The Nardio Review
Is Kill la Kill Worth Your Time?
Absofuckinglutely.
What Should I Watch Kill la Kill On?
You can stream legally on both Netflix and Crunchyroll.
What Did You Think Without Spoiling It?
Action! Drama! Nudity! Humor! Kill la Kill covers all the bases in a pretty little bow. It’s so fast-paced you don’t have time to get bored of the story or ponder some plot holes. Plus, you can forgive some weak story telling because it is so freakin’ awesome.
Why it Works?
Kill la Kill has everything you could possibly want in an anime and more. It never takes itself too seriously as evidenced by the Nudist Beach group and the entire Mankanshoku family. And it has tropes galore that it both ridicules and embraces. You want teenage girls in skimpy outfits that battle each other? Check. How about a tyrannical student council? Check, to a huge degree. Then of course there’s the mysterious newcomer (Ryuko) hellbent on vengeance because someone killed her dad. Oh, right and over-the-top action, sword fights and explosions. Did we say explosions? We meant EXPLOSIONS. The show could have gone in such a terrible and cheesy direction, but Trigger managed to keep it amusing and entertaining throughout. You can’t help but cheer for Ryuko and Senketsu (her sentient uniform) as they battle both inner and outer demons. Sure there are times where she gets a bit angsty, but it’s also completely understandable when she does lose control. While there are some of the standard shounen lessons here (money doesn’t make you happy, the power of friendship, etc) it never gets annoying because you come to really like almost all of the characters.
And the bad guys? Well, the real ones are just deliciously evil. Nui Harime is one of the most original villains I’ve seen in a long time and she isn’t what you’d expect. Come on, a cutesy blonde girl in a frilly pink dress? Who could take her seriously? But she’s ridiculously powerful and not to be taken lightly. The best part? She revels in it and hardly ever loses that cutesy demeanor even during a fight. Then of course there’s Kiryuin Ragyo who absolutely exemplifies a villain. She seems to have no true feelings for anyone else in the world and her only goal for her entire life has been destruction of the Earth. Cliche? Yeah to an extent. But at least she has a pretty good – albeit crazy – reason.
While the main characters certainly shine, the side characters help bring a lot of flavor to this crazy world. The Elite Four don’t really change all that much throughout the series, but learning their backstories and understanding why they are so loyal to Satsuki make their actions that much more believable. Then of course you have the homeroom teacher Aikuro Mikisugi who tends to strip a lot and has pink light emanating from his nipples and crotch area. Weird? Maybe. Hilarious? Definitely.
And that’s the thing. While there are definitely some very dramatic and even disturbing moments in Kill la Kill there’s also a great smattering of humor so it never gets too dark. The humor never gets too distracting either. Kill la Kill is able to walk that fine line between action, drama and humor. Every episode was enjoyable and at the end I honestly didn’t even find myself wanting more. The story resolved itself fairly well and there weren’t any obvious loose plot threads.
No Like?
Honestly, not much. While the plot twist was a bit weak, I honestly just enjoyed the ride so much I didn’t want to over analyze a lot of the plot holes.
Basic Info:
- 24 episodes
- Available on Netflix and Crunchyroll
Weblinks:
- Studio: Trigger
