Last updated on September 7, 2014
Fear is freedom! Subjugation is liberation!
I have a confession to make: I love Kill la Kill.
Yes, it is stupidly dumb at times. Yes, it borrows from literally every anime trope you could possibly imagine (and even dozens of obscure ones that I’m sure I could barely name). Yes, it goes incredibly over the top in every perceivable way, taking the absurdity of its own concept and running a thousand miles past sanity. And yet, I can’t help but love this show and the obvious devotion, dedication, and care that went into its creation. At base, Kill la Kill seeks to entertain above all else, and the show does so spectacularly with every Life Fiber (har har) of its being.
Also, how exactly can a show about fashion and fascism work? Apparently, this is a pun in Japanese due to the homonym-like nature of the words fashion” (ファッション fasshon) and “fascism” (ファシズム fashizumu) – every single concept in Kill la Kill draws from this common well. In fact, there’s a philosophical theme underlying the show itself, but to reveal more would draw into the realm of SPOILERS, so I hesitate to say much in this short overview (also, that SPOILERS tag goes for the rest of this review thingamajig, so be forewarned).
What is Kill la Kill about, really? Well, in one sense, it’s about growing up and finding out who your are, as was Tengen Toppa Gurenn Lagann. It is about achieving the impossible with the power of friendship, as is every shonen anime series ever created. Trigger possibly created this as a tribute to the whole history of anime itself, with credits and Japanese pop culture references abounding throughout. Perhaps would could say that it really wants to set an example against traditional societal roles for women, although I’m sure the borderline fetishistic approach to (plot-relevant! Although that’s not much of an excuse!) fan-service in nearly every episode would suggest otherwise to some. Maybe we could make a really wild jump and say it’s really about fascism and control, especially how to counter those forces that place people in particular categories or ways of life. Or, perhaps, it draws on the way a family’s legacy could force the children of said families into unwanted roles – how do they break out of it? It can’t be all these things at once, can it? So, really, what the heck does Kill la Kill want to say?
You could, quite literally, read a billion things into the reams of symbolism inherent in here. Somehow, though, yet, Kill la Kill really doesn’t need your deeper analysis to truly hit a nerve, make you laugh, or just simply make your jaw drop at the sheer craziness on display. I’ve not had more fun with an anime show ever (yes, even more than Gurenn Lagann, and that’s saying something). There’s absolutely nothing pretentious about the spectacle on display here – if you don’t want to look for deeper meaning, you never need to find it. Kill la Kill operates on its own terms.
Because of this, the show must excite and tantalize from episode to episode. The pacing hits a pitch-perfect nerve, slowly ramping up the action in a way which makes each subsequent episode a wonderful treat. There’s not a single episode of filler, and they even make fun of the well-worn concept of the anime “recap” episode (man, I hate those things!). It’s all business and no fluff! The action knows just when to escalate and excite; the animation draws from several art styles at once, from traditional anime to Loony Toons, creating a ever-shifting aesthetic that highlights the events at any given point. The music, even, complements absolutely everything, sticking in your head long after an episode ends.
We might say, further, that Kill la Kill somehow manages to make a world about clothing that provides human beings with supernatural powers realistic. At some point within the first episode, whether for fun or just out of sheer curiosity, I suddenly decided to accept the absolute preposterousness of the show’s mythology. Thankfully, there’s a strange internal consistency that keeps everything grounded in (at least) some sort of reality, which makes it easier to swallow when certain stuff happens. Hey, when an anime surprises you with a plot twist or seven you never saw coming (and which seem perfectly natural in retrospect), they’re doing something right. Kill la Kill absorbs you, and forces you to accept it, which also allows it to blindside you when it wishes (for the purpose of entertaining, of course!).
I say this because, at base, Kill la Kill hardly strikes it out of the park for “plot originality”. Trigger, the production company behind it, loves anime tropes and revels in them – it merely ratchets all of them to the next level. By taking any common anime characteristic (like, say, an emo protagonist) and presenting it in the most over-the-top way possible, it manages to stick into your head far better than a sea of similar anime series. Kill la Kill sticks out by just being different – which, I would guess, is sort of the point.
Ryuko Matoi seems absolutely primed to stand out. Everything goes wrong for our female protagonist in about a billion different ways, from the expectations of society to her (lack of) upbringing to the death of her father (the catalyst for just about everything in Kill la Kill). Then she’s forced to wear what amounts to fancy bondage gear that talks and suck her blood while fighting with a giant scissor sword. And yet, even though society seems to hate her and her attitude in some respect, she never backs down in a fight, never abandons her friends, and (almost) never wavers in her convictions. I can see why the feminists have a love/hate relationship with this show – there’s really enough evidence for both sides of the spectrum. She’s a fantastic protagonist backed up by an even more amazing cast which I would hate to reveal (GRR THIS MAKES ME SO MAD).
And yet, given all this, I just can’t recommend it to everyone. Given that Theology Gaming runs as a primarily Christian website, the rampant amount of nudity, sexual humor, and fanservice (not anatomically correct, but not really sexual either except at a few points) just makes it incredibly difficult to recommend. Honestly, I hate that I can’t tell everyone to just go and watch Kill la Kill – perhaps that’s just a problem with a fallen world – but some people will just be at odds or in temptation simply by the way it portrays its characters and situation. I mean, seriously, the show contains a group of dudes who intentionally run around naked to avoid the evil of clothing (Nudist Beach!), and a bright purple light shines around their privates – funny stuff, but not for everybody! The fanservice will restrict its audience, but don’t judge a book by its cover.
And heck, if you hate magical girl anime, school anime, or any anime of any type, you will hate all of the things in this show with a passion. I would put myself in that category a few years ago. I rejected anime purely on the basis of its predictability and poor storytelling – a misnomer on my part, given the cultural divide between East and West even now. Still, if you can let go of your preconceived notions of how stories should be told, look past the anime aesthetics and just enjoy it, then Kill la Kill will totally work for you. Maybe you might learn something too…
