10.11
Apparently Ryuuko’s outfit is not a Goku Uniform, it’s actually something called a Kamui. Please forgive my ignorance when writing last week’s article.
Episode 2: So Sexy She Might Pass Out or So Sexy I’m Going To Faint or whatever the hell
Fanservice!
Going into this second installment, I was somewhat worried that Studio Trigger would not be able to keep up the sheer amount of energy, humor, and badassery that characterized the series premiere, but thankfully those fears were unfounded. The animation is a bit more limited this time around (though it still flows smoothly where it should), yet that doesn’t bother me too much since it most likely means they’re saving up money to make future episodes look as amazing as they deserve to. As long as Kill la Kill remains vibrant and filled with spectacle, I can’t rightly complain… especially since this is Trigger’s first television production.
Before we begin, I’d like to talk about the OP. It’s… not very good, honestly. I mean, it isn’t a terrible song or opening animation, but they’re just so generic, like something you’d see in a Gonzo production. You’ve got your inoffensive J-pop-rock, your rapid-fire main character popups, hell, even your genitalia-less nudity (which I really could have done without). While I’d definitely categorize KLK as a parody of anime in general, and want to believe that the OP is part of the joke, I know it’s probably not. I assume this is mostly Aniplex’s doing. No disrespect to their music artists, but Aniplex is always pushing them on their productions, and it really shows here. The theme song doesn’t jive with Kill la Kill‘s “I’m gonna’ be ridiculous and not even give a shit” tone, much like Fate/Zero‘s bafflingly unfitting OP before it. The ED is similarly bland, though judging by its accompanying video, I believe that one’s bad on purpose – perhaps even meant as a parody of the production company-mandated opening.
Best transformation sequence ever.
Anyway, yes, the episode. It’s amazing. I’m still under the impression that Trigger made this show with the express intent of making me – specifically me – feel like a little kid again, and they’re succeeding. There’s nothing better than seeing our loveable hot-blooded shounenjo protagonist beat the bad guy’s face in with a tennis ball and racket after finishing up a couple days’ worth of depression-inducingly tedious work. The genius facial expressions, rockin’ background music, and over the top voice acting once again remind me of why I love cartoons in the first place. Most impressively, the whole experience remains cohesive and understandable in spite of its continued adherence to the entire-arc-of-Dragon-Ball-Z-per-episode pacing. I can’t get enough.
So Ryuuko is now living with Mako, and her family is straight up hilarious. The moments featuring their introductions barrel forward with an intensity rivaling the action scenes and feature a a metric ton of spot on humor. The dog even gets an intro card. I love it. At school, Mako is humorously tossed around and beaten up by the tennis team for missing their last practice (due to being held hostage by the student council, of course) until Ryuuko kindly steps in and rescues her. Unfortunately, she has yet to realize that Senketsu (the name she gives to her battle uniform in a flashback) can only power up when it tastes human blood, so she gets knocked into the sewer by Hakodate, captain of the tennis team.
Saved by the mysterious teacher who dumped her into the basement last episode, he introduces himself via sex joke and then goes on to do a striptease. Truly, sentences like that are why I can’t help but love this show. Ryuuko learns how to properly power up, and returns to face Hakodate in the greatest high-stakes sports face-off since Courage the Cowardly Dog. Their tennis match is a laugh riot filled with intense athleticism action™ and fantastic physical comedy. It’s not quite the beautifully-animated spectacle of the previous episode’s prologue, but it is absurd and compulsively enjoyable all the same. Maybe it was just the tennis poses, but I actually thought Ryuuko’s battle suit looked kind of cool in this scene, though I know no one will agree with me so whatever. On that note, there’s a lot more fanservice in this episode than the previous one, but outside of one glaring cheesecake shot, I still didn’t find it gratuitous or objectifying at all. Plus, y’know, there’s male fanservice now too. And that’s all I’ll say on the subject – check out BlackCatula’s Tumblr for a much better analysis of this aspect than I could ever come up with.
I don’t have as much to say about episode 2 as I did the first installment because it’s just a villain-of-the-week action-comedy right now. However, knowing the crew behind Kill la Kill, I think it’s safe to assume that it won’t stay this way for very long. I’m anticipating insane plot twists and weird experimental scenes to mull over sometime in the near future, along with the creation and discussion of wild theories in regards to the plot. Here’s one I’ve already come up with: what if, every time Ryuuko feeds Senketsu a piece of a Goku Uniform, it grows increasingly more powerful and less risque, eventually culminating in it gaining complete control and becoming the central villain of the series, possibly killing one of the major characters in the process? Think about it. Or don’t.
I can’t wait for next week. From the preview, part 3 looks like another home run, and promises to be the most exciting episode yet.
I would have posted this yesterday, but I didn’t even get a chance to watch the second episode until a few hours ago. Expect most entries in this series to go up on Thursdays!