10.25
All that awesome fighting and hot-blooded shounenjo rage is great, but the fourth outing takes Kill la Kill in a different direction, and it’s wonderful. In my eyes, this episode embodies everything cartoons should be.
This picture speaks for itself.
The budget really shows. Trigger has no money. But what they do with that lack of money is glorious. This isn’t some halfhearted Studio Deen production. Despite all the stills, the motion tweens, the background-less moments, and some Inferno Cop-style picture sliding at one point, they keep up the momentum. Even when it doesn’t look good, it looks good. The direction is masterful, the music fantastic, the art style charming, and the voice acting full of energy. Even though very little of this episode moves like you’d expect it to after the first and third installments, it’s an absolute pleasure to watch. Trigger does so much with so little, and this may in fact be the most fun I’ve had watching anime since Redline.
I laughed ’til I cried, and not just once. This episode takes me back to when I was in elementary school, catching classic WB/MGM shorts and Cartoon Cartoons on TV whenever I could. Ryuuko and Mako must get to school on time under penalty of expulsion, and on the way they have to navigate the kind of obstacle course you’d see on Sasuke, avoiding deadly traps like pies to the face and lifelike painted landscapes made to resemble their destination. At one point, every senior citizen in the condo district whips out Thompsons in an attempt to shoot down our heroes, but Mako fires back with the convenient mounted gun turret attached to their armored school bus. This is the kind of stuff you’d see in older cartoons that’s sort of fallen by the wayside recently in exchange for more “bizarre” comedy, but you’ve never seen this type of humor done in such a ridiculous and over the top fashion. Trigger has successfully combined the absolute best elements of both eastern and western animated comedy, and I am beyond infatuated.
The episode begins with Senketsu being washed, which is apparently like torture for clothing – the bastard finally gets what was coming to it after episode 1! There are some utterly hilarious shots of it being scrubbed against a washboard and ironed as Ryuuko is rushed out of the house in her pajamas for No-Late Day. After reaching the obstacle course’s first checkpoint (of 1,000), she and Mako meet Maiko, who is totally not a bad guy. Mako’s dad and brother attempt to bring the freshly-washed Senketsu to Ryuuko, but some distracting panty shot hijinks cause them to crash their car – and later, bicycle – while trying to deliver it. Turns out, Maiko is actually a bad guy(!) and has been actively sabotaging our brave heroes this entire time, purposefully pulling down Ryuuko’s pants(?) to cause some of those omnipresent anime nosebleeds you keep hearing about. Now, in my opinion, this is how you do comedic fanservice properly. It’s not particularly gratuitous or lecherous… it’s just there, and somehow manages to be plot-relevant. Brilliant.
Eventually, Guts (Mako’s dog) successfully brings Senketsu to Ryuuko, but Maiko steals it for her own use. She plans to utilize the amazing strepower (not a typo) it grants the wearer to overthrow Satsuki, but Senketsu is in a monowardrobe relationship with Ryuuko, so she just kind of flops around before getting her ass kicked. Unfortunately, Maiko activates her final trap, and they get sent back to the start of the obstacle course… it’s okay, though, because Ryuuko and Mako manage to hijack a sky gondola and smash their way into the classroom at the last possible second. The episode then ends on the most perfect comedy beat possible, forgoing any sort of insight into the aftermath to give the audience one final laugh.
There are a lot of fun character moments in this episode too. Ryuuko and Mako continue to be the year’s most lovable protagonists, and even Senketsu manages to be funny as hell. Also, Gamagoori sleeps in the nude. I don’t know why that’s funny; it just is. The whole thing is beyond crazy, packed to the brim with madcap energy and gleeful insanity. It’s a real laugh-a-minute affair, with nary a moment passing that isn’t somehow hilarious. In spite of its obvious monetary woes, I’d honestly put this episode up there with the very best slapstick cartoon comedy shorts. It owes so much to Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and the rest of the greats, and I think it does their legacy justice. I’d wholeheartedly recommend episode 4 to any animation fan, whether they like anime or Kill la Kill or neither. I never want to meet anyone who can’t be entertained by this.
Special mention must be given to the BGM this time around. The soundtrack has shown a lot of promise in previous installments (I get a hard on every time that track from the establishing shot in episode 1 plays), but here it really shines. Hiroyuki Sawano’s compositions cover an eclectic range of genres and are all pleasing to the ears; every piece of music is excellent in context and benefits the episode greatly. Oh, and The Blue Danube even plays at one point. That’s how you know this is some serious Looney Tunes shit.
It should be illegal for a TV show to be this enjoyable… the wait for next Thursday is going to kill me. I had a real shitty day, but this put such a big smile on my face that I briefly forgot what was bothering me. In episode 4 more than ever, Kill la Kill makes me feel like a little kid again. Can I truly ask for anything else from an anime?