Kill la Kill – Episode 21

Well I was planning on saving this episode for tomorrow (I’ve done my posts for tonight), but friggin’ twitter won’t shut up about whatever nonsense happens, so I might as well run through it before all my actual reactions are spoiled. Ryuuko’s gone Ryuuserker™ for the seventeenth time, and is now wearing Junketsu of all things. Satsuki’s countering with Senketsu, though her ability to counter Life Fiber-synchronized Ryuuko will likely be more dependent on Sister Power than any, you know, actual power. But that’s pretty much how it’s always gone in this show – fights occur at random and are resolved however the show feels like resolving them. So now that we’ve established once again that analysis is useless in the context of this ridiculous show, let’s Kill la Kill.

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Winter 2014 – Week 9 in Review

With the season nearing its end, we’re beginning to get the expected ramp-up from most relevant shows. Which I’m actually excited for – I’ve obviously had pretty negative feelings about this season overall, but it’s not like I want the shows I’m watching to disappoint. Samurai Flamenco, Nagi no Asukara, and Kill la Kill all had very good weeks, and pretty much everything had at least a respectable episode. Except… well…

Alright, this first one is a little ranty.

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Kill la Kill – Episode 20

A little behind on this one, meaning my impressions have already been somewhat infected with a tide of “RYUUUKO ;_____;” on my twitter feed, but I’LL TRY TO IGNORE THAT. Currently, I’m actually kinda pissed with Ryuuko – I’m hoping last week’s ending was a false cliffhanger, because if not, this’ll be the fourth time Kill la Kill has trotted out the “Ryuuko has to learn to trust Senketsu” conflict. Which doesn’t really work for me – not only does bringing this back up kind of invalidate the character growth of the prior conflicts, it also just makes Ryuuko seem like a pretty unsympathetic character. Which is fine, if that’s what they’re going for, but I didn’t get that impression – I assume I’m supposed to actually be invested here, not just exasperated. Ryuuko’s always been kinda one-note (Satsuki is far and away the most interesting character in this show), but having that note be “a belligerent jerk” is, well, pretty bold.

But apparently this episode is RYUUUUKO ;____; so I guess I’ll be eating those words soon enough.

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Winter 2014 – Week 8 in Review

I’m feeling confident in having dropped The Pilot’s Love Song at this point, given what I’ve heard about the last two episodes. As expected, they’ve basically just been focused on murdering all the characters the show introduced to be murdered, all in service of a conflict the audience has no stake in beyond possibly an attachment to the Ramen Kids. Aside from that, I’m feeling somewhat fatigued by everything except the season’s highlights, and this season’s highlights are kind of middling shows anyway. Running it down…

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Seasonal Anime Podcast – Winter 2014

New podcast! I talk with Deadlight, Flawfinder, Landon, Psgels, and Sorrows Neptune all about our impressions of the current season, Studio White Fox, Masaaki Yuasa, and Gen Urobuchi, with a slight detour into how Type-Moon’s stories are the opposite of good storytelling. Fun for the whole family!

If you’d like timestamps, just click through to youtube for a breakdown of what we talk about when.

Kill la Kill – Episode 19

Alright Ryuuko and Satsuki are sisters and that’s cool but you need to shut the fuck up because apparently this episode is hella Mako/Gamagoori and they are the best so im gonna stop talking let’s kill la gamako.

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Winter 2014 – Week 7 in Review

Kinda disjointed week in review this week, since I missed a bunch of stuff due to writing a “season to date” post last week and really just jammed these out whenever I had time. But anyway!

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Kill la Kill – Episode 18

SO! It finally happened – Satsuki declared her independence from her mother, and literally crucified her on her own stage. That must have felt good – Satsuki hates being subservient, and being a pawn of both her mother and clothes? Yeah, that’s gotta sting. So the show’s over, then, I guess? Conflict averted, clothing defeated, Satsuki and Ryuuko now realize they’re not so different after all?

Alright, let’s see what horribleness Kill la Kill is planning.

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Winter 2014 – First Half in Review

So, looks like we’ve reached the season’s halfway point-ish, meaning it’s time for me to once again go against all my misgivings about turning art into some kind of reductive hierarchy and make a big ol’ ranking of my current titles. Keep in mind, I’m doing this not because it’s actually meaningful, but because lists are fun – if you disagree with my evaluation, you’re probably right. Opinions! They’re crazy.

Anyway. Overall, this season has been a little better than I’d expected, meaning it’s a good deal worse than average. While I’ve had a consistent shelf of shows I’m enjoying, there’s been nothing that really wowed me on the level of a Kyousogiga, Monogatari, or Uchouten Kazoku, and even the next tier down of “generally great” shows has been pretty barren. So yeah, sorry, this one might be kind of a bummer! Fortunately, a lot of shows have actually been steadily improving, and honestly, my own apathy towards some of my picks might just be because I’m watching Too Many Damn Shows, and no season is really that full of gems. But that’s enough preamble – let’s run down my picks.

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Kill la Kill – Episode 17

Hey everybody. The plot finally started happening last week, and it apparently continues today in earnest. I certainly wasn’t expecting Clothes Is Aliens, but hey, wherever this show wants to take it is fine by me as long as it actually goes there. No time for nonsense, let’s get right down to Kill la Kill!

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