’s hairstyle? An afro-mullet?

(It’s not like Ryuko has a similar color scheme for her hair… oh wait… could Tsumugu be her brother? And their mom being the first Kamui victim?)

Though if Honnouji has already conquered most of Japan, why is Tsumugu so hell bent on stopping just Senketsu but ignores Junketsu? Is it because he has a personal grudge against Senketsu? If that were the case, it doesn’t look like Senketsu in the flashbacks. But what if we flipped it around: he’s not really stopping Senketsu. He wants to save Ryuko. That’s why he couldn’t pull the trigger (HAHAHA TRIGGER) on Ryuko… if that were the case, wouldn’t stopping Junketsu and Satsuki be more worth his time than just attacking Ryuko and Senketsu? If he takes down Satsuki, Ryuko wouldn’t have a raison d’être. Then again, if this resistance Nudist exist, and Tsumugu is so powerful that he can take down two stars with the flick of his wrist, why has Honnouji Academy conquered everything? What is the resistance doing? Sewing?

I like how fast the episode goes into typical summary mode. Mako gets kidnapped by a weirsd club. Ryuko saves her. Flashy attack! Life fiber consumed by Kamui. It’s already old news, and we’re only five episodes in. It gives me hope that the series will be more than just the typical formula recycled, and with the addition of Tsumugu and the Nudists, there is hope for more complexity.

Making me like Senketsu even more. He is a pretty bad-ass school uniform, and he does seem like a good guy.

Continuing our trend from the previous episode… spikes! Nothing quite shows how extreme something is other than spikes! Maybe we should be glad that the spikes aren’t on the toilet seat.

“Let me tell you two useful pieces of information.”

Tsumugu says that like, I believe, 15,532 times during the episode. I might be off by a few counts. I think he needs a better gimmick. The line is weak, and it takes too long for him to actually say it unless he is winning the fight by a big margin and can showboat by saying it.

The Mankanshoku family dinner is much like a state fair in Texas: everything is fried. My gosh. They fried the fruit? And lobster? And fried the internals of a shao long bao? Madness. I’m surprised that the family hasn’t died of heart disease yet. I can only imagine how much oil they go through each day.

Gotta like how this show weaponizes anything. Marching band of death with various instruments with their own abilities? Yes, please. I got the chills when Jakuzure went to start conducting…

… if the previous Satsuki vs. Ryuko fight scene is a hyper action filled style, this fight between Ryuko and Tsumugu with Jakuzure in the background is the complete opposite. It is slow. It is deliberate. All the action occurs off-camera. Just a totally flip of the original style. Also, it shows nicely how Tsumugu fights with guerrilla tactics, Ryuko brute force, and Jakuzure with her minions. I also liked the pairing of Strauss’ Chit-Chat Polka with the fight scene, something this show has excelled at. Adds a nice touch.

(Wait, what? Why is a marching band director playing Strauss?! Seems like an odd choice, especially when you can clearly hear woodwinds, something not common to a marching band.)

The smooth camera movement as well as the smooth animation… my gosh, Trigger! You know when you watch something, and you can tell that the animators had fun doing it? You can see that with the original Haruhi. “We have to put more semi-nakkid Mikuru on.” “Let’s rotoscope and 60fps God Knows.” You can tell with Shaft and Monogatari. And you can tell here. Trigger is excited, for various reasons– the story, the new company, the new anime smell, whatever– to make KILL la KILL, and it shows. Every scene just drips with enthusiasm. It’s not like watching a show like Outbreak Company or Freezing Vibration where it just feels like everyone is going through the motions and making sure they don’t slip deadlines. There’s a difference between liking what you work on, and when it’s “just a job.” KILL la KILL does not feel like “just a job.”

Araragi has a new competitor for male fanservice.

Mako doesn’t wear a bra, but Ryuko does? Where does Ryuko’s bra go when she transforms? I don’t think her bra is part of Senketsu. Does Senketsu eat it, and then vomit it back when they’re done?

(Strategic shadow. I don’t see why Trigger decides to show Ryuko in her panties, but we get shadows for Mako’s… unless Mako ain’t wearing any, which is 100% possible.)

The dude behind Ryuko sure has an assortment of toys. There’s also a guy with a puppet in the back. Hard-hitting analysis from blog好き.

What is this device? Are those two big black circles haptic touchscreens like the Steam controller? Is that a glossy LCD screen? Are those plugs next to the LCD display 10V charging ports? Is that a fingerprint reader on the bottom left? Is that top structure a solar power collector?

Three MVPs…

1. Senketsu.

2. Jakuzure.

3. Mako.