11.10
Kill la Kill panders equally to everyone this week. If you like cartoon sexiness – male or female – you’re gonna’ be pleased. Truly, Trigger is saving anime.
Never let it be said that Uzu Sanageyama is a man without resolve. It takes a special kind of dedication to willfully sew your fuckin’ eyes shut, after all. This time, Ryuuko faces her toughest opponent yet (unless, of course, you count Satsuki), and while it pains me to see her get beaten up, I have to say it was pretty intense. Though really, this episode isn’t about her; it’s about Sanageyama. He’s got some incredibly perceptive eyes, eyes that can see any opponent’s moves before they make them, but he relies on this ability way too much and loses to our lovable heroine rather quickly. So, you know, he does what any totally 100% sane guy would do… he gets rid of them. Hardcore.
I greatly enjoyed the little bit of his backstory we got to see. The concept of a cocky, confident badass being bested by someone even more powerful, and then – instead of getting mad – willingly joining said person to train under them is just cool to me. It’s clear throughout that he and Satsuki have a really deep sense of mutual respect for each other, and I love that. And, as mentioned above, the lengths he goes to to prove his worth to her are certainly something. It’s great to see how Sanageyama has his own code of honor and is being treated as more than just a tough subordinate for Ryuuko to fight at the end of the series.
Much like episode 5, this one was a bit more serious than I’d come to expect from Kill la Kill. However, that didn’t stop certain moments from being absolutely hilarious. The cold opening features yet more sexy teacher manservice, complete with the most intense Shaft tilt of all time and… glowing nipples. Indeed, Aikurou’s manly man nips emit a magic purple aura for some reason. Later on, Sanageyama gets his own transformation sequence exactly like Ryuuko’s and Satsuki’s. I’ve always wanted to see something like this happen in an anime, and it looks like my prayers have been answered. However, those scenes aside (and the bit where Senketsu declares his love for being ironed), this one was played with a pretty straight face. While I still think episode 4 is my favorite overall, I must say that I quite like these more dramatic installments as well.
Speaking of Sanageyama’s transformation, his armored mode (see Figure 1.3) greatly reminds me of something out of Anarchy Reigns. His suit resembles Big Bull’s design quite a bit, while his main form of attack gives off a heavy Garuda vibe. I have no idea whether or not this was intentional, but that game is truly excellent, and I’ve always considered Trigger to be the Platinum Games of anime, so that’s just a nice little tidbit for me to munch on. Anyway, his fight with Ryuuko in the second half of the episode is pretty crazy, though I do think it recycled loop animations a bit too much. In all honesty, as excellent as the rest of the episode is, I wasn’t quite feeling the action this week. By no means is it bad or anything like that, and a couple of cuts are simply perfect, but I felt it was a bit below the (admittedly high) bar set by the previous installments.
Figure 1.3
Once again, the OST impresses. Sawano’s score is completely on point this week, perfecting every scene – silly, dramatic, or action-packed. I think it’s safe to say at this point that my pre-order of the soundtrack is wholly justified. And as usual, the little details scattered throughout are sure to make you smile. I particularly love the way Inumuta’s mouth-covering sweater thing descends and ascends accordingly whenever he starts or stops talking. Also, Aikurou’s lip movements in the first scene had way too much effort put into them. That was some seriously high quality animation right there.
To my sadness, there was a distinct lack of Mako this time around, but fortunately the next episode seems to rectify that by focusing squarely on her and her family. Let’s hope it can somehow manage to be as insane and fun as #4!